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

Real estate sales contract where possession and use is provided to the buyer, but the deed is kept by the seller until the full purchase price is met whereupon the title is placed in the ...

Value of property is reduced form usage oven time. The problem is worsened when repairs and maintenance have not been made. ...

Money payments to be delayed for a future date or extended over a period of time. ...

See concrete block. ...

Generally speaking, the meaning of warehousing refers to the act of storing assets and keeping a physical inventory expecting a sale or distribution of goods at a later date. Warehousing is ...

If you’re a renter and you own a pet, you might be familiar with the term pet rent. There has been a lot of discussion about the meaning of pet rent and controversy as it isn’t ...

The geographic moving of an individual from one region to another usually because of a change in employment. Relocation normally involves the complete moving of the individual's ...

The phrase used for the period in which the escrow agent communicates to both the buyer and the seller as to what documents or moneys have to be deposited with the escrow agent to satisfy ...

Property that is similar in characteristic and when exchanged is a nontaxable transaction. Any property that is not like-king, such as cash (boot), is taxed. As a result, a gain is not ...

Popular Real Estate Questions