"Oh my God, an honest real estate agent." HONEST?? OR MISINFORMED!!

Now thats funny!! In Florida of the property is a homestead the assessed value is capped at a 3% a year increase max. Therefore if someone has lived in their hoiuse for many years the assessed value could be very low. Then again in some areas it's very high. Rarely does it have any thing to do with market value.

Lenn-If you only knew how many times I've had to field that question-appraised value verses assessed value. But, I really love your Zillow comment.

Lenn, maybe the assessed value is a good indicator where they are, but it would not be for around here.  In Connecticut towns only do a re-assessment every 5 years, and the assessed valued and listing price is usually not close to one another.

OH NO!  Not in Oklahoma.. Assessed values are usually a very small percentage of what the market value would be.  In fact, when a property sells here, we are capped at 11% of that for a new assessed value..  It usually stays there until the property sells again.. 

Lenn,

Only too true that many times the impression of our chosen career is not of a pristine honest sales type.  Our properties are only assessed every 4 years.  They do not reflect market value and rarely are close to that.  There are exceptions to every rule though and we do have a few small neighborhoods hard hit by foreclosures. Newer neighborhoods with some unscrupulous builders and lenders (neither still in business). 

Hi Lenn - In Ontario, assessed value is also not the same as market value.  Mass computerized appraisals are generally done every few years, subject to various adjustments in a variety of circumstances.  In some cases, there are caps to reduce the impact of sharp increases in one year (i.e. to spread out the increase over a couple of years).

I did an inspection once for a County real estate assessor who said that assessment is intended to represent the current value of the house.

In my experience, that is not true.

Market value and appraised value is all that matters. Personally I think market value is more important than an appraisers opinion but unfortunately most buyers need a loan from a bank.

The last two Mayors of NYC gave up trying to figure out real estate taxes based on assessed values here. The assessed value formula is so complicated and has no bearing on the value of the property. Assessed value here is based on the income the property would generate if the property was a rental, then they use a convoluted formula that no one understands based on the year built. A 9 room Park Avenue apartment built in 1920 will be assessed much lower than a 2 room apartment built in 1999. Fortunately our real estate taxes are fairly low because they don't pay for schools so everyone who ever tried to change the re tax system gave up.

Lenn,

NYC has this disclaimer on their finance website. What they call market value is not the same as what we call market value.

Market Values

The property tax assessment process starts when the city's assessors determine the market value of your property. Despite the name, this value has little to do with what someone would actually pay for your property. In some neighborhoods the market values are close to actual property values. In others they can be as little as 5% of true values. Even within neighborhoods there can be wide variations.

I haven't read all of the comments, but that reblog confused me a bit.  Why in the world would an agent tell a buyer to consider the assessed value of the home and the list price together.  The two rarely have anything to do with each other.  I learned that somewhere...oh yeah...Real Estate 101.  

Marketing price is usually and almost always wayyyy different than tax assessed value.  A good comparative market analysis and a good Realtor® to explain the comps is what that buyer needs...Geez

Why would that assessed value even be in property brochure, which is what was stated.  The assessed value is not on our listing sheets here, so maybe they do it different there?  Assessed value in our area is very different from the fair market values.  How the tax assessments are made are not the same as the current market values.  Never have been, at least to my knowledge.  Odd it would even be on a property brochure IMHO.

In NC properties must be re-assessed for tax purposes every 8 years.  In the 2 counties I work, they ONLY re-assess every 8 years.  Like you said...properties are assessed for tax purposes. 

Many sellers I talk to today want their assessment lowered since it reflects a value from the boom.  I said that's fine...once they lower your assessment, they will raise your tax rate.  The amount of taxes you pay on your home is rarely ever going to go down, especially in these economic times.

Great info!

You're right!  I was vague in my description...When they do the re-assessment next year, most likely the tax rate will change at that time.  At this point EVERYONE's tax assessment is about 20% higher than probable market value.  I can't imagine they would even consider changing them on an individual basis, but I could be wrong.