California Commercial Property Tax-Vacant Land

October 2009

As almost everyone knows, the state of the industry for California vacant land, whether commercial or residential development property is bleak. Many wish to sell but few are buying.

For the purpose of determining a value for property tax assessment reduction the appraiser is faced with a special problem: there are few comparable property sales, if any. To reiterate an earlier thought, it is critical that we think outside the box.

In the past, the County assessor resisted or outright refused to consider listings in commercial property tax assessment reduction hearings. Yet now, lacking comparable sales in the County and even throughout the state, listings become critical to at least prove what the property is not worth. For example, a residential development property listed for $20 million on the market for one year is fairly significant proof that it is not worth $20 million or more. While we cannot establish the certain property tax value for assessment purposes we can establish that $20 million is too high. But still we must fight each case aggressively to win the point.

Another critical point that is difficult to win in the County assessor’s office is the need to leave the the subject property County to review transactions in other counties.  Appraisers in the County assessor’s office have been trained to stay within their respective counties when searching for comparable property sales.  Yet again, in the absence of sales common sense tells us that we must search outside the County; we must think outside the box.

Currently, we have fought several aggressive battles on significant vacant land developments successfully. One example of that is a large development in Kern County, where the following results were achieved:

As one can see, County assessment reduction successes are possible, but need to be hard-fought. In the example above our clients  saved over $93,000 and will continue to do so until the market turns around.  Additionally, each year we will endeavor to prove a greater value reduction to maximize his tax savings.

CAPTA is aggressively representing our clients and can assist you as well.

The Future

While hard to predict in light of our government’s ever changing attitude on capitalism, we think time will be tough in the foreseeable future across all segments of the real state market. Some of our clients continue to aggressively search out and purchase development projects where owners need to sell. Activity remains where bargain prices exist. If you are in this category needing to sell we will be happy to put you in touch with our clients who have told us they continue to be interested in buying. Please fill out the form below.

If you have inventory of vacant land, commercial or residential, lots or development parcels you understand the necessity of minimizing the Assessment value to reduce your property taxes.  CAPTA will fight aggressively to enroll the lowest property tax assessment value for your property.

To speak to an agent immediately, please call us at (909) 867-5000 or, to have us call you at your convenience, use the form below.  But the appeals deadline in most counties is November 30, 2009; after this date your opportunity for this year is lost. Please act now.

Comments or questions are welcome.

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