What I do for you or anyone else with property tax reduction of your property
There are four major ways to see if an home owner can get a property tax reduction.
1) By homes that are less in assessed value that is comparable to yours WITHIN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD ASSIGNED BY THE LOCAL ASSESSOR
2) By looking at all of your information to make sure there are no factual errors I verify all the information To see If there is a possible error & then I come out and personally take photo's and make a record of it.
3) I look for recent sale comps WITHIN your neighborhood YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD ASSIGNED BY YOUR ASSESSOR.
4) I talk to my appraiser after I find possible sales comps to use for a new appraisal IF YOUR PROPERTY IS OUTSIDE THE BOUNDRIES THAT YOUR ASSESSOR HAS DESIGNATED FOR YOU.
5) If I find major factual errors we can ALSO file for a CERTICATE OF ERROR FOR A refund.
I do all the research and evaluation AND WHICH is the best way to approach your property tax reduction &/or refund.
Per my written terms of agreement I get $100.00 up front for researching WHICH INCLUDES any out of pocket fee's. Then I get 1/3 or 33.3 % of your savings for the first year only and if you get a refund I get the same 33.3% of the refund.
NO ONE THAT DOES THIS FOR A LIVING WILL GIVE YOU THE TIME AND SERVICES THAT I PERFORM.
I would appreciate if you have ANY OF THESE ITEMS TO MAKE BY WORK EASIER AND LESS EXSPENSIVE FOR YOU
Qfter working for CROOK I mean COOK County ASSESSOR's Ofice for too many years that I want to remember and helping hundred's if not thousands of home owners I find myself besides myself that not more home owners don't file appeals/complaints to reduce their property tax's. For many years I have seen that 60-80 % of homeowners should all be filing and they don't. I am Glad that people are starting to wake up this unjust, unfair system/society that only is getting worse with our tax dollars.

Thank you,
Sincerely yours,
Don Yosef marcus GRI,ABR,CCREC
DJM Property Tax Reductions
DonYo770@aol.com
847-361-7770

Dear Eryn,
Matter of fact when you go to an attorney for help they charge a retainer fee. Not knowing whether or not they can fully help you untill they all the information from you and they do their research.
Matter of fact the days of being a chaufer are long over for me. I Do charge buyers and now sellers who homes are needed of a short sale money up front. Maybe you can work 40 hours a week doing research and driving arouund I can't. I know what i give to my customers/ clients are second to none. Very few individuals have the experience and knowledge that I have and if they want to give it away G-d Bless them. I have help Thousands in my life time free of charge but that doesn't pay your bills.
I am like a property tax reduction Doctor , when was the last time to went to a doctor for a physical/ check up to see if anything was wrong and he ddn't charge you. No one examines to the degree that i do. I take on cases that no one else would even try to do.
My pin is 16-26-205-043.
Since we have an un just system with unfair lot size values , non reported true effective age of properties, neighborhood codes that are not designed properly lay out and a crazy state multiplier that is extremely flawed with its three year averaging & because I worked on it years ago I saw how it operated. The whole property tax sysem needs a completely over haul,but then you would be out of business like the many attroneys who do this for a living. .
You say thiis process doesn't take much time !!!
HA.Ha,Ha.Ha HA,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha
To do you job extremely well you have to look under every stone. Take NOTHING for granted, double and tripple check on every detail to see if it is correct. Obviuosly you don't go that far like most individuals in this industry. I DO !!!!!!!! THIS IS WHY I GET MY WELL DEServed Fee Up Front. Anyone can scratch the surface for free I go way below for fee. Time and Time again I have seen no reduction until I go way below the surface until I find something. This is what separates the men from the boys. Time and Time again I get calls from people who used an attorney but didn't really get the full reduction that they were intilled to becuase it would of been too time consuming or would of had to go out to their property to do the proper anaylsis needed. Can you see an attorney going out to 100 homes before they file a complaint ?They can't afford to do that but I can now with the up front fee.
I hope that makes you a liittle clearer on what a Realtor and a Property Taxx Reduction Specialist can charge. Matter of fact my office is thinking of charging for virtual tours for each listing taken if the owner wants one done. Do the maths A virtual tour is $250 times 25 listings that maybe be in todays market 5 sells in one one year. You are out $5,000 out of your pocket especially if the listing cancels or expires. I don't know too people that can handle those yearly losses.
Don Yosef Marcus
847-361-7770
DonYo770@aol.com

Don,

Give me your pin number and let me check for you...FOR NO FEE! It has nothing to do with if someone can afford $50-$100. It has to do with the fact that this is the nature of the business.

