county appraisals

General Real Estate Investing
1

Hi,

Does anyone know anything about county appraisals? are they accurate? and what criteria are they done on? for example is the actual property valued or is it just a general valuation of properties of a certain size in a certain area?

Thanks

2

<<Does anyone know anything about county appraisals? >>

Yes (but we call it a “parish” hereabouts)

<<are they accurate? >>

For their purposes – yes (enough to squeeze taxes out of the citizenry…for real estate value purposes/reality – no

<<and what criteria are they done on? for example is the actual property valued or is it just a general valuation of properties of a certain size in a certain area?>>

SWAG

County appraisals are done to create a tax base. They are often done every 5 years or so…they aren’t usually very accurate even when new. What they usually do is to try to set them such that they don’t get a lot of rebuttals (rebuttals cost $$$ to defend or amend), leave them alone for several years, and adjust the “millage rate” to collect the taxes necessary to run the government entity.

Keith

3

Hi Keith,

Thanks so much for your reply.

I am new in REI and looking to do a rehab. A realtor that i work with sent me a property to look at which was going for $165,000 and he said that the county/parish appraisal was $209,000. Comps in the area seem to go for around $215,000 to $220,000.

Are you saying that the actual value is probably higher than the county/parish value? and would you happen to know a realistic % of how much higher?

4

Use the CMA that your Realtor should provide you…it willbe way more accurate than the County assessment number. Of course, an appraisal from a licensed appraiser is (usually) the most definitive.

Keith