When It’s Time for the Assessor to Come By, Don’t Make it Shine

While we aren’t encouraging you to trash your own place, you should know that the nicer your house looks, the more you could end up paying on the property tax bill. Some assessments are even done on just a drive-by basis. They’ll compare your house to your neighbors’ homes and to others in the area. If yours looks a lot better than the one with an un-mowed lawn next door, guess who’s going to pay more? The bottom line is that if you know an assessor is coming by, don’t go out of your way to make your home look so good that it stands out from the rest.