Paying property taxes can be a long and difficult process without a knowledgeable and experienced third party like Heller & Consultants handling it for you.
If there’s one thing people love, it’s being able to save a dollar or two, and when it comes to their home—and the taxes they pay for it—the more you can save, the better.
Many Long Islanders are familiar with the concept of charging property taxes to the county or town where they live to keep their bills down. However, this can be a long and difficult process, and people often enlist knowledgeable third parties to handle it for them.
When it comes to saving Long Islanders every penny they could potentially save on property taxes, no other company has a proven track record and dramatically reduced fees Heller & Consultants Tax Appeals accumulated over the years.
Based in Rocky Point, with satellite offices in Deer Park and Farmingdale, Heller & Consultants first opened in 2007 to serve clients in Nassau and Suffolk. Owner Adam Heller was kind enough to lay out the basic process of why people grieve their taxes and what his firm can do to help them get there.
“Your tax bill is based on what your municipality thinks the property is worth…the more they think your property is worth, the higher your property tax, the less they think it’s worth, the more your property tax lower,” he said. “What we’ve done is show the assessor that it’s worth less than what they say it’s worth, reducing the homeowner’s property taxes.”
Paying property taxes is really a no-loss situation for any homeowner. First, Heller & Consultants charges clients nothing up front, nothing at all unless they actually get a tax deduction, in which case they typically charge half of the first year savings. Unnecessary visits will also not be made by Heller representatives or any Suffolk or Nassau officials, and homeowners are protected by New York State law so their taxes will not be increased for filing a grievance.
Also, if the idea of a successful property tax exemption has some homeowners worried that it will actually lower the market/sales price of their home, it doesn’t. In fact, it increased the value of their home instead! MLS research shows that homes with lower property taxes than surrounding homes sell for 10-20% more than surrounding homes; therefore, lowering your property tax assessment can actually increase your home’s market value.
When it comes to Heller & Consultants’ success in saving clients money, nothing says it better than the fact that they are a record-breaking agency, Heller said.
“Our firm recorded record one-year residential property tax reductions in both Nassau and Suffolk County,” he said. “The Nassau County record was $73,443 and Suffolk County was $29,185.”
It’s no accident that Heller & Consultants’ record of saving clients property taxes is so high; Heller notes that they put their all into each case they take on, while many of their competitors will only do this for their high-profile clients.
“We spend more time preparing cases, more effort than other companies. We work just as hard to save homeowners $1,000 a year or $70,000 a year,” he says. “Many firms prioritize their cases based on the most profitable case, and we’re really proud to look at each case individually and put each individual under the microscope and prepare the best evidence we can to present in court. After all, the onus is on us to prove the assessors wrong.”
Heller & Consultants will collect property taxes for residential and commercial clients.
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Heller said 2020 will be his company’s busiest year ever, simply because people are doing what they can to save extra money as many face financial hardship.
In addition to the pandemic, Nassau County’s recent overhaul of its assessment system has been a headache for people this year, Heller said. The assessed value of every property in Nassau has basically been reset, so even if a person has grieved in the past, they are starting from scratch in 2020.
“Nassau has started to reassess annually, so it’s very important for Nassau residents to start grieving their taxes every year,” he said. “In Suffolk, by contrast, you can only win one tax appeal every other year. If you win one year, you can’t win it again.”
When it comes to helping people navigate the complex legal system — and saving them some hard-earned money in the process, including not charging fees unless they succeed — Heller says he and every second he makes Chung’s hard work is well worth the investment of his dedicated advisors.
“I used to be a real estate agent and during the downturn I sold the business and the sad property tax started, which is very similar to how we value real estate and still help people,” he said. “Unlike a lot of companies, we update our clients on a monthly basis as it usually takes 12 to 18 months to get results and others disappear before a verdict is made. We are always honest and always give more for our clients effort.”
To learn more or to apply for a property tax exemption, visit hellertaxgrievance.com.
