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Todd H.
 
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Default Home SALES values -vs- ASSESSED values?

doubter writes:
On Mon, 12 Dec 2005 16:04:09 -0500, "chaz" wrote:

I will be listing my home for sale early 06. I have done a lot of research
at the county courthouse for similar homes in my area and have found that
the "assessed" value and the "sale" values are very far apart, some as much
as double. Can someone put me onto a reference on how to make sense of all
the data I have acquired?

chaz


If the purpose of getting assessed values was to help you price your home
for sale you have wasted your time. Assessed values are for taxation
purposes only and for a variety of reasons have little or no relationship
to the current market value of a property. Actual methods of determining
the assessed value vary greatly from state to state and often county to
county. In any case they are of no value in setting an asking
price.


This is absolutely correct. Varies by county. Your county's
assessor's office may have a FAQ posted that details how they come
upon assessed valuation.

If the goal is to dispute your tax valuation. then comparing assessed
values is certainly appropriate. At least in my county one of the
ways to dispute you taxes is based on "lack of uniformity," and you
cite the properties with assessed valuations less than your house, and
imply "mine has been assessed unfairly high, thankyouverymuch."

If the goal is to set a sale price, ignore assessed valuation
entirely. A combination of closed sales data of comp properties in
the same area, and listed comp properties is typically used. Getting
at this data is tricky though. Recordings of property transfers
usually lag by several months if you're looking at public county
records. Realtors have MLS and tend to have the most up to date data
on closed sales. Interviewing realtors to see how they'd sell your
home is a useful tool for a seller to get a good feel for this and get
some access to this data.

If the goal is to determine a valuation for appraisal, appraisers have
a criteria that typically look at closed sales more strongly than
what's on the market.

Best Regards,
--
Todd H.
http://www.toddh.net/