Definition of "Assessed value"

Karol Flannery real estate agent

Written by

Karol Flanneryelite badge icon

Bentley's Real Estate

The term assessed value is used to define the dollar value of a property for the applicable taxes. The evaluator, a tax assessor, determines the property’s assessed value for tax purposes through real estate valuation. Once the evaluation is done, the assessed value is used to establish the property’s tax and is taxed accordingly.

The assessed value can be differentiated from the property’s appraised value, tending to be lower than this. The difference between the two can be anywhere from 10% to 100%.

What is the Assessed Value?

Calculating the taxes that apply to any particular property, also known as the ad valorem tax, the assessor must determine the assessed value. As the ad valorem tax is applied annually, the assessed value is calculated every year, unlike the appraised value that can also be appraised every five years. 

The local government designates the tax assessor by tax districts as each region calculates the assessed value differently. The calculation’s basic standards are more or less the same, but because different districts’ market value varies, tax assessors are designated by regions. To determine an accurate assessed value of a property, the tax assessor takes sales of comparable homes and home inspections into account. Other factors on which the valuation is based are the property’s quality, the value of the property, home features, location, square footage, and market conditions.

How is the Assessed Value used for Property Taxes?

As mentioned above, assessors calculate the assessed value annually as this real estate valuation is the basis for determining the annual property tax that the owner has to pay. Based on the factors specified before, the assessor determines the assessed value as a percentage of the property’s fair market value. All these calculations are computerized, and information about real estate obtained from the neighborhood and surrounding areas plays a crucial role in determining an accurate valuation.

For owners that also inhabit the property, the assessed value can decrease over time (also known as a homestead exemption). This decline is unrelated to the property’s fair market value and does not affect it. However, it does affect the property tax by diminishing it.

image of a real estate dictionary page

Have a question or comment?

We're here to help.

*** Your email address will remain confidential.
 

 

Popular Real Estate Terms

Stairs or porch by the front door of the house. ...

initial plaster used on a lathe. ...

The meaning of topography defines the science of mapping a specific region’s physical features. In short, the topography describes an area’s characteristics, such as its ...

“What is Situs?”, you ask.Situs is a word in Latin that basically means the site or location where something exists or originates. Like most words in latin, situs is usually ...

What does Act of God mean? Acts of God or “force majeure” is typically how an insurance policy classifies peril situations that could not be prevented or defended by men. ...

An arm’s-length transaction is a business deal, or transaction where the seller and buyer act independently of each other without influence on the other party. What sets these types ...

Interest rate that exceeds the rate on the old loan but in less than the rate on new loans. It is usually offered by the lender to encourage home buyers to refinance existing, low interest ...

Figure or value which is the starting point in computing gain or loss, depreciation, depletion, and amortization. ...

Cash payment to a lender so as to lower the interest rate on a loan a borrower must incur. The lower rate may apply for all or a part of the loan term. ...

Popular Real Estate Questions