Keys for Selling When the Market is Slow
It's a whole new world for home buyers. So, how do you make a smart purchase? You can find some excellent bargains but you still need to do some work.
Check out the property tax records and recent history of nearby homes. Comparing the assessed value with nearby home sale prices can help give you an indication of the market value of the homes in the neighborhood. But don't expect the assessed value to be an accurate value of what the home you are interested in would sell for. The assessment may be almost a year old and reflect a higher or lower price. In some areas, assessments are deliberately low for tax assessment purposes, and don't reflect market value.
So compare the sold price of nearby properties with their assessed value to determine how close the assessed value is to the market price. But remember the house you are interested in may be in better or worse condition than when it was assessed, and may be in better or worse condition than recently-sold homes in the neighborhood.