I was recently reading a newspaper article where someone gives financial advice. A reader asked why sometimes the homes they are looking at are priced much higher than the appraisal value. It turned out he was looking at the tax appraisals and comparing that to the list prices on the multiple listing.

When you call an appraiser to come out the first thing they ask you is what is the purpose and what are the instructions. On their report they repeat what you instructed them to do.

When you buy a home and get a mortgage the loan company hires an appraiser and instructs them to use sales with very similar size and age and location. They also want sales that have occurred within the last six months and they normally require that the appraiser go out to the house to examine the condition and measure it carefully. The purpose of this appraisal is to protect the loan company in case they have to foreclose later.

A tax appraiser is given instructions to use the data already in the tax system giving features of the house and measurements. They do not examine the house for condition or even drive by! They look at sales that happened in the previous calendar year and try to find sales that have similar location, age and size. No one complains if the tax value is to low but they almost always do if it is to high, so it is common for tax values to be lower than what a home would actually sell for.

There are several other reasons someone might have their home appraised, to settle a divorce, to get a home improvement loan, to settle an inheritance or several other things and each would have their own instructions and so come up with different values.

When you want to know what your house can sell for in the current market, a competitive market analysis would tell you that and I can provide that to you at no cost as long as it is in the Arlington/Mansfield area.

Call me.