As you note, a tax assessment is NOT a reliable indicator of "value."
DBM reporters like Tumulty, who use the tax assessor's figure as a measure of "value" are misleading readers who probably think it means market value. It doesn't!
It's recent sales of "comparables" that are more indicative of a house's value than a tax assessment. And the fact that a smaller house, on the same block as the Frosts, sold for $485,000, makes me think $260,000 is a very lowball figure.
it was built in 1936 and has one bathroom
That's what the official record states, but we don't know if that's still true. Like the tax assessment, it might've been recorded years ago, before "improvements" (officially permit-ted or not) were made.
And we do know the Frosts have made recent "improvements" such as this fancy new kitchen.
Tax assessors can miss a lot, too. I had a tax assessor re-evaluate my property a couple of years ago. When I let him inside, he just glanced around for a few seconds and didn't bother going above my first floor (I have 2 1/2 stories). He also simply took my word for it how many bathrooms we have!
Btw, I wonder if the tax assessor (and the Drive-Bys) have noticed that Frosts have a "carriage house" at the rear of their property?
FReeper RGSpincich discovered the Frosts have had some work done on the "carriage house" when he pulled up the online public record of construction permits.
You need to send that info to icwhatudo!!!
Although the construction date of 1936 doesn’t help, the fact that it is a one-bathroom house is actually far worse for the value of the property.
Having actually owned a two-bedroom, one-bathroom home, and then later, a four-bedroom, 1.5 bathroom house, I know from painful personal experience that it’s difficult to sell such a home in this area, and that it significantly affects the value of the property.
sitetest
By the way, every home in Maryland is re-assessed every three years. The assessment of the Frost’s home could be as old as three years.
In which case, the assessment of $260,000 was done before the real estate market fell in this area.
sitetest
The property that sold for $485,000 on Collington is assessed for roughly $370,000 as of 7/1/2007. There are lots of properties on that street where the assessments are nowhere near the market value. Baltimore City assessments are way off, just like DC.
Here’s a good place to do some research.
http://sdatcert3.resiusa.org/rp_rewrite/
Google : Maryland Real Property Tax
Probably a "STOP" order having to do with the construction. His permits state that he will not make any structural changes, impossible if you are going to widen the doorways for wheel chair access. He probably tried to ignore the city because there is a contempt charge and it's eventual dismissal. In any case he has another court date coming up. court search
That site also shows a $285.20 judgment against Bonnie for what I assume are medical bills since the plaintiff is a doctor. Guess the SCHIP isn't so great after all.
Given the city injunction, the recent spat of construction on the property and the lack of a principal residence exemption, could be that Frost got caught trying to create seperate illegal rental units.
Possibly converting the Carriage house and/or the house itself. Attempting to slip in a couple of rental units in a residential area always gets the neighbors’ attention.
Swiftly followed by the building inspector’s attention and a stop work order.
