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Answers (12)
- Cindy LaPeer ABR, e-PRO,SFR, Cdrs, "Houston Metro Pro"
- Contributions:2239
Most agents will do a CMA for FREE. But if you are concerned about your loan, then an appraisal (not a tax appraisal) is the surest way to know what you can get a loan for.
- Alan Harper, "Real Estate Guru 713"
- Contributions:8
In the Houston area, the acessor usually has the home pinned under the actual market value. A CMA is the only true way to get the value of a home. I offer free CMA's for property owners in the Houston area, as well as list for 5% vs the usual 6%, I also give my buyers 1% cash back at closing.
- Joyce Godwin, "Joyce Godwin"
- Contributions:8
In the Houston area, the Harris County appraisal amount is sometimes right on target, sometimes it is low and sometimes it is even high. What really matters is that a property is in line pricewise with other homes that have recently sold in the same subdivision or nearby rural area if it is not in a subdivision.
Just ask your realtor to do a buyer market analysis before you make an offer on a home. That way you will be looking at the same info appraisers will be looking at. Hope that helps.
Just ask your realtor to do a buyer market analysis before you make an offer on a home. That way you will be looking at the same info appraisers will be looking at. Hope that helps.
- Afshin Ben Rafael, "Ben001"
- Contributions:50
Well, some estates asses taxes at time of purchases. so it could be the property was last transfered very long time ago thus the lower price and lower taxes check with your local professional.
- Cindy LaPeer ABR, e-PRO,SFR, Cdrs, "Houston Metro Pro"
- Contributions:2239
As mentioned already, tax appraisal is very different than an appraisal you will need for your loan. You will want the tax appraisal to be low and the other to be high. In rare occasions, a property will lose its value because of something like mold or a fire. Just make sure you try to get a complete history of the house if possible.
- Amanda Nicodemus, "realtyhouston1"
- Contributions:222
The majority of houses that are listed for sale will be priced higher than the tax appraisal value assessed by Harris County Appraisal District, HCAD. You really shouldn't take this value into consideration when making an offer on a house. The lower the HCAD value, the lower the property taxes, which is what homeowners want!
Also, this value shouldn't have an impact on your getting a mortgage loan. Your lender/bank will require their own appraisal value to determine the actual market value of the house. This will determine how much the bank/lender will be able to loan you.
Make sure you work with a Realtor(R) that can advise you on the process of buying a house.
Good luck!
- Lisa Hanley, "LisaHanley"
- Contributions:4
I know that here in New Jersey each Township/Borough has a ratio of assessed value to market value that is available in the county clerk's office. Take the assessed value and divide it by the ratio which should get you close to what should be market value. The assessed value does not impact you financing whatsoever, the appraised value is what matters to your lender.
An interesting aside - check out the assessed values of the recent sales on the market analysis that your buyer agent provided to you to see how "your" house's assessment lines up with recent sales assessments. It will give you a good idea if you are buying at the right price. Good luck.
An interesting aside - check out the assessed values of the recent sales on the market analysis that your buyer agent provided to you to see how "your" house's assessment lines up with recent sales assessments. It will give you a good idea if you are buying at the right price. Good luck.
- Darrell Self, "Darrell Self"
- Contributions:349
All these answers below are great. You should be happy to have the home assessed for less than the sales price. You want to pay the least tax possible that is the way to do so. Tax assessments do not mirror market values with Texas being a nondisclosure state meaning that the sales price is not reported to the taxing entities.
- Susan Brock, "Brock and Foster"
- Contributions:24
In Houston, many owners fight their tax value each year, keeping it lower than market value. Also, if the house value has increased due to significant upgrades/remodeling since October 2010, its likely that HCAD does not yet know about those upgrades. Because HCAD does "mass appraisal" values, HCAD is not always aware of the specific updates to a house - even if they have been done in years past.
- Call The Sisters, "Call The Sisters"
- Contributions:373
Tax assessments are computed differently in different states. Some are at fair market value. Others are a percentage of fair market value.
Some states and/or communities have not updated the assessment in years.
The tax assessment is only used to compute the property tax. It should not be relied upon to determine fair market value.
Your buyers agent should be able to do comps for you to determine if the asking price is within norms.
Some states and/or communities have not updated the assessment in years.
The tax assessment is only used to compute the property tax. It should not be relied upon to determine fair market value.
Your buyers agent should be able to do comps for you to determine if the asking price is within norms.
- ConnieK_Oklahoma
- Contributions:2899
i wouldn't be concerned, that simply means the current owners have likely be anble to get away with not paying enough taxes for a while. The loan will look at the appraiser's report, the appraiser shouldn't base their value on the tax record assessment.- afterall they are being paid to find the value not copy it.
So the one thing that this does mean for you is that whatever the current taxes are will not be a sufficient amount for estimating your taxes, they WILL GO UP! so don't live so tight against the payment that you don't have room to double the taxes.
So the one thing that this does mean for you is that whatever the current taxes are will not be a sufficient amount for estimating your taxes, they WILL GO UP! so don't live so tight against the payment that you don't have room to double the taxes.
- Massoud Atallah, "massoudMA"
- Contributions:21
In my community, the assessement is very rarely in line with the fnal sale price of the home. It's possible that the assessor has not been in to the property in some time, the could have been upgrades, or there could have been some unrecorded damages. In MA we've seen properties sell for $100k more or less than assessed values. You should be pulling comps to do your analysis, or have someone doing this for you. That is the best way to nail down the value of a property.
Good luck!
Good luck!
Should I be concerned that the tax appraisal is substantially lower than the asking price?
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