Archive for July, 2009

Agent Marketing – Step 2 :: Buttons and Banners

Tuesday, July 28th, 2009

So the last time we spoke we had a pretty indepth “how-to” conversation about email marketing. I’m sure that most of you went ahead and tried this … hopefully you were able to get the response that you were looking for.

Today’s topic is going to be on buttons and banners. Now that you have told your customers/family/friends that is possible to save money on their property taxes it is time to start reinforcing this idea. As you know, few sales occur on the first contact with a customer. They need to be “touched” multiple times (on average 6-8 times) before they decide to purchase a given product or service. Enter buttons and banners.

The beautiful part about buttons and banners are that you can “set them and forget them”. Once they are in place they immediately start working for you. Where are we going to place them – everywhere.

Website – YES!
Newsletters – YES!
Personal Correspondence – YES!
Email Signature line – YES!
Business Cards – NO! (you thought I was going to say yes?)

The reason I say no here is that we are working within a specific amount of time (most counties have a deadline at the end of November or beginning off December). Unless you are handing out cards by the hundreds you run the risk of being stuck with cards that have an out-of-date promotion on them and we don’t want you to waste marketing dollars.

We have put together a few of the most common sizes of buttons and banners for you but if you need anything special put together for a marketing campaign that you are working on please let us know. We are always happy to help.

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Posted in Referral Program | No Comments »

Can I go back and have past property taxes reassessed as well?

Friday, July 24th, 2009

Unfortunately, the property tax reductions available under Proposition 8 are only available for the “current year”. Each county has it’s own deadlines for when the reassessment requests may be submitted – in general the timeframe if from early July through late Novemnber but this does vary from county to county.

To see your county’s specific deadlines for reassessments and appeals please visit our Assessor’s Office page.

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What if I haven’t heard back from last year’s reassessment yet?

Friday, July 24th, 2009

The time it takes to hear back from your local Assessor’s office varies from county to county. We’ve seen it take a few weeks in some case to a year or more in some cases. If you have any quesions about the status of your reassessment request call your local Assessor’s office and ask about the status.

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Can I do this myself?

Friday, July 24th, 2009

Sure you can. The process of exercising your rights under Proposition 8 are free to the public. Where we come in is that we have expertise and professional knowledge in the field so the documentation will be done correctly and the property evaluations will have enough supporting documentation so that the county doesn’t challenge our assessments. The key here is supporting documentation – anybody can say “My house is worth XXX” but in order for the County to recognize this, you need proof. This is where we come in.

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What is Proposition 8?

Friday, July 24th, 2009

In 1978, California voters passed Proposition 8, a constitutional amendment that allow a temporary reduction in assessed value when a property suffers a “decline-in-value.” A decline-in-value occurs when the current market value of your property is less than the current assessed value as of January 1.

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Checking in on the 2008 results …

Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009

OK … So it has been almost a year since last year’s reassessment deadline and there hasn’t been much word on the results … Well here is the first of many updates aimed at keeping you up to date on the status of your 2008-2009 reassessment.

To date, we have only heard back on 30% of the reassessments that were submitted last year. These 30% represent all of the reassessments that were submitted WITHOUT appeals. According to the Sacramento County Assessor, reassessment requests that had an appeal filed with it will not be reviewed until early August 2009.

NOTE :: Shame on you if you submit a reassessment with the associated appeal. The appeal is your chance at a second opinion.

Of those that we have heard back on – nearly 60% have been approved. 40% have been denied and because they haven’t filled out the appeals form, they have no option other than to wait until next year.

For those of you that have been informed of your reassessment approval, congratulations. The checks are “in the mail” but if you want to make sure the reassessment went through you can follow the instructions below …

STEP 1: Visit http://www.eproptax.saccounty.net
STEP 2: Enter your apn – XXX-XXXX-XXX-XXXX and click the search button
STEP 3: Once the next page loads you will see something interesting … Two values – one called “Secured Annual” and one called “Secured Corrected”

If you take the “Secured Annual” value (your original tax amount) and subtract the “Secured Corrected” value – this is the refund that you can expect from the county assuming that all property taxes have been paid.

As always, if there are any questions that aren’t answered here please contact us.

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Posted in Property Tax | No Comments »

The ABC’s of Property Tax Reassessment

Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009

When you take a look at property tax reassessments due to a “decline-in-market” from a 10,000 foot view (an overview) the process is relatively simple.

Step 1: Request an informal reassessment from your local Assessor’s office.
Step 2: Receive their response (approval or denial).
Step 3: If you don’t like the value given to you by your Assessor’s office then you can appeal the value with the local Assessment Appeals board.
Step 4: Receive the response from the Assessment Appeals Board.

It really is that simple – 4 steps to a lower property tax bill right? Well, not quite. There are 4 major steps but each one of these has to be done a certain way and by a certain time or else you will lose out on your ability to lower your property taxed under Proposition 8.

In a series of posts over the upcoming weeks and months we will be addressing each of these items in more detail.

As always, if you have any questions that aren’t addressed here please feel free to contact us directly.

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Posted in Property Tax | 2 Comments »

At first I thought it was too good to be true …

Tuesday, July 21st, 2009

At first I thought it was too good to be true, but these guys helped me save over $600 on my property tax. They were very helpful and helped me fill out all the paperwork. I didn’t have to do a thing!
K Dong
Elk Grove, CA

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If only the Tax Collector’s office was as efficient as GSTR …

Tuesday, July 21st, 2009

Golden State Tax Relief provided a great service for us, reducing our tax bill by almost $1800. while saving me time and stress of trying to find and complete the required documents. If only the Tax Collector’s office was as efficient as GSTR! Love your service.
J Duran
Elk Grove, CA

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At first I was skeptical …

Tuesday, July 21st, 2009

At first I was skeptical about this but I decided to give it a try. I wanted to do something to lower my property tax bill. This service did take a little longer than I expected but over all I saved over $1700 which lowered my mortgage payment. I actually referred a few people to this site. You will be happy with your results. Thanks Mike!
M Voong
Sacramento, CA

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