Next to financing costs, property tax is often the single largest operating expense for multi-family owners and investors. Reducing this burden not only boosts profitability but also has a direct and immediate effect on the stability of multi-family assets in a rapidly shifting economic landscape. Unless you have proper representation to present and leverage the issues unique to your property with insight, assessing authorities may be inclined to apply expense ratios or cap rates that are typical of area properties which, though superficially similar to yours, result in tax relief that falls short of the savings demanded by a rigorous and pin-pointed analysis of your property. Siegel & Callahan’s strategic teams meticulously unpack the facts that drive value to distinguish your appeal, resulting in consistently superior outcomes.

Vacancy

In the current climate of disruption and uncertainty, vacancy and non-payment of rents will determine the survival or failure for multi-family assets across the valuation spectrum. Local applications of occupancy factors vary significantly and, in some counties, are currently evolving as assessment practice adapts to emerging patterns among tenant populations. It is therefore critical that your representation has not only a full mastery of current applications of vacancy in assessment practice, but also can find ways to express vacancy in other valuation methods such as income analysis or appraisal to ensure equitable treatment of your property.

New Acquisitions

The universe of multi-family taxpayers is divided between investment groups with long-term strategies for capital investment and owner-managers driven by a need to realize consistent profits in the near term. Given widely differing objectives, purchasers from opposing corners of the market may tender radically different offers for the same income-producing asset. To prevent sales-chasing by assessment authorities in thinner markets where the availability of potential purchasers is limited, the purchase objectives of a buyer must be extracted and identified to clarify discussions of value. In this way, focus is maintained on the actual income-producing potential of the property itself. We remain dedicated to the proposition that a property should never be assessed at a value above its current capacity to generate income.

Integrated and Focused Execution

We assemble the best and most comprehensive team possible for every appeal. Our configuration of niche concentrations across strategic groups ensures that, within each sub-specialty of valuation practice, our most seasoned and experienced lawyers and professionals personally review the aspect of your appeal in which they have the deepest experience. This way, every appeal we present enjoys the benefit of the insight and focused review and attention of the top talent in our practice. Combining our integrated team workflow and proprietary analytics enables us to leverage market data to anticipate valuation trends in every region where we practice.