I feel I have an ethical obligation to let someone know up front if I can help them before I charge them any money. You and I both know that it doesn't take much time at all to see if someone is assessed high...the time is invested in all the research to prove their assessment is high. Again, I have no reason to charge in advance just like a contractor or body shop doesn't charge for an estimate...it is the ethical thing to do. As a Realtor acting as a buyers agent, DO YOU CHARGE YOUR CLIENTS FOR YOUR GAS WHEN THEY GO TO LOOK AT FIVE HOMES? ABSOLUTELY NOT AND THIS IS NO DIFFERENT!

I am not going to argue with you. You do yours your way and I will do mine my way. I know I have been very successful and it seems you are too from what you say. I just do not feel it is right to charge for a service unless you are providing something in return.

Yours truly,
Eryn
lakecountytax@yahoo.com

Dear Eryn,
Why don't you see if you can reduce my home ? I would love to see what you come up with? Do you research and give me a call or e-mail anytime since you are the Lake county expert.
Sincerely yours,
Don Y. Marcus
DonYo770@aol.com

Dear Eryn,
Every good and honest lawyer &/ or individual that does this for a living ALWAYS charges an very small retainer fee or out of pocket expense fee. I can name a half a dozen right off of the top of my head. I always say you pay form you get. If someone can't aford $50-$100.00 up front than its not worth my effort or see whether or not they can can a refund &/ or reduction. You can e-mail me directly at DonYo770@aol.com. I have help owners reduce their property tax's in many different county's across ILL and other states. The fundelmentals are the same if you haven taken any classes envolving property tax's. The principals are the same whether you live in Chicago,cook county,deerfield,lake county or any county in the USA. I HAVE REDUCED OVER ONE MILLION DIOLLARS IN PROPERTY TAX'S IN MY CAREER SO YOUR ADVISE ABOUT LAKE COUNTY IS NOT TRUE. I went to the assessor last year and this year HE WAS NOT ABLE TO HELP REDUCED MY PROPERTY ASSESSMENT, BUT THROOUGH MY KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERTISE i WAS ABLE TO GET THE JOB DONE. I knew that he probably couldn't help me but he is our elected offical so who else should be able to get the job done ! Because of my backgound and being a REealtor I can be sucessful 90 % if not more save a home owner money on tax's if i help them file their case.
Lake county is not so different than cook county you just have to dot your i's and cross your t's more.
Sincerely yours,
Don Yosef Marcus GRI,ABR,CCREC
CENTURY 21 Agent for 22 years
847-361-7770
DonYo770@aol.com

Don,

COOK COUNTY is so very, very different than LAKE COUNTY. No one likes to touch Lake County because of the time involved in fighting them and the real estate expertise you must have. I have NEVER charged anyone in advance and it only takes me a short amount of time to be able to tell if the appeal is worth my time and the clients. We have won appeals for over $6,000/year and we have had some denied and seen everything in-between. Part of providing this service to clients is knowing that you might have to spend a little time to let someone know that you cannot help them. I could never take a payment in advance (and I have NEVER heard of that being done) for this type of work. Again, if anyone is interested in appealing RISK FREE e-mail us at either isrecruiting@yahoo.com or lakecountytax@yahoo.com.

Eryn

Dear Shaw,
I have worked for the COOK COUNTY ASSESSOR'S office for 8 yrs and helped 1,000's of home owners through out cook county.
I live in Highland Park and have meet with our officials complaining of these unfair / unequal tax burden that we have. I have sucussfully reduced my and other property tax's that I do on the side when I am not too busy with real estate. I am a realtor for 22 yrs. that KNOW'S HOW to BEAT the SYSTEM one way or another.
I do charge for my time and services. I have been sucessfull through both the board of Review and the & the state property review board. I do charge an up front fee that tis well worth it., becuase to do a good job it takes alot of research up front to see if you qualify for a a property tax reduction.
Call me any time at 847-361-7770.
You must know the in's & out's of this business to be sucessfull. One small detail can either make or break your case.I have been doing this for over 25 years on and off. FROM MY RESEARCH I have found that anyone that have brought a property in the last few years especially needs to contact me. I just started to make a list of properties that i know that i can reduce and will be sending out a mailer soon. Attorney's have hired me to do their homes in the past. My sucess rate since I have been doing this is about 90 %. I also can get refunds from past tax's paid also.
You don't ......................................... NEED TO HIRE A ATTORNEY to WIN
Sincerely yours,
Don Yosef Marcus GRI,ABR,CCREC
847-361-7770

I am experienced in fighting Lake County's property taxes. I charge 25% of what I save you the first year only. So if I save you nothing, you owe me nothing. If I save you $1,000/year you only owe me a one time fee of 25% of your first year savings, which would be $250. E-mail me at isrecruiting@yahoo.com if you are interested. There are no strings attached and I have done this time and time again. I work out of Vernon Hills and Long Grove. The "blue cards" for Ela Township (60047) will be out very soon and you have to act very fast (usually within 30 days) to file an appeal. Good luck and I hope I can help you.

