Hampstead, New Hampshire Lake front property owners win a giant battle against the town.
In case you missed this piece of news, a yearlong battle regarding year round status was recently decided at the Rockingham County Superior Court. The case involved a local couple trying to sell their shore front properties only to discover that the town of Hampstead had declared the properties as “seasonal”. Seasonal, even though the tax assessment card, long used by REALTORS and residents alike, to help determine the status of a property made no reference to being seasonal. As a REALTOR one of the first things we do when taking a listing or doing a CMA (comparative market analysis) is to go to the town and pull the card.
There is a big difference in value between a seasonal home and a year round home and if a home is considered seasonal by a town, it is extremely difficult to have that status over turned. Even if your home has all the normal things that you would imagine a year round home requires…like insulation, heat, water, electric and septic system…if it’s classified as Seasonal…you could have an expensive battle on your hands.
There have been a few lawsuits in the past regarding seasonal homes, years ago Sandown NH lost a big one and since that time, the town has been more reasonable. But Hampstead and Atkinson NH are both known as “notorious” when it comes to converting. You can read the story as published in the Tri-Town Times newspaper, January 31 2008 issue, page 2.
Like everything else there is a story behind the story…there are human beings involved, people whose dreams were destroyed, retirements altered. The couple mentioned in this case won but at what cost? Others, not as fortunate are still losing.
I wonder how much it cost the town of Hampstead to defend this case. How much of my tax dollars were wasted? How much value have these home owners lost due to the shifting market.
The Town of Hampstead is currently working on updating the tax cards and property status. They make it clear in the article that this ruling applies only to the homeowner who sued and not to all those with lots located in Zone B.
Live in Zone B…it might be a good idea to go pull your tax assessment card, it should be free if you’re the homeowner.
Disclaimer……
~The opinions expressed on this blog are that of Jay and Monika McGillicuddy and no one else’s and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not reflect the opinions of Prudential Verani Realty, Inc. or any employee thereof. Prudential Verani is not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information supplied by us on this blog. All information deemed accurate in is our best opinion and should not be relied upon without personally verifying it yourself. The information we post is believed to be accurate at the time of the post, our opinion of the situation may change at a later time with newer information or under a different set of circumstances. In other words, we reserve the right to change our mind from time to time. We are open to your comments on the blog post, however, we do reserve the right to delete your comment, if we find it offensive or hateful. Let’s all play nicely in the sandbox.
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4 responses so far ↓
1 Ann Cummings // Feb 3, 2008 at 8:25 am
Good for that particular homeowner, but as you said, at what cost? I feel very badly for those folks, and for any others caught up in something like that. I had not heard about that lawsuit, and I think it’s terrible that a town can just willy-nilly change a property to seasonal.
The cost to those folks was far more than just dollars, too. I’m sorry they had to go through all that, mentally and physically. I’m glad they won, as that hopefully will help others who find themselves in a similar situation because now legal precedent has been set that can hopefully help others overturn changes in zoning like that. And it just might cause towns to think twice before doing that to someone else…. hopefully.
Towns that try do things like that need to be reminded that they’re not all powerful.
2 Central Oregon Real Estate // Feb 3, 2008 at 1:03 pm
Another reason why having an agent that knows the area is some important also. This is important information for sellers and buyers in your area.
3 Monika McGillicuddy // Feb 3, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Ann…The cost was quite high and in more than money. This is an on going issue in many small towns that have lake front homes. I remember years ago pulling a tax card and noting that it did not reference that the property was seasonal…so we sold it as year round and it had been lived in year round for years. When the appraiser pulled the card ..the word Seasonal had been penciled in. It killed the sale!
4 Monika McGillicuddy // Feb 3, 2008 at 3:03 pm
Thanks Thesa! BTW I love that header picture on your blog….did you take it?
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