Appraisal question

This might be a stupid question but when you get your house appraised are you hoping the value is less or more than you paid? Both for taxes and resale purposes what is better? I am pretty sure that a lower appraisal will give you less taxes but does this affect resale value?

Re: Appraisal question

It's not a silly question! A lot of people get confused about appraised value and assessed value.

The assessed value of the home, which is done by the local assessor's office (if you are in Nassau, you can find it online at the My Nassau Property site), is for tax purposes only. It often doesn't correlate with than the true fair market value, which is what an appraiser would be trying to figure out. The assessed value is usually lower than the number an appraiser would come up with. But the tax assessment is done automatically each year, and it doesn't involve an interior inspection of your house (as an appraisal would).

If you are having your house appraised by a bank appraiser, it would usually either be because you are selling (you are in contract, and the buyer's lender has ordered an appraisal) OR because you are thinking of selling, and you hired an appraiser to give you an opinion on what your home is worth. Many people who are thinking of selling just invite a real estate agent (or several agents) in to give them a market analysis and a value opinion, because it's a complimentary service (you would pay an appraiser). But in these scenarios, as a seller or potential seller, you would want the house to come in for higher value. I mean, you always want to be building equity in your home! The only exception might be if a couple if getting divorced and one is looking to buy the other out. In that case, the one looking to stay would hope for a lower appraisal.

Does this answer your question?