Courthouse Records FMV

How do you find out the FMV on foreclosures

For one, you can go to a major real estate company web site in your city or area and generally they will have a link to foreclosures. If you spot one you are interested in (and most are bank owned), then go to the public courthouse records and find the deparment that handles your property taxes. In smaller areas, they may not have internet access to that info, but most major counties do that have a rather large city within. Many counties outsource their data to an independent company and the info is not as much as found on a direct web site from the county. Regardless, either place will give you what they call FMV or Appraised Value.

I would simply GOOGLE "Property Tax Records for XXXXXXX" with X being your county. Once you are into the records, you can look up a property by name; address; parcel number; etc. Again, once I find a property and have the address, I put that info into the blank and it pulls up all the info (including most of the time the old and new owner)as well as the FMV. This will also provide you with the amount of property tax they have been paying to factor into your numbers. Hope that helps...

I have learned, in the last few days, that some, not all, appraisers were just putting down a price that the realestate agent wanted them to put down so then they could get the loan or refi pushed thru. It happened with my home when we needed to fefi. I know what my homw is worth but they appraised it way over its FMV. Not saying this is the case in all deals but I know it happens. So be careful with the records and do your homework to fing out the acctual FMV.

For the most part, states' reecords are NOT good estimates of FMV.

with using GOOGLE, for the property tax records is, on the your county's web site it will have the assessed valus along with the appraised value which are usually the same, @ least they were on my county's web site, but the values are from when the current owner originally purchased the home which in some cases is 15-30 years ago, so obviously those assessments and appraisals are void, but it still has a lot of other useful information. YOUR HERO, SULLY.

So is the FMV the same as the Appraised value? I don't see anywhere on the county's website where it specifically says "FMV".

It has 2008 Appraised Value = $176,500
And 2008 Assessed Value = $14,050

Why would they be so different? Do I just use the appraised value as the FMV?

thanks

ive heard of that too my father on some of hes property had the same thing down with the appraiser just writing numbers down to make everyone happy, he cautioned me about this ,
mike

ya i hear what your saying im buying a triplex here in anchorage the tax assessed pn the property for 2008 from anchorage is 275,000 but the appreser said its worth
235,000 rented and tops for it is 264,000 if it was in tip top shape.i was always taught before that the tax assement was a80% value of the actual value but now im learning diffrent

to answer your question ravista, FMV is NOT the same thing as APPRAISED VALUE, although they are pretty close, they both use COMPARITIVES as their basis, so i would say, yes & no SULLY.

Thanks Sully. So if there's nothing on the county assessor's records (that I can find) that says FMV, should I just go ahead and use their Appraised Value to plug into the formula's in order to figure out an offer price?
Thanks for the help!

Assessed Value: This is the dollar value placed on a parcel of property by the Assessor's Office. It is computed by analyzing thousands of individual sale transactions, thousands of inspections and a thorough study of all Milwaukee neighborhoods. It is the Assessor's estimate of market value. It is important for maintaining equity between and among all taxpayers in the city.

Estimated Fair Market Value: Is calculated by dividing the property's total assessed valued by the average assessment ratio. This ratio is applied to all property, including personal property, regardless of type or location of the property. In theory, this should approximate the current market value of the property. This value estimate is determined by the Department of Revenue(DOR). It is used to apportion tax levies among municipalities and is used in the distribution of shared revenues.

History: Back in the early 1980's, when the legislature passed the law that this be included on all tax bills, was a time across Wisconsin when Assessors for the over 1800 municipalities were not required to assess property at market value during any time interval. As a "truth in taxation" measure, the legislature thought it was important for their constituents to know what in terms of value their assessment actually meant. Because the DOR already prepared municipal "equalized values," the legislature thought that these estimates made at the municipal level should be provided at the property level. This was an easy answer to their problem. Remember, the intent was to show whether the assessment on a property was at all accurate. It was never meant to actually be your individual property estimate. But, at least from the taxpayer's standpoint, it meant more than the assessment--at that time. For instance if the assessor was assessing property in your municipality at 10% (and you had no idea of that fact) and your tax bill showed an assessment of $10,000 you might think "boy am I getting a good deal--I know my house is worth at least $60,000." However, if you realized that the $10,000 actually equated to approximately $100,000; you might not be so happy. (Since 1986, after this was enacted, the legislature tightened the law and we now are required to assess within 10% of market value at least once in every four year period.)

The reason DOR equates all municipalities to an estimate of fair market value (actually equalized value) each year is to ensure the uniform distribution of shared taxes across municipalities. The assessor, on the other hand, assesses each property to make sure that each property pays their fair share of tax on an individual level.

The estimated fair market value on the tax bill is a less reliable estimate than that prepared by the assessor. The DOR has never inspected any property in the City of Milwaukee. It is only to be used as a tool to check your assessment.

The important thing to point out is that ALL property in Milwaukee had the same factor applied to it to determine its estimated fair market value. Also, it is important that you know that it is the assessed value, in all cases, used to calculate your property taxes. If we used the "estimated fair market value" the taxes would not change.

State law requires assessor's be within 10% (higher or lower) of the state's equalized value ratio at least once in every 4 year period. Milwaukee is not, nor ever has been, out of compliance with this requirement. The Department of Revenue allows this leeway because appraisal is not an exact science, and to allow for the different standards used by them versus a municipality.

Remember, the "estimated fair market value" like the back of the tax bill states is an "estimate" and is only "approximate".

Wow! Thanks for the insight Elena! Even as estimates, I'm wondering how the tax assessor's office could have the appraised value and the assessed value so far away from each other. $176k appraised vs. $14k assessed?? I don't see how an assessed value of $14,050 could possible be right. I'm guessing it's best to just go ahead and use the "Appraised value" as the FMV in this case?
The range around here seems to be $150,000 to $240,000.

Always go with the Appraised Value. Sounds like you have your stuff together!
Let us know what happens,
Elena ;D

if you want to figure out what to offer on a property, i usually do this: have my realtor run COMPS for the surrounding area that my property is in, find @ least 3 COMPS to compare, NOW in order to compare the COMPS they must be similar in #1: square feet, #2: bedrooms, #3: bath, #4: home style, if their a little off thats o.k., then you must figure out the price per square foot, by dividing the selling price by the square footage of the property= price per sq.ft., now , do this to all 3 COMPS, then add(+) all 3 price per square foot together, to get the AVERAGE PRICE PER SQUARE FOOT, then take that number and times(x) it by the square footage of the property your looking @, to get FMV, YOUR HERO, SULLY.

Wow - thanks guys! What a great resource this is! You're awesome!

That's what this site is all about, resources!! Well moral support too...
Oh yeah, sharing information.... Did I mention encouragement? Ok, sorry, I'm just so excited to be heading home and starting my journal!

"do this to all 3 COMPS, add(+) all 3 price per square foot together, THEN DIVIDE BY 3,....to get the AVERAGE PRICE PER SQUARE FOOT, then take that number and times(x) it by the square footage of the property your looking @, to get FMV"

I pulled this info directly off the county web site. Again, I realize you cannot depend on this info in place of a comp, but it is good to know...

Property assessment is based on the appraised Fair Market Value determined by this office. Each property is appraised according to information based on area sales, value associated with improvements located on the property and other guidelines set forth by the Alabama Department of Revenue.

After a Fair Market Value is established, the assessed value is determined. Assessed value is determined by your propertys classification and usage as of October 1 of each year.

Class I Includes all Utility properties, 30% of the Fair Market Value of this property will be taxed.
Class II Rental or any property that is not occupied by the owner. 20% of the Fair Market Value of the property is taxed.
Class III Owner occupied single family properties. 10% of the Fair Market Value is taxed.

example : The assessed value or the amount subject to property tax on a single family home owned and occupied by the owner with a fair market value of $100,000.00 would be $10,000 .

i found the infor you providing interesting ille keep that in mind
mike
alaska