Bastrop Real Estate, Smithville Real Estate, Cedar Creek Real Estate, Elgin Real Estate, Paige Real Estate

	Ann Van Zandt REALTOR , ABR , GRI (512) 629-3081 ann@bastrophomes.com

Specializing in the Bastrop County, TX Area: Bastrop, Smithville, Cedar Creek, Paige, and Elgin Serving Central Texas: Bastrop, Lee, Fayette, Milam, Caldwell, Hays, Travis and Williamson Counties

Home Buying Selling Financial Info Area Info Referrals & Relocation Appraisal vs. Assessment Property Value Analysis About Me Testimonials Newsletter Contact Me Assessment vs. Appraisal People get confused understanding the difference between an assessment and an appraisal. Many believe that the two are the same. They are not. An assessment is a valuation given to a property from the local government. These values are generally created by a sampling of homes in the subject's community. The information used is generally based off neighborhood sales, building or home improvement permits, market trends and a computer modeling software that calculates the value of the property. An assessment is not meant to be as precise as an appraisal. Otherwise, the local government would have to do a site visit for each individual property. The assessed value is like an "average" price for a home in a particular neighborhood. Your home's assessed value is the basis for your real estate taxes. Appraisals are valuations by an unbiased third party. Residential real estate appraisers are hired by banks, estate attorneys, real estate agents and home owners to give a valuation on a property. Appraisers make a visual inspection of the property and research minimum of 3 closed sales as similar as possible to subject property. These 3 comparables are generally settled sales within 6 months of the subject's inspection date. In slower markets or rural areas, appraisers might go outside the 6 month range.  But generally speaking the more recent the comparable sale, the more accurate the appraisal value. Banks use the appraised value to determine how much money they are willing to loan on a property. Are these values generally similar? Sometimes they are similar and in other situations they can be very different. Both use very different forms of research to create the property's value, so you should not assume that the two valuations are one and the same. They are used for very different purposes.

ABR: Accredited Buyers Representative
GRI: Graduate Realtors Institute

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