Shaw - please let me know what stats you collected.... You can see how the county spends it's money at the web reference noted below....

Don't waste your time trying to fight the government. Spend your time figuring out how to make more money and legally shelter it from taxes. That's the only way to "win".

I have heard and I live in Lake county that they are skewed in there favor and that fighting is usally a lost cause but would love to fight them, my taxes in long Grove are crazy also. Herb

I hired an Atty. last year to help in my fight...but ended up doing all the research myself (yes, he did not get paid)!
In my case there were no properties that matched up to my own...so I appealed on the fair market value. Get a real estate agent to give you a CMA..an analysis of your property and everything that has sold in the area for at least the last 8 mos. I have won my appeal the last 2 years...and yes I went before the board...overwhelm them with research, newspaper articles and get a realtor to feed you info!!

Shaw,
I am in the same situation with you, I live in Lake County, IL, and just got in the mail the tax assessment for 2008. It is absolutely ridiculous. My taxes went up a lot but properties went down in value.
Last year I 've appealed my taxes in front of a board of 4-5 people but of course with no success. There are no attorney I know of that will take on Lake County assessment office.
I really hope that somebody knows how to fight this!!! Any information on how to fight these bureaucrats is highly appreciated.
Thanks all,
Marcel

I too live in Lake county...over 8 years our taxes have gone up more than $1000. At this rate we will have to move out of state to afford to even own a home. Taxes are 1/3 of our mortgage payment!

But honestly, I do not see ho lawyers can help, they cost a fortune themselves. The best bet is to vote in people who have a platform of tax reform.

Here is a solution get everyne to stop paying taxes until they meet standards showing actual value and need for there services. Require the city to return all funds paid for unlawfull execution of the law

I've appealed on my own. There's info from others in the fight at http://www.citizensactionproject.org/ . I've found no lawyer that'll take on Lake County property assessments, although it's possible to find them in Cook county, IL. I would recommend getting an appraisal done and appealing to the state, which I'm doing now. Unless it's blatantly obvious, the Lake County Board of Review will do what bureaucrats are best at - nothing.

The tax man is going to get your money, one way or the other.

good luck

The long term challenge is our county governments are experiencing a short fall in revenues from building starts, impact fees, and real estate transfer stamp revenue. Being typical of our gov't instead of trimming the budget they will look for other ways of keeping their income up. Just look at Cook County's sales tax and increase in real estate transfer stamp fees.

Thanks Jory for your advise

Hank,
I have rescheduled my visit to lake county offices to obtain the stats - due to inclement weather. By next weekend I will have that information. I suspect (like you do) that only lawyers can wheel and deal with the township officials. Let us wait for the stats to prove that. When the increased assessments came in, I dutifully filed for a hearing by the lake county prop tax appeals board and went there the second week of december 07. The hearing was a joke. The township had used homes in a different subdivision far superior than where I live and tried to compare it against mine. I took another home in my subdivision and compared against it and proved that my assessments were higher. The answer I got from the hearing officers were that I need to provide more than one (at least three) comparables. In otherwords, they decided not to address the disparity I showed in the comparison but went on with the technicality and decided to reject the appeal. I told them, unlike them, property comparison is not my full time job. They told me if I don't like their decision to appeal to the state. What is the point in hiring a lawyer - they take half of what you save and you are back on square one again, when the taxes go up the next year. My personal email is sjahan22@hotmail.com - can you send me an email with your telephone number.? Would you have time to be at the Lake county office when I go there.

Rgds
-Shaw

I tried to find a lawyer who would appeal my recent 33% assessment increase in Lake Zurich to no avail. My personal experience in another IL county on tax assessment appeals was that without a lawyer I had no chance of an assessment reduction. I'd be interested in joining your fight if it could lead to a reduction of my absurd tax assessment increase. If you know of any lawyers who will appeal Lake County assessments please let me know. Hank

The Moraine Township tax assessor visited our office (Baird and Warner in Highland Park) and said that they will be happy to help anyone interested in appealing their taxes. That is what they are there for, so stop into your township assessors office for help. Or you can contact me at jory@propertyDiva.com and I will help guide you in the right direction. You can also visit my website at http://www.propertyDiva.com