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

The meaning of a disclosure statement is a legal document signed by both parties, the lender and the borrower or buyer. This statement outlines the terms and conditions, the potential ...

Effective Age is the counterpart to a property’s Actual Age. While the former refers to the date a property was built, the latter is more of a sensorial depiction of its age; the age ...

Commitment by a lender to a borrower for a given amount of money at specified terms for the financing of a project. The borrower pays a fee for the privilege of either executing the loan or ...

What’s the definition of real estate collateral? Could we say it’s like keeping a hostage? No, that would be relatively insensitive. But the idea is similar. In real estate, ...

A lien is a legal instrument by which one party – usually lenders and creditors - guarantees the obligation of a real estate owner to do something – generally repays the money. ...

Typically, the term rider defines a financial concept, implying a written modification applied to an insurance policy, altering its initial clauses and provisions. The rider can update the ...

Member of a partnership whose liability for partnership debts is limited to the amount invested in the partnership. A limited partner is prohibited from taking active part in the management ...

Mortgage on both the purchased real estate and personal property of a durable type. The entire amount financed is considered one mortgage. In residential real estate, a builder might ...

Short-term leases are leases that run its completion in a faster time than regular ones.In real estate, short term-leases usually refer to temporary housing; that is: rent.The length of a ...

Popular Real Estate Questions