Understand that there are two types of assessment: The one the local government uses for tax purposes; and the one the real estate agent uses for selling the property.

Typically the tax assessment is less, sometimes considerably less, than the appraised value that would be used in selling the home. The tax assessment will be based more on what the taxing authority needs to run its operations than on the actual sale value of the home. If the local government decides they need more money (that could never, happen, right?) they will go out and re-assess the properties at a high enough valuation to bring in the revenue they want because often their percentage tax rate is capped by local ordinance. Fairness dictates that they be consistent, that is if they are assessing your home at 80% (or 150%) of what it might reasonably sell for, then they must apply the same standards to all the other homes in the taxable area.

Where I live, the taxing assessment generally runs at about 90% of what people get when they actually sell, and everybody knows that the assessed valuation for tax purposes only pertains to the asking price for the house as a comparative ratio.

tanstaafl.