WELCOME

Hello and welcome! This time of year in Atlanta is something else: the heat, the flowers in bloom, the excuse to jump into the pool at 10 a.m., and I am here for all of it! (That reminds me, I used to do a feature called “Swimming Pool Saturdays.” I should bring that back because it’s definitely the season for it.)

Today’s main piece is to help educate our homeowners, and it is one I genuinely wish someone had put in front of me years ago. Every spring, the county mails them a notice that quietly decides how much they’re going to pay in property taxes. Most people open it, glance at the number, assume the government got it right, and move on. That assumption is costing real people real money. This week I’m breaking down what that notice actually is, why the number on it is frequently wrong, and what homeowners can do about it before their window closes.

Let’s dive in!

STORYTIME WITH GLENNDA

The Most Expensive Piece of Mail You’ll Ignore All Year

Every year, the county sends you a piece of mail that quietly decides how much you owe in property taxes. Most homeowners glance at it, set it down, and never think about it again. You assume the government got it right and you assume there’s assume there’s nothing to be done except write the kind of check that makes you angry, and then you move on.

Let me tell y’all this—that your assumption that they have it right is one of the most expensive assumptions in homeownership. Now, I’ve been selling real estate in Georgia for a long time. Valuation is literally my job, which is why I can promise that the number on that notice is not gospel. This is an opinion. Like, when you see a doctor and you get some news that concerns you? You go for that second opinion. We all know that big opinions deserve a second look.

Guess Who’s Guessing? (The County)

Here in Georgia, property assessments don’t work the way most people might imagine. The county doesn’t send an appraiser through your front door to measure your closets and notice that you haven’t updated the kitchen since 2003. No one makes a snarky note to themselves about your paint job, saying, “Mauve? Really?” Instead, these appraisers do a drive-by. They look at comparable sales in your neighborhood. So, when the house down the street sells for $4 million, suddenly your assessment starts creeping in that direction, even if your house couldn’t fetch $4 million in your wildest dreams.

I have a friend who’s lived in his home for many years. He’s never sold it and he’s never taken on any major renovations. I use this $4 million example for a good reason—a house on his street sold for $4 million. Suddenly the county reassessed his home at $3 million. I promise you that I could not sell his house for $3 million, and I am Glennda Baker. My friend knew that assessment wasn’t right, so he went down and fought it himself. Oh, my stars, he had to put in the legwork, too. He did all his research, dug into all the sales contracts, and after an MBA-level assessment with pivot tables and everything, he had to take time off work to stand in front of a hearing officer. The good news is, he made his case and he got his assessment reduced.

However, most people never do that, largely because they don’t even know they can! The lesson here is that just because the county printed the number doesn’t mean it’s right.

Georgia Is a Different Animal

In Texas, appealing your property tax assessment is practically a sport. People do it every year. They talk about it at neighborhood barbecues and it’s a hot debate in the stands of their kids’ soccer games. Over there, it’s just part of owning a home. We do things differently in Georgia because less than 3% of homeowners appeal… even though nearly half of Georgia homes are overvalued for tax purposes. I want y’all to think about that gap for a second. Budgets are tight for a whole lot of people right now, and the last thing anyone needs to do is to overpay on what they don’t even own.

So, it boggles my mind that more people don’t know this is an option. But even if you’re aware it’s an option, there’s a whole intimidation factor. The process sounds like it involves government offices and paperwork and hearings and who has time for that? That’s why people just pay. Year after year, they pay more than they should, and I promise y’all that the county is perfectly fine with that arrangement.

Here’s the thing about Georgia specifically: your assessment can jump fast. I bought my own house on February 8th. Year one, my tax bill was $2,300. Year two? $15,000. That’s not a typo. When your neighbors’ houses sell at the height of a market boom (and we all lived through that boom after COVID) your assessment can spike whether you’ve done a single improvement or not. Permit a swimming pool? Your taxes go up. The house next door sells? Your taxes go up. You are constantly at the mercy of a number someone else decided and that feels so wrong.

The People Getting Hit Hardest

I think about the buyers I worked with who stretched to get into their homes. Let’s take my clients and call them Bobby and Susie. They bought at the top of their budget. I mean right at the top, their payment was within a few dollars of the maximum they could handle. Plus, they bought during the boom. And then October rolled around and they got a notice from their lender: they owed $6,000 more in property taxes because the assessment had readjusted to what they actually paid. On top of that, their monthly payment was recalculating upward to account for the higher tax bill going forward.

Guess what? Bobby and Susie became house poor, and it’s not because they made a bad decision. While they did their due diligence, they just didn’t grasp that tax bill at closing wouldn’t be the tax bill they’d be paying in year two.

I think about the seniors on fixed incomes. Specifically, I know a couple of elderly people who paid $173,000 for their home forty-seven years ago in Atlanta Country Club. They’ve watched the neighborhood transform around them. They haven’t done any improvements and their home hasn’t materially changed. Oh, but the homes around them sure have. Some of them are selling for $800,000, a million, or even more, and every year their tax bill creeps up. At some point, a house that hasn’t been updated in decades is a teardown. The buyer’s going to raze it and build something new. The actual value to an actual buyer is not what the county says it is… but try explaining that without documentation and a hearing.

What I’m saying is that here in Georgia, you don’t have to accept every number somebody sends you.

This Is Where Ownwell Comes In

I’ll be honest with you about why I’m talking about Ownwell: this is far and away the best tool I’ve found for something most homeowners know the absolute least about. With Ownwell, you have the ability to hire an expert to fight your tax bill, and you don’t pay them a dime unless they win.

That’s not a marketing line so much as it’s just how it works. Ownwell handles the paperwork, the research, and the hearing. You sign up in about three minutes, give them your address, and they take it from there. If they save you money, you split it: you keep 65%, they take 35%. If they don’t save you anything, you pay nothing. 88% of Ownwell customers save money. Average savings in Georgia: $774 a year.

Think about what $774 a year is. That’s a weekend away. That’s six months of streaming. That’s groceries for a month. That money is yours because it’s the cash you were overpaying to the county because nobody told you that you could push back.

When you receive your assessment, 45 days from the date on the notice to file an appeal. That window closes whether you know about it or not. The county sent you that notice. They’re counting on you to ignore it.

Don’t.

Check your address at ownwell.com. Three minutes. See what they find. You might be surprised (and relieved) at what you’ve been leaving on the table.

GLENNDAISM

Today’s Words of Wisdom

GLENNDA BAKER & ASSOCIATES

Main Character Energy

There’s a world of difference between a renovation and a restoration, and 2564 Lake Flair Circle NE in Atlanta understands that better than almost any home I’ve seen in around here. In a market full of gray floors, ripped-out character, and homes trying desperately to look like every Pinterest board from 2021, this house had the confidence to preserve what made it special in the first place.

Believed to be a Fortenberry House and designed as one of only two custom ranches of its kind in the neighborhood, the craftsmanship here is extraordinary. I’m talking thoughtful proportions and an oversized hallway to the walls of Pella windows that pull the outdoors into every room.

What I love most is that nothing authentic was erased for the sake of trends. OMS, that stove!! It’s still proudly standing in the kitchen, the vintage tile and vanities remain pristine, and every update feels respectful instead of performative. You can feel the hand of a designer throughout the home. This is the kind of house architecture people notice because craftsmanship, materials, and intentionality simply are not built this way anymore.