Dwayne, don’t let this guy get to you. In fact, I think that you will find the more info. you know about a property the better.
Yes, you can jot down the tax assessed value to use as a reference. In my market, the assessed value is 80% of the FMV for the neighborhood. Of course this is not a guaranteed value, but it’s a start. In fact, this tax value can save you alot of wasted time. Here is how: if you are compiling a mailing list from info. you obtain at the court house, go ahead and jot down the tax assessed value (this will take an extra :02 seconds of your time). Now, when you receive a call from a seller, you can get a ballpark estimate of what the the house is worth to see if you should do more research, or move on to the next deal. Here is an example: Tax assessed value $60K, seller says they have a 1st mort. of $50K and a 2nd mort. of $25K. Obviously, the only way this deal would work is if you can get the 2nd mort. reduced. If you decide that this deal is worth the chase, then pull your comps and use that info. in your negotiations.
First let me thank all the great providers to this site. Information provided to me here is of great help to my continuing investment endevours.
My quesion concerns assessor values in my local area of Baltimore MD. As I have only recently begun doing business in this area (buying foreclosures at auction being my chosen focus)I was informed by a local auctioneer that assessments are performed here in this region more closely to estimated market value. After speaking to someone at the local assessors office for Baltimore county I was told that, although the values may be roughly a year in arrears, they do infact take into account past sales values of similar poperties in the neighborhood. Though I will continue to rely primarily on recent actual sales activity (6 months back to current)for properties which I definitely intend to pursue, based on what I have been told should I use this assessor number as a “ballpark” figure to indicate possible equity.
Thanks in advance for any thoughts.
Dwayne Frazier
Posted by Frank A (WI) on June 15, 1999 at 18:52:32:
Dwayne,
Go to the “How-to” section. There is a great article written by J.P.Vaughan titled “How To Determine Market Value”. It covers assessor values as well as other areas of determining a properties value.
Thanks Hank and Kevin for your constructive comments. I will continue to note assessment values but will rely on comps when making my final calculations.
Dwayne Frazier
Here’s the problem I have … Chicago (Cook county) also is to be associated with recent sales activity, but property only gets assessed every 3 years. That’s a big problem when some areas are depressed and others are booming; Cook county is about 800 square miles and in there is everything from slums to the suburb of Kenilworth (which I think ranked as like the 4th richest community in the country last year) … so for me, assessed value can mean anything from 125% of market to 60% of market value … you gotta use your head and know your markets.
My guess is that there is similar variation in many if not most counties.