Amazing Park City Area High End Home Sales. Property Tax Primer.

Three Remarkable High End Home Sales
in the Park City Market

Follow the big money...  A few fat wallets are obviously getting tired of the wild gyrations on Wall Street.  Up 2%, down 2%, all in one day!  Can drive you nuts.  So, where else to put the money?  Well, to that point, in 2019 so far,  in the Park City/Deer Valley Real Estate market, there have been a stunning 26 residential homes sold and closed with list prices over $5m!
This home in Deer Crest, Deer Valley, listed recently for a stratospheric $25M.  I toured it, and described it as one of the finest homes I’ve ever seen in our market. Ski in/out of course.  Glass elevator, heated outdoor pool of course, and stellar construction and finishes.
(Click the photo to see details)

Typical at this price point, real, capable Buyers are rare, and I assumed it would take months, or at least well into next ski season to sell, if at all.  Wrong!    It went under contract to a Buyer in less than three weeks!  The high end of the Park City/Deer Valley real estate market continues to soar.  Keep in mind that the highest priced residential listing ever sold in the local Park City market was a $22M sale of a 33,000 square foot ski lodge at The Colony.
At nearly 22,000 sf, this trophy home is not small.   “Under contract” prices are, as usual not disclosed prior to closing, and I am guessing that in this case, the final closed sales price will also be undisclosed.  Either way, a remarkable sale in our fascinating Park City real estate market.
Another remarkable high end sale closed this month in the Park City market.  A great 8000sf home, no ski access, no river frontage, no helipad.  Listed at $14M.  Closed last week at an undisclosed sales price, but surely above 12M.   Location will surprise you.  Click the photo to see.

And if you think those are big dollar sales... check this one:  “River Bottom Ranch” on the Weber River near Oakley, UT, is a 2000 acre ranch with a 16,000 sf home.  Listed for $34M, the sale closed this week for allegedly over $32M.  Yes, it did include a tennis court.  And a helipad.   Click photo.
Property Tax Primer
Every August, every property owner in Summit County (and Wasatch county, and in fact every county in Utah), receives a preliminary annual property tax notice.  A final bill (statement) is then mailed in November, and due by November 30.  No fun, but part of owning real estate!
Property taxes are based on what the County calculates to be your property’s current market value: the “Assessed Value”.  Primary residences (or those leased out full time to a tenant) are taxed at about .6% (six tenths of one percent) of this value, while second homes,  short term vacation rentals, and land, are taxed at about 1% of assessed value.
The County does not always get it right; often substantially lower than current market.   They do not re evaluate value of every property every year, and sometimes do not re-assess for several years in a row, so that in a strong market, your valuation and taxes could jump suddenly in the year that they get around to it!  Property valuations also do not change automatically upon sale of a property (as in California’s Prop 13).
How does the County Assessor make these valuations?  Utah is a “non disclosure” state when it comes to real estate sales, which means that closed sales prices are not automatically disclosed to the county.  Even our recorded deeds only say “Ten Dollars and other good and valuable consideration”,  However, our Real Estate mls systems do have closed sales information, so to obtain current market data and comps, the county joins the real estate mls system and mines the same data there, that us Realtors use daily for comps and market analyses!.  As mentioned,  they mostly get it right, but not always.  If you think it’s low, don’t complain.   If you do think that this year’s assessed valuation of your property is suddenly too high, you can easily appeal it with a simple form called a BOE form (see the link below) and a couple of comparable sales from the past 12 months or so to justify an appeal.   Any comps need to really indicate a lower value, or they probably won’t buy it.
Summit County 2019 “BOE” property tax appeal form
If you do think your 2019 Assessed Value is high, or perhaps are not really sure, I can check comps for you, and send you any appropriate ones, if you decide to submit an appeal.  Happy to do it.  Deadline is September 15!
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