Revolutionary new software determines if you are getting a raw deal
By Michael Wedl
You know that feeling. The pit in your stomach each year when the tax assessments go out. How much is it going to be this time? Can we afford it? How do you know if what you pay is fair and equitable to what similar businesses, or even your commercial neighbors, pay? It’s a tough question to answer. There are a lot of variables involved with finding out and lots of data to really understand how your property compares to others.
How to get all that information though? The prospect of it can be discouraging. You’d need to sort through dozens of county records, compile spreadsheets, crunch numbers, probably a whole lot more. It’s a daunting task and maybe it’s supposed to be. USA Property Tax Associates hopes to change that with their revolutionary new software, Pinpoint Property Tax Finder.
This web-based software will be available in late 2017 and it promises to turn the tables on tax assessors. By compiling county records into a single database, users can see how other similar properties in their county, state, or even nationwide have been assessed. You can get the exact information you’re looking for with great features like the ability to filter results by size, average dollar per square foot, and many others, giving you everything you need to challenge the equitability of you assessment in court.
A sample graph produced by the Pinpoint Property Tax Finder.
Robert Hill Law, Ltd has already used this software to save clients’ money. In one successful challenge, Robert Hill was able to get an initial assessment of roughly $200 per square foot down to a much more reasonable $125 per square foot. During the Board of Review hearing, one of the commissioners actually held up a report generated by the Pinpoint Property Tax Finder and said that the proof was undeniable. It was all there in black and white. The property was “clearly being overvalued” compared to neighboring like kind properties.
For tax law professionals like Robert Hill, having this arrow in their quiver has been a game changer. The software is very user-friendly and simple to access. Once you are setup with your username and password, all you need to do is log in. From there, you can create and manage different cases. Simply choose a county or address, filter the results down by property type or property size and voila! Instantly see how your assessment stacks up to other properties in your area.
Sure, the county might say that they trust their assessors. They might even say that your property is the exception to the rule, and it’s so special that it deserves to be valued so high. Not anymore. With Pinpoint Property Tax Finder, you can easily debunk that notion. Once you have your case set up, you can compile all that data into an easy to manage chart and graph.
Technology is amazing. 30 years ago to find out all this information you’d have to spend hours going over paper records by hand, manually entering all the data. Now, with just a few simple clicks, you can arm yourself with an incredibly powerful tool. Don’t work harder. Work smarter, with Pinpoint Tax Finder from USA Property Tax Associates.
Michael Wedl is President & CEO of USA Property Tax Associates and a prominent Minnesota property tax professional. He has held senior positions at Paradigm Tax Group and Hart Property as well as assessment & valuation positions in county government. Considered a property tax subject-matter-expert, Mr. Wedl is often asked to speak at symposiums and participate in roundtable discussions across the Midwest.
To contact Mr. Wedl for speaking engagements please visit his LinkedIn profile.