Zillow Advice: Buying Process - What is tax assessors value, really mean?

When you look at real estate ...

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:59:00 GMT

When you look at real estate values there are 3 main values you can get for your home.
1. Tax assessment - this value is used strictly for the assessor to determine how much value your home has in order to tax it. You want this value to be LOW! They pull their value from past sales in your immediate area usually. unfortunatly many assessors do not view the home every year. In our area it could be up to 4 years before they reassess the property. This causes these numbers to be innacurate many times.
2. Market Analysis - this value is doen by your local REALTOR. The values are pulled from local sales as well as other homes that are currently on the market, Pending sales, and also homes, that did not sell(expired listing). This is used to determine what your home should be listed and sold for.
3.Appraisal. This is to determine the lending value of your home. This is done much like a Market Analysis, but instead of a REALTOR doing it, an appraiser does the research. This value is for your lender to determine if the value is there to loan you the money.

I would recommend contacting a local REALTOR to do a Market Analysis for you on the property. This would give you a good idea of current values.

Tax assessor's value means ...

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:51:00 GMT

Tax assessor's value means that it the rate that is used to calculate your taxes.

Does it mean you can sell it at that price? In some states, yes, and in others definitely no. In my state, it is the value I could have sold the property for two years ago. In another location, it is the value I could have sold in 1970.

Hi!My home I am buying on ...

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:48:00 GMT

Hi!
My home I am buying on the county site said it is tax valued at 110K-this is the value the county uses to charge my tax.(land and home are combined in that figure)
My appraisal gave me 2 figures 69k and 90k-the lower was a market comparison-how many homes for sale in area, comparable home prices sold, etc, the other value, who knows.
So I got 3 figures to work with-oh and the z-estimate was 163K-so I guess my point is until you know, you do not know!
In Ohio, if you go to your counties web site, you can find the EXACT tax figures, the past sales, etc. I found the information very valuable