City buys Abbott St. property

[77TA]

Actually, when the city (or most governments, for that matter) buys a property, they don’t just look at what a seller is asking. They have an established appraisal process. It’s not guesswork and, instead of people being uptight at the city, they should be looking at an inaccurate BC assessment value.

Really good point. If the city is willing to pay that amount why wasn't it being taxed at that amount?

[one wheel]

If any seller was asking well above the assessed value & their property sells then BC Assessments can claim properties close by are now worth much more because of an actual sale took place.

I don't believe BC Assessments because they aren't current with the market going up or down ?

[KevinJP]

This is going to do wonders for the assessments next year for surrounding properties.

[cv23]

Really good point. If the city is willing to pay that amount why wasn't it being taxed at that amount?

If B.C. *bleep* bases their values on nearby comparables what did the City and the“independent appraisers” they hired base their valuation on? Clearly one, or all, the appraisers/assessors involved are out of touch with current real estate values In Kelowna as the discrepancy is 55% of the assessed value which translate to a few million not just a couple thousand

[normaM]

Maybe in a year the City can sell the property to Mission Group :/

[LANDM]

Really good point. If the city is willing to pay that amount why wasn't it being taxed at that amount?

If B.C. *bleep* bases their values on nearby comparables what did the City and the“independent appraisers” they hired base their valuation on? Clearly one, or all, the appraisers/assessors involved are out of touch with current real estate values In Kelowna as the discrepancy is 55% of the assessed value which translate to a few million not just a couple thousand

BC Assessment is responsible for giving a (theoretically) accurate evaluation of every property in BC. They cannot possibly have the same level of accuracy as an appraiser who is retained to provide an accurate valuation of a single property.
BC assessment will rarely be allowed in a home. An appraiser is almost always in the home. It is in the level of detail.

It is no different than a bank appraisal, which may turn into a desktop appraisal, where the bank and appraiser know a sales prices and the appraiser magically comes in with a price within $5k of the sales price. They usually aren't really worth the paper they are printed on, but they serve the purpose of covering the rear end of the lender since their purpose is specific and the time spent and resultant price would be really low.

I don’t know what the city did in this case, but they likely retained at least two separate appraisers to value the property.
BC Assessment staff sat at their desks and slaved over how to provide a reasonable valuation for thousands of properties for taxation purposes, once a year, using data they have on hand rather than by visiting the properties.

There is no reason for a witch hunt here on either side. Everyone is doing they best job they can, for the reasons specified to them.

[cv23]

BC Assessment is responsible for giving a (theoretically) accurate evaluation of every property in BC.

A 55% ($1.9 mil) difference clearly shows the difference between theory and reality.

Unfortunately taxes are a reality not a theory. Most of us live in the real world not a theoretical one so when rich property owners don't pay their fair share of the tax burden it falls on the rest of the property owners in the community to pay more than their fair share in order to make up the difference required to run the community.

[LANDM]

BC Assessment is responsible for giving a (theoretically) accurate evaluation of every property in BC.

A 55% ($1.9 mil) difference clearly shows the difference between theory and reality.

Unfortunately taxes are a reality not a theory. Most of us live in the real world not a theoretical one so when rich property owners don't pay their fair share of the tax burden it falls on the rest of the property owners in the community to pay more than their fair share in order to make up the difference required to run the community.

I agree, but I also realize that they do their best with limited resources. Unique properties are far more difficult for assessors. Also, the high value properties present furthermore difficulties with their limited market and sales. It is not a case of only high value properties being misvalued. It happens throughout the price range.

[typhoon44]

Market values change by a lot, especially for unique properties. There's nothing to see here.

[cv23]

Market values change by a lot, especially for unique properties.

Could you please provide an example of another, or any, under 1 acre property, unique or not, in Kelowna that has changed $1.9mil in value in 6 months with no improvements being made in that time?

[60-YEARS-in-Ktown]

Yes , Bc Tree fruit building downtown.
.
One thing about the property being discussed that is seldom found..
It adjoins an existing park, i think maybe even on 2 sides.... and it has a recreational asset, the tennis courts.
Very hard to find... great addition..

[cv23]

Yes , Bc Tree fruit building downtown.

BC *bleep* value 2020 $2.1mil
Act value 2020 $7.5mil
They only missed the mark by about $5.4mil or 257% !

Your assessment is based on the market value of your property as of July 1st of the previous year. When determining the assessed value, our appraisers consider your property’s unique characteristics, including:
The location of the home
The view from the home
The size of the home
The age of the home
Garages, carports, decks, pool, etc.
Comparable sales prices and other real estate market information
Our appraisers also consider recent sales of properties with similar characteristics to your property.

https://info.bcassessment.ca/Services-p ... nt-process


In addition to being an even bigger embarrassment to BC *bleep* than the Abbott St property it is yet another eye opener as to how BC *bleep* is not even close to doing the job they are paid to and profess to be doing. As an average property owner I can't help but wonder what my property tax bill would look like if these large dollar properties were paying the same "fair share" of the burden as the rest of us are.

I have zero issues with the CoK buying land , especially lakeshore land to expand a park, and especially doing so at a fair market value price.

[60-YEARS-in-Ktown]

It was desirable property, and it was on the news, ... so many folks knew about it .
Very rare for a piece like that to go on the market..
I think ask price was around 5.5 million. I will bet sellers were happy , even after commission.
I wonder what now happens to the assessment. Next year will be different..

[60-YEARS-in-Ktown]

Maybe the city did well on Abbott St. BC Treefruits , ....GREAT LOCATION. . cant get closer to council chambers/City Hall than that .

[cv23]

I wonder what now happens to the assessment. Next year will be different..

Only if BC *bleep* actually starts doing their job.
If nothing but to save face according the them when next years assessments roll around market conditions will have reversed nearly as much in the next six months as they obviously have risen in the last six months.
I've marked both of these two properties in my phone calendar so we can review them when the assessments come out next year and see what BC *bleep* does with the data specific to those properties. Even with actual sales figures their highly trained professionals can find these type of "unique" properties difficult to accurately evaluate you know.

ETA: The Tree Fruits property isn't that great for condos as Milroy's hotel right across the street will be blocking most of the lake view.