How does Baltimore County determine my house assessment?

These are two very good questions which determine how much you pay in property taxes each year.

First, tax assessments are done as mass appraisals. This means there are many homes being valuated at the same time.

The Baltimore County tax assessors are trained as appraisers and have a number of ways they come up with your assessed value. There is a homeowner’s guide to property taxes and assessments on their website, which gives some details about the process.

Recently, I was able to listen to the heads of both the Baltimore County and Baltimore City departments, as they explained more in detail what they do.

They use a cost approach and land value. The cost value is how much the house would cost to be built today minus depreciation based on age and condition of the house. Any finished heated space is included in the valuation of the house.

They do not come into your home, so they make assumptions on things based on County permits pulled by contractors doing work on your home.

Often, when a homeowner appeals, they will point out deficits, which is how they know what problems there may be with your home.

They use the multiple listing system that real estate agents use as well, called MRIS.

Short sales and foreclosures are removed from consideration, as they consider them “bad sales”.

Neighborhoods, as determined by the Baltimore County Department of Taxation and Assessments, are not the same as the neighborhoods established.

Neighborhoods are graded on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the best. An assessor I spoke with said that a well known and established neighborhood, Ruxton in Towson is graded as a 10. There are neighborhood sets and subsets, for example, Old Lutherville is a subset of Lutherville. And even within subsets, the type of house will be assessed at different “rates.”

Because these assessments are done every three years and on a mass basis, that is why there is an appeals process. Especially with higher priced homes such as those in Ruxton, the homes tend to be unique, and the mass valuation may not be correct.

Learn more about different Baltimore County tax appeal processes so you can understand if an appeal may be right for you and your home.

The amount of sales dropped slightly, about 3%, over the same period last year. Here is the report.

The good news is that the average sales price jumped over 44% to $516,938 from $358,083. There were 17 new houses listed to bring the total to 73 currently on the market. Eight went under contract, and eight also settled.

Luckily the days on market dropped from the October Towson Home Sales Report from 292 days down to an average of 102, a huge difference in that month!

As we head into the end of the year, it will be interesting to see how these numbers flux again, and when the end of year report is ready, I look forward to sharing the results of the entire 2010!

If you live in Towson in the neighborhoods in the Association, you are invited to join in! Last year’s Holiday in the Woods party was snowed out with our first two foot accumulating storm on December 19, 2009.

Hopefully this year will happen & all can come enjoy!

There will be a visit from Santa, caroling, and good times with neighbors.

The party is located at the Olde Rugby Field in Ruxton between Robert E. Lee Park & the Light Rail (make sure to park on L’Hirondelle Club Road).

Make sure to wear boots, dress warmly, and leave your pets at home! Bring a flashlight — it will be dark!!!!

Total sold dollar volume was down 40.91% and only four houses settled in the month, with seven settling last October. Though there were three fewer settlements, the prices on those four were up 3.4%, averaging $339,150 versus $327,986.

Twenty new homes came on the market, while ten went under contract, leaving 84 active listings for buyers to choose from. The time it is taking for houses to sell skyrocketed over last year, up 58.7% from 184 days a year ago, to 292 days now. This means it is taking, on average, the majority of a year to sell a house in 21204!

September 21204 home sale statistics were much better, which shows things are getting shakier as we head into the winter season. The October Timonium home sales report also showed a drop in number of homes sold, with prices rising a minimal amount as well.

For more details about your particular Towson neighborhood and your Towson house value, contact me!

Focusing specifically on the 21204 zip code, which includes Towson, Ruxton, West Towson, and the Riderwood area, the numbers are very positive, while the majority of Baltimore County home sales were down 25.7%.

Average sold price was up 13.38% from $357,496 last year to $405,325 last month. The one number heading into the negative category was the average days on market, dropping from 125 last year to 64 this September. Great news!

Homes on the market are averaging 89.35 % of their list price when they sell, showing that Towson houses for sale may have two different perceived values when it comes to buyers and sellers.

Contact me for more about Towson house values.

Tours of the new West Towson Elementary School will be given to members prior to the meeting at 6:30 pm.

Also, principal Susan Hershfeld will share news of what students will be experiencing this year at the new school.

The annual meeting should have discussion on the 2020 Ruxton Area Community Plan that was presented at Blakehurst on the 13th, and will have the election of the new Board of Directors for the upcoming year.

So come learn about the RRLRIA and what it can and has done for our Towson neighborhoods!

The Community Plan input meeting is to be held September 13, 2010 at 7 pm at Blakehurst Retirement Community in Towson, 1055 West Joppa Road.

This Ruxton area community plan is due to be adopted by the Baltimore County Master Plan 2020.

From the Community Plan: Proposed view of Falls Rd at Clarkview Rd

Much of the new Ruxton-Riderwood-Lake Roland area plan involves the continuation of the expansion of Bare Hills on Falls Rd with park space, more buildings, and mixed-use capacity, plus large sidewalks to make a walkable-moveable friendly area where you don’t need a car to get around, and people should be able to avoid being struck by vehicles due to safety precautions.

The Jones Falls Valley Trail is in the plans to be expanded with more biking and hiking trails to people to enjoy.

Historic Preservation of areas such as the Scott Settlement area are addressed, as are Commercial areas for better access in & out for consumers’ use.

If you have ideas or thoughts on the Ruxton-Riderwood-Lake Roland Area Community Plan, make sure you are there on Monday, September 13, 2010 at 7 pm. A lot of hard work has been put into this, but they are looking for suggestions for improvement!

Help make our Towson neighborhoods even better places to live!