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

Assemblage in real estate is the process of combining multiple small plots of land into one larger plot. This is accompanied by plottage, which is the increase in value that occurs when ...

An upper limit on the interest rate that can be charged in a variable rate mortgage over its life. For example, a variable rate loan is initially offered at 7% loan rate, and its interest ...

Looking for an amortization definition? Amortization is an accounting term that basically means something like “reducing the gap between what is owed”. Here’s the play by ...

An individual, educated, trained, and licensed in the principles of designing structures, and rendering drawings, specifications, bidding requirements. ...

Those factors causing the movement of people, industry, and business from the central city to the outside central city areas, suburbs, and/or small cities. Elements of the dispersing force ...

Another residence in addition to the main residence where a person or family resides. An example is a second home out of the city used on weekends and during vacations. Interest and real ...

Lien which is over and above a first lien. A second lien is subordinate to the first lien and can be satisfied only after the initial lien is satisfied. ...

Projecting structure or part of a building. For example, a home was built with balconies jutting out from the sides of the building or a large rock formation constructed out into the ocean ...

An obligation of the owner of property that is recorded with his permission such as a mortgage. Encumbrance on property without being objected to by the owner. ...

Popular Real Estate Questions