How to find assessed value of a house
July 13, 2011 10:59 AM Subscribe
How can I find out the assessed value of my grandmother's house w/ out a lawyer?
Is this information in the public domain?
I am trying to put together a proposal to buy my grandmother's house from my father and his two sisters. I would like to be able to make them an offer and propose financing, but I dont know what the house is worth. One person says $25,000, another says $60, 000. I would like to be able to put together a reasonable proposal for them, but I don't know how much I'm dealing with.
The house is in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.
I am trying to put together a proposal to buy my grandmother's house from my father and his two sisters. I would like to be able to make them an offer and propose financing, but I dont know what the house is worth. One person says $25,000, another says $60, 000. I would like to be able to put together a reasonable proposal for them, but I don't know how much I'm dealing with.
The house is in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.
Try searching the address at this site.
posted by JanetLand at 11:02 AM on July 13, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by JanetLand at 11:02 AM on July 13, 2011 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: You Rock!
this is exactly what I needed!
posted by muchalucha at 11:07 AM on July 13, 2011
this is exactly what I needed!
posted by muchalucha at 11:07 AM on July 13, 2011
Are you trying to buy it for the assessed value or the market value? Most of the time when dealing with estates its going to be the latter.
There's a few sites which try to assess market value on a house (Zillow being the most prominent) but it can be wildly variable in accuracy. You might be better off for looking at currently for sale properties around your target and try to get an idea onwhat it might sell for, Redfin is a good resource for this.
posted by bitdamaged at 11:11 AM on July 13, 2011 [1 favorite]
There's a few sites which try to assess market value on a house (Zillow being the most prominent) but it can be wildly variable in accuracy. You might be better off for looking at currently for sale properties around your target and try to get an idea onwhat it might sell for, Redfin is a good resource for this.
posted by bitdamaged at 11:11 AM on July 13, 2011 [1 favorite]
(oh and note, we just bought our house and its assessed value is about 10% greater then our purchase price so assessment value may not be your best metric)
posted by bitdamaged at 11:13 AM on July 13, 2011
posted by bitdamaged at 11:13 AM on July 13, 2011
County assessors don't look at the specific house on a regular basis, and part of their calculation relies on what nearby houses have sold for, so that's why the assessment value may be much higher or lower than the market value of the house. If, for example, the kitchen has brand new granite counters and the bedrooms have beautiful wood floors, the assessor is not going to know that, although those things would undoubtedly increase the home's value to a buyer.
My impression is that your bank will want an independent assessment when financing the house.
posted by desjardins at 11:29 AM on July 13, 2011
My impression is that your bank will want an independent assessment when financing the house.
posted by desjardins at 11:29 AM on July 13, 2011
From the county website linked above: "Allegheny County’s last county-wide reassessment was 2002. " (emphasis mine)
posted by desjardins at 11:31 AM on July 13, 2011
posted by desjardins at 11:31 AM on July 13, 2011
The property assessment is a good place to start, but if you really want to be fair, pay for an appraisal. It will run you somewhere in the neighborhood of $350. You could call local real estate agents to get referrals to an appraiser.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 11:40 AM on July 13, 2011
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 11:40 AM on July 13, 2011
Nthing that you'll have to hire an appraiser to get a meaningful number for this.
posted by jon1270 at 12:06 PM on July 13, 2011
posted by jon1270 at 12:06 PM on July 13, 2011
Tax assessment documents are not reliable as an indication of the value of real property because home owners have an interest in minimizing value and the government an interest in overstating it. Your bank, if you finance this, will want you to have a professional market appraisal done. $250 to $500 is reasonable. To get a rough idea of what comparable home prices are, you can get comps from Zillow.com, but they're sometimes not as accurate as, say, MLS. Any realtor can probably get you comps as well. Ask a realtor friend for the favor, rather than wasting the time of a professional who stands practically no chance of earning anything for their trouble.
posted by Hylas at 12:57 PM on July 13, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Hylas at 12:57 PM on July 13, 2011 [1 favorite]
What Hylas said, except that realtors don't actually mind a great deal. You're asking their professional opinion, which most people find flattering if not approached rudely. Secondly, it's a family house, and you stand a pretty good chance of getting it below market rate without having to pay commission, and you could (not necessarily will, but you never know what the future will hold), turn around and sell it immediately at market rate, pay commission, and still walk away with a profit. Thirdly, they can and will try to talk you into buying some other house, and you ought to nod and smile and let them try.
You're not a nuisance, you're a potential customer.
With regard to the proposed deal, the tone of your question implies that your grandmother is not residing there any more, ie deceased or living elsewhere. Also, it seems that you may be proposing the making of an emotional purchase here, and I strongly advise you to seek legal and financial advice to balance that. Be clear on your intentions - do you want to keep it in the family, live and raise your own family there, or alternatively fix it up and sell it for a profit? None of these are wrong decisions, however all have consequences.
If you intend to make a profit out of it, I would suggest that a better option would be for you to offer to rent it rather than buying it outright, and include in your contract the right to renovate it, the idea being that when it is later sold to a third party, you would be entitled to a share of the profits for that, and relevant costs such as taxes and commissions would only be incurred the once. If you do this, get all rights and responsibilities sorted out well in advance, by a lawyer.
If you're buying it to live there, bear in mind that ideally they, as vendors, need to set the value of the property; it is their responsibility to do that. If you can arrange access to the house, you can get this done yourself, or you can just go by the guesstimates of the