Are home appraisals by a county tax assessor generally the same value as a home appraisal, or are they less?

Question

I recently inherited a house. The value appraised by the county tax office was recently determined. It's about $100K lower than the market value based on an independent survey of comparable homes in the neighborhood done a few months ago. From what others have told me, the county's appraisal for tax purposes is generally much less than the actual market value. Is this true?

Answer 1

yes,they are way off my homes value.go to zillow.com and see what it is there

Answer 2

Tax assessment values generally bear no resemblance to fair market value. Their ONLY purpose is for levying the local property taxes. I've seen assessed values run very high as well as very low. Most juriscitions can't afford to bring in certified appraisers and use their own methodology to determine values.

Answer 3

Yes, the county appraiser is going to be conservative which is what you want, the lower the better. But if you decide to sell then you ignore the assessed value and look at market value.

Answer 4

No. In most states the county can only increase the value a certain percent per year. If the home sells, then the value is typically adjusted to the sales price.

If your value is $100K lower than fair market value, GOOD! That means you will be paying much less tax than if it were accurate.

Answer 5

That is often the case. Tax assessments use a different metric than market appraisals.

Answer 6

generally they are less. The county tax assessor job is to determine the "assessed value" for property tax purposes.