One overlooked pitfall of owning a house that – with your intervention – can cultivate customers for life

But first, last night, some of my MBA accounting students have merciful volunteer work with me to help Atlanta homeowners address their real estate tax via the Atlanta Beltline real estate tax help (shout at Marian Davis) in collaboration with Atlanta Juride Aider (shout at Stacy Reynolds).

Here is only an example of what we saw:

In short, almost the value of this house in one year doubled. That is great if you sell the house or refinanced equity to take off, but it is a nightmare when you suddenly have to pay more to real estate tax, which, if you cannot pay, you could mean that you are losing your house due to a tax shield or tax sale. Yeesh.

And guess? We have noticed that many homeowners had lived in their houses year And had no exemption from a home that is offered in the US in most states. This exemption gives you an automatic discount to live in the house as an objection to the owner (in other words, if you are not an investor, the state will give you a tax benefits). But here is the catch: you have to ask for it. You have to register. It is not automatic – which is a pity, but we will talk about lobbying for another day.

The following that we noticed (because this is all public record) was that many people had neighbors who were not only on appeal to their real estate tax, but also won The profession – at several years in a lowered rate. And it is clear that those neighbors did not spread the word. It is better than never, but we saw so many people who had lived in their houses for 5 to 10 years without an exemption from a home and NEVER GREED They can rely on at least their real estate tax rate (so it does not go up every year). Yikes.

Now, if you are here in Georgia, here is good news: for the first time ever, even if you have missed the deadline for exemption from the homestead (usually around 1 April, depending on your province), you can now submit it while submitting an appeal to real estate tax – but all this is owed by 1 August.

Sharing is caring, so make sure you pass this on to homeowners you know, whether in the great state of Georgia or not, so that they can at least prepare for the deadline of next year. Again, we were shocked to see how many people had no exemption from a home or had it never has filed an appeal to lower – or freezing – their real estate tax.

Finally, because I wear my professor hat, it makes sense that I have homework for you to help both your company grow and to create brand loyalty among your neighbors.

Homework for plus points in real estate (Looking at my mortgage brokers and friends of real estate agents):

• Homestead -Exemption: To remind Your customers to apply as quickly as possible – it is not automatic!
• Profession Deadlines: In Georgia, August 1 is the Cutoff this year for professions and, firstLate homestead archives.
• Neighbor: Many homeowners simply miss because nobody told them. Be the one who does that, even if they were not Your customer! Bonus: Like a real estate tro this is one Prouded, old-school marketing tip This promotes goodwill and helps to build your book with new matters.

Luckily learn!

Lee Davenport is an international real estate trainer (as well as a former RE/Max Managing Broker and Agent).

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial department of Housingwire and the owners.

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