With home prices still falling in many areas, wouldn’t it be great to cut carrying costs?

Get to it. Lower values should mean reduced property tax assessments. Falling costs for some construction materials along with those lower home costs mean it’s wise to shop for cheaper home insurance. And an energy review is apropos with electricity costs rising.

If your home’s value and income have held up, you could refinance to a low interest rate or maybe “recast” an existing loan to a lower rate.

Homeowners are getting savvier about managing property costs, says John Garippa, a partner at Garippa, Lotz & Giannuario, a New Jersey-based tax appeal law firm.

Tax Reassessments

Many states and counties automatically reassess property taxes periodically, but some take their time.

“In parts of New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York it’s not unusual for reassessments to be 10 years apart,” Garippa said.

If your home hasn’t been reassessed or you don’t agree with a recent reassessment, contact your assessor’s office about the appeals process. Then contact a local real estate agent or appraiser to value your property. You need to determine from your assessor’s office whether a Realtor can be considered a property value expert or you need an appraiser’s opinion, Garippa says.

“It’s not unusual for some of these assessments to be reduced by one third by doing an appeal,” said Garippa, president of the American Property Tax Counsel. It does attorney referrals via APTCnet.com.

Houses can guzzle power. With electricity prices seen rising 2.3% this year, consider an energy audit.

Nearly all utility districts now offer free online energy audit tools, says Richard Oberg, who supervises planning of energy efficiency programs for California’s Sacramento Municipal Utility District.

These tools step homeowners through an energy review and tell ways to save. Oberg’s top moves: Use timers to control heat and air conditioning; swap out incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescents and manage the electricity use of electronics and appliances.

Some power strips can now “watch for power-off, and then turn off everything else,” he said.

So for instance, when a TV’s turned off the power strip can shut down everything connected, such as the DVD player or a stereo. Oberg says some utility districts have rebates on the strips. Some, as well as government programs, offer rebates for replacing appliances with energy-efficient ones.

Homeowners can also replace older windows with energy-efficient versions and do other energy revamps. But remodeler beware: Evaluate spending money on a home in times of declining values. Expensive updates may not provide a return on investment if you don’t keep your home for the long term.

If a home’s tax bill has come down via a reassessment but the insurance bill hasn’t, do another kind of audit. Experts say shop around for home insurance or seek a policy review from the existing insurer.

“You’re much better off with a broker or independent agent who can give you quotes from several different insurers,” said Amy Bach, executive director of United Policyholders in San Francisco.

Premiums vary regionally, but these factors affect insurance costs, according to a 2008 report by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners: “real estate values, building and construction costs, vulnerability to catastrophes (if covered), the level of urbanization and legal and economic phenomena.”

Insurance Savings

Construction and materials costs “may be coming down in some areas and in other areas they may be coming up,” said Chris Hackett, an insurance expert at the Association of California Insurance Companies.

To cut insurance costs, raise your deductible, Bach says. And look critically at possibly unneeded policy extensions, such as for jewelry.

Refinancing a mortgage can be costly. Before shopping for a new one, see if the existing loan can be “recast” or “re-amortized.” This option on some fixed-rate loans lets borrowers put money toward principal and pay a small fee, to recast the monthly payment to a lower one instead of paying the loan off early.