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I've confirmed with a very knowledgeable real estate lawyer that NYC property tax assessments can indeed vary dramatically even within the same building, and within the same line of units. NYC is supposedly notoriously unfair as it relates to property tax assessments and it's actually quite hard to appeal your property tax assessment in NYC. Why? Because your co op or condo building's managing agent does it for you. The condo or co op managing agent may hire a law firm specializing in Tax Certiorari to appeal the property tax assessment for the entire condo or co op building.
Remember that when you buy a condo or coop, you have to sign something that says "I authorize the managing agent to do Tax Certiorari on behalf of the whole building."
As a result, there's really no solution for appealing unfair property tax assessments on individual units. For example, what if you own unit 2B in your apartment which has the same layout as 3B, the apartment above you. And what if your property taxes are $500 a month greater than 3B? This kind of disparity in assessments between units of the same line in the same building can happen believe it or not.
Theoretically you could hire a Tax Certiorari firm to appeal your individual condo unit's property taxes for you. However, that's quite unlikely to happen as it's a matter of economics for the Tax Certiorari law firms. These law firms usually charge their fee on a contingency basis, as in only if they win. However, if they win then they usually take anywhere from 1/3 to 1/2 of the 1st year's tax savings as a fee. This fee might be reasonable if they win a case for a large condo or co op building with 200 units, but is it worthwhile for them if they win a case for a single condo unit owner? The answer is no because the amount of work involved for appealing the property tax assessment for a single unit is basically the same as the amount of work involved for appealing the property tax assessment for an entire building. Ignore the previous sentence if you own a condo unit worth $50 million, then it might make sense!
As a result, the only option for most condo owners in this situation would be to try to appeal their property tax assessment themselves. But this is a complicated process and how many of us have time or the patience to learn and do it ourselves?
Remember that when you buy a condo or coop, you have to sign something that says "I authorize the managing agent to do Tax Certiorari on behalf of the whole building."
As a result, there's really no solution for appealing unfair property tax assessments on individual units. For example, what if you own unit 2B in your apartment which has the same layout as 3B, the apartment above you. And what if your property taxes are $500 a month greater than 3B? This kind of disparity in assessments between units of the same line in the same building can happen believe it or not.
Theoretically you could hire a Tax Certiorari firm to appeal your individual condo unit's property taxes for you. However, that's quite unlikely to happen as it's a matter of economics for the Tax Certiorari law firms. These law firms usually charge their fee on a contingency basis, as in only if they win. However, if they win then they usually take anywhere from 1/3 to 1/2 of the 1st year's tax savings as a fee. This fee might be reasonable if they win a case for a large condo or co op building with 200 units, but is it worthwhile for them if they win a case for a single condo unit owner? The answer is no because the amount of work involved for appealing the property tax assessment for a single unit is basically the same as the amount of work involved for appealing the property tax assessment for an entire building. Ignore the previous sentence if you own a condo unit worth $50 million, then it might make sense!
As a result, the only option for most condo owners in this situation would be to try to appeal their property tax assessment themselves. But this is a complicated process and how many of us have time or the patience to learn and do it ourselves?
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