John Murphy Reports

The market continues to move much faster than the tax assessors can adjust property values.

I ran some numbers last week based on closed transactions in Plymouth, MN for 2009 and that had made it in to the county records system.  There were many more closes that actually occured, but not all had been loaded in to the Hennepin County Tax Record system.

It turns out that on average, properties sold for 87% of the Estimated Market Value (EMV) which is essentially the tax assessed value.   That being the case, I suspect there will be many people contacting the city asking for a reduction in their taxes.  This situation is becoming a bigger issue by the day and threatens local governments across the country according to this NY Times story.

So we’re all on the same page, you can look up any property on Hennepin County by typing in the address to this site.    You’ll find the Estimated Market Value about 2/3rds down the page once you’ve plugged in an address.   If I property had an EMV of $350,000 that means on average, it ended up selling around $305,000.

The fact of the matter is the market is moving much, much faster than the tax assessors can keep up with given that they make adjustments once per year.  Most people know they are overtaxed.  But we are particularly overtaxed when it comes to over inflated property values.  Government continues to take a greater share of your income.  This is a quiet way that most people don’t even realize is happening.

I noticed in my research tonight that it appears there is another foreclosure coming in Medina Highlands which is a wonderful neighborhood in Medina with about 70 luxury townhomes built by Charles Cudd.

These townhomes usually offer 3 bedrooms, 3 baths and a 3 car garage.  They average about 2800 – 3000 total finished square feet.  At the peak they used to sell around $625-$650k, but in 2009 they are closer to $475-$520k.  Sometimes you can do better than this if you’re able to pick up a foreclosure like someone did this spring.

For more information about any of the foreclosures in Medina or Plymouth, or if you’d like to receive e-mail updates on foreclosures that might meet your criteria, feel free to subscribe at www.MedinaDistressSales.com.