You can take part in a a neighborhood bungalow tour, attend a lecture, purchase some neat furniture, tile or lights, and talk with interior designers and architects who specialize in the Arts & Crafts era.

The event is happening at Town Hall in First Hill from 10AM-4PM on Saturday and 10AM-4PM on Sunday.

Watch for your Official Property Value Notice in the mail for your home.

You will notice the dates that the county uses for their value assessment. This year’s notice is what the county thinks was the fair market value of your home as of January 1, 2011 (July 31, 2011 for remodels and new structures.) The value is calculated based on the sales of comparable properties. The value they determined in January 2011 will be used to calculate your property taxes that you pay during 2012, but the actual tax rates are to be determined.

Depending on the age, configuration and additions to your home over time, the county assessed value may be highly accurate or wildly inaccurate. I don’t know many people who would want to appeal a low assessment, as that would effectively raise their property taxes. However, if you believe that your home was assessed for too high of a value, you must take action now to file an appeal.

Your appeal is due to the King County Board of Equalization by July 1, 2011 or 60 days after the mailing date on your Property Value Notice. I received mine on August 4, so mine is due by Sept 23. If you miss the appeal deadline, you must wait another year for the next cycle, so take action now.

In developing your appeal, you can tap the expertise of a local real estate agent to help you develop evidence of comparable sales prices. We do this all of the time for clients who have bought a home with us to help them through the process.

Here are links for counties in the Puget Sound area to help you with this process:

• King County Assessor – Value Disputes
• Snohomish County Board of Equalization
• Pierce County Board of Equalization
• Thurston County Board of Equalization
• Kitsap County Appeals

Seattle was the first city to pass this sort of opt-out law, and of course the Yellow Pages industry is fighting it in court, but with over 100,000 consumers signed up already, I can’t imagine that they are going to be able to stop this great new service.

You’ve got until May 16, which is tomorrow, to avoid this year’s Yellow Pages, so register today! I just did it myself and it only took a minute.

A look at discarded phone books in Seattle

1. Utility Accounts – You need to open new utility accounts in your name. Often the escrow company will pay the final utility balance for the sellers, but this does not open a new account for you. Depending on where you live (condo, rural, urban, etc), you will have to open utility accounts for your electricity, natural gas, water, sewer and garbage. When opening your accounts, you may be able to save a charge for meter reading if you take the meter reading yourself. You will also want to order any telephone, internet, cable TV or satellite services that you need. If the home has a security system that you want monitored, you will also have to contact the security company.
2. Re-key Locks – There is no telling who may still have a key to your new home, so you will want to re-key your locks so only you have access. You can either have a locksmith visit the home, or you can remove the locks from your doors and take them to a locksmith, saving you a trip charge. Be sure to have the key available so they do not have to pick the locks. Have a few extra keys made and get yourself a keybox to hide on the property. The hidden keybox will save you the hassle of locking yourself out and can also help if you need to have friends or family access the house when you are away.
3. Plan for Cleaning – Your idea of clean may not be the same as the seller’s. Sometimes sellers will leave a home in immaculate condition, but sometimes not. Plan to clean the home thoroughly before you move in. If you are planning to clean the carpets, do this immediately before you move in your furniture and allow some time for it to dry. It is far easier to clean carpets when a home is empty.
4. Paint When Rooms are Empty – It is a lot easier to paint an empty room before you move in your bulky furniture.
5. Change of Address – Start changing your billing address for all of your accounts such as bank accounts, credit cards, student loans, car loans, etc. Don’t forget to tell the Post Office where you live so they can forward your mail from your previous address. You can do it online here.
6. HOA Information – If you live in a condominium or subdivision with a homeowners association, you will want to figure out where you will be sending your monthly dues. It is also helpful to figure out who to contact for maintenance issues and requests. Be sure to ask when the association meetings are scheduled if you are interested in participating in the decision-making process for your association.
7. File Your Closing Documents – Home ownership will change your income tax situation in beneficial ways, but you will need your closing statement to figure out the correct tax basis for your property. File it away safely for your next tax return.
8. Read Your Inspection Report – Remember the inspection report you paid for during the purchase process? It is usually filled with helpful maintenance tips and other projects that will need your attention. Use it as a sort of “owners manual” to systems in your new home.
9. Window Coverings – If the home you bought lacks window coverings, it will take some time to select and order drapery and blinds. In the interim, you can purchase cheap paper accordion blinds to give you privacy until your chosen window coverings are installed.
10. Time to Take Care of the Yard – If you are coming from apartment or condo living, you may not have any yard tools, but you now have a yard to care for. You’ll likely need to make a trip to the store for things like a lawnmower, garden tools, snow shovels, etc. Get the basics to get you started and add to your collection as you need it. Craigslist can be a great resource for used items.
11. Don’t Make Major Changes Immediately – Everyone has grand plans for improvements and changes to their new house. Home updates are expensive and time-consuming. Before committing to costly remodeling projects, spend a few months living in the house to find out what actually annoys you and what you can live with for awhile. I guarantee that what is important to you at move-in will change once you have lived there for a few months.
12. Keep Track of Major Home Expenditures – You can only deduct mortgage interest and property taxes from your income tax return. However, you will want to keep records of major investments that you make in the home, as these can be added to the tax basis of your home and have the potential to reduce capital gains taxes when you sell, depending on how much your home has increased in value.

Property taxes in Washington are paid based on the “tax assessed value” of your home. The tax assessed value is supposed to reflect the current market value of your home, and the assessor’s office uses a variety of statistical analysis of sales data combined with the facts about your home that they have in their tax records to determine these values. However, the assessor’s office is notoriously slow to change values, and often is working off of tax record data that is incomplete or inaccurate, particularly if a home has been modified or remodeled over time. In the past, when home prices were rapidly increasing, virtually all assessed values were somewhat lower than the actual market value, as the process of assessment only occurs annually and was slow to catch up to the market. Now, after a period of price declines, there are many homes that are assessed for more than market value. This means that your property taxes are higher than they need to be. Appealing your tax assessed value can lower your tax bill, but the process is not automatic. You need to file an appeal with some very specific deadlines to make this happen.

In Washington you need to file an appeal with your county’s Board of Equalization. The appeal needs to show documentation that the assessor has erred in valuing your house. Usually this documentation is a list of comparable properties that have sold in your area, or data on what you just bought the house for. You also may be able to provide information that the assessor is not aware of, such as evidence of deterioration of property condition, encroachments, neighboring development or other factors that would drive your assessed value lower.

In the state of Washington, property taxes are assessed at only one time each year. That is your opportunity to change the assessed value. In King County, they will mail you a Value Change Notice each year. You have to file your appeal 60 days after the receipt of that notice, or before July 1, whichever is later. The appeal is for next year’s tax assessment, so if you apply before July 1, 2009, you are appealing your 2010 tax assessment. If you miss the deadline, you have to wait until the next tax year. If you live in a different state, you will have to research the procedures and deadlines for your state/county.

In developing your appeal, you can tap the expertise of a local real estate agent to help you develop evidence of comparable sales prices. We do this all of the time for clients who have bought a home with us to help them through the process.

Here are links for counties in the Puget Sound area to help you with this process:

• King County Assessor – Value Disputes
• Snohomish County Board of Equalization
• Pierce County Board of Equalization
• Thurston County Board of Equalization
• Kitsap County Appeals