Apparently they're trying to get all informals done by the 20th of June. Also found out that they mailed the evidence packet, but it just hasn't arrived yet because the hearing date was set so soon, fuckers.
They moved a bunch of desks into an upstairs room and have about 20 stations set up right next to each other. They're very clear you only get 15 minutes. Last year we were in the cube farm downstairs at normal workstations.
I was able to get 30k knocked off, but considering they raised appraised from 290k to 390k or so it doesn't really feel like anything. I showed up with pics of needed repairs (roof and porches have leaks and need to be completely replaced) and got very little traction with that. I was nice to the guy and he used a unremodeled house as a comparable (our neighborhood was all built between 1960 to 70ish, and I think he said it sold for 290k), but they improved our condition because we pulled a permit last year and that skewed how they compare values to our neighbors & comps. Didn't matter that we didn't add square footage and almost all of the cost went straight to HVAC and water heater replacement, because we moved 2 interior walls to make a bathroom bigger they consider it a major remodel. Our plumber refused to work without pulling permits (don't blame him, its his licence) but next time I'll think twice about pulling permits for any work. I'm glad we don't plan on staying in this house too much longer as the taxes will quickly be assessed at well more than the house is worth if they aren't already. Not 1% but goddamn this process is frustrating.
Side note, almost laughed out loud at the dude who sat down next to me and tried to argue that his house was worth less than his purchase price from this year. Don't think he had much luck.