Episode 31: Understanding and Appealing Property Taxes in Cook County

“You have to watch out for your property taxes,” has been said in numerous episodes. On today’s episode we bring a tax appeal expert to explain how to proactively protect your investment against increasing property taxes. Tim Jacobs of KSN Law dives deep into the complex world of Illinois property taxes and about the multiple ways you can appeal property taxes in Chicago, the tax assessment cycle and what data points you can leverage to strengthen your apparel cases. Tim also gives a tip on how to get an owner exemption on a property you don’t actually live in, and why you might not want to go that route. Listen in to our conversation with Tim Jacobs and if you learned something, please leave us a rating and share us with a friend.

Timeline:

Landlord tip of the week 1:30

Guest Intro 4:00

How are properties assessed in Cook county? 4:55

Why are cook county assessment dates inconsistent compared to other counties? 11:30

How do non paying tenants change things in the covid environment in terms of assessments? 14:30

Do vacancies during long rehab projects apply towards an appeal? 16:09

Is there a vacancy threshold that is important to cross to raise the argument? 18:10

What are the steps when reaching out to someone to appeal taxes? 19:00

When people file appeals, how often is the appeal verified in person? 23:45

How does permitted work fit into tax assessments? 25:00

How can I guess what my taxes will be after a major value-add project? 25:55

What determines what the assessed value becomes? 28:11

How do homeowners exemptions play into MFH you live in? 30:30

Is there a limit on how many units I can have and still get the homeowners exemption? 32:40

What are some nuances to Cook county’s property taxes? 35:40

Why is it that Chicago pays considerably less taxes than the outside suburbs? 37:40

Why would someone hire an attorney to appeal taxes over doing it themselves? 40:25

How do attorney’s get paid for tax appeals? 41:30

Wrap up:

What is your competitive advantage? 43:03

What is one piece of advice you’d tell a new investor? 44:24

What do you do for fun? 45:30

What’s a good self development tool you use? 46:20

Who is one person you’d recommend in your network? 46:47

How can we learn more about you? 47:25

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Notes:

Guest Name: Tim Jacobs

Guest Company: KSN

Guest Link: https://www.ksnlaw.com/filebin/Bios/TimothyJacobs.pdf

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