Over the years of being in this business, several constants have become obvious. So here they are. This is one of the easiest ways for my firm to gain more business. If you have ever used a property tax consulting firm in the past, you understand the weaknesses of our competition. The disadvantages of employing a large, regional consulting firm for a property tax engagement is multifold and can only briefly be summarized here.
Property tax is a local issue, necessitating local market data and a local presence.
A firm headquartered in New York, Philadelphia or Atlanta cannot begin to have the local market expertise. Many, many property tax consulting firms do NOT have a staff of real estate appraisers. In essence, they are only one big marketing company trying to get as many clients under multi- year contract as possible. You are under a multi-year contract with the property tax consulting firm but you do not seem to be achieving tax savings each year. That is because the consulting firm does not want their competition to have your business.