As published yesterday in the Shenandoah Valley Business Journal. 
Scroll beyond the article for two helpful infographics.

Many people believe the assessment of their property istheir home's value.  In actuality, theassessed value of a property is the value assigned to the property by the localassessor's office, for the purpose of determining how much you will pay intaxes. Certainly, the assessed value is intended to be the precise valueof your home – but quite frequently there is a disparity in this assessed valueand market value.  The market value ofyour home is the price at which it would sell in the current market.

Of interest, the City of Harrisonburg real estateassessments are currently a bit more accurate than those in RockinghamCounty.  As can be seen in theinfographic, homes sold during 2011 in the City of Harrisonburg sold for 95.1%of their current assessed value. Breaking it down further, 64% of the homes that sold during 2011 in theCity of Harrisonburg sold at a lower price point than their assessed value.  This is an indication that many City propertyassessments are likely a bit too high. 

In Rockingham County, most property assessments are too low –as 70% of properties that sold in 2011 sold for more than their assessed value– and on average, properties sold for 110% of their assessed value.  Of note, homes in the City of Harrisonburgare re-assessed every year, while homes in Rockingham County are onlyre-assessed every four years.  In thepast, this has resulted in lower than expected assessments in Rockingham Countydue to the infrequent updates to their assessed values.

Given the great variation in assessed values and marketvalues, homeowners should not rely on their tax assessment for an understandingof their property's value.  Furthermore,home buyers should not rely on assessed values to guide them in understandingthe market value of a home that they might purchase.  Both buyers and sellers should strive tounderstand the market value of a particular piece of real estate my analyzingsimilar homes that have recently sold and those currently on the market in agiven neighborhood or price point.

Click on either image below for a printable PDF....

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