Ah, spring, when young peoples' fancy turns to love.  Ah, fall, when a property owner's fancy turns to...property taxes.

In doing some pricing work for a number of clients in the last few months, I found that market values I was coming up with in draft CMAs were lower than assessed values. In other words, the county assessor's office had valued the homes at a higher value than market statistics indicated.  A couple of other agents in our office mentioned the same thing.

Ths phenomenon is not unusual when a market heads downward.  Assessed values lag market values in either up or down markets.  However, an agent has to have a little gray hair to be aware of this. My remaining hairs are definitely gray and I've seen this happen in several areas over the years.

In the Orenco Station-Bethany-West Union-Rock Creek area and well into West Portland (I found one in the Garden Home area a few days ago), it's spotty. I have not seen wholesale disparities. But I've seen several--enough to get owners' attention.  Tax bills will come out around Oct. 25, and when they do, check your values.

Everything you need to know about property taxation, including how to appeal  can be found at www.co.washington.or.us/DEPTMTS/at/atmain.htm for Washington County owners, and at www2.co.multnomah.or.us/Public/EntryPoint Ifor Multnomah County.

If you need help evaluating your home, drop me an e-mail.