I recently got a great question from a past client. They had their home built last year.
“I had a quick question for you. We recently received something in the mail that our property has been assessed..I guess now because the houses in our addition are finally complete. The total amount our property and house was assessed at was significantly less than what we paid for the house. Should we be concerned about this? the form says we can appeal but I’m not sure how any of this works. Any info you have would be appreciated!!!”
I told her that no, it should not be a big concern to her, because if her house is assessed for less than what they paid, that means that they are paying less in property taxes, so that was a good thing. Her next question was:
“what about when we go to sell the house though? will it have any negative impact?”
No, it won’t. When a Realtor or an appraisor is looking at what a house is worth, we look at what similar homes in the same area have sold for. We do not look at the assessed value, because we know that they really don’t have an impact on the sales price.
Perhaps she may be a little concerned that they paid the builder too much for the home, if it is assessed for less, but the truth is that MOST homes are assessed for less than they would actually sell for. Plus, when you build, you pay a little bit more for the “Newness factor” and the fun of choosing your own colors, layout, flooring, etc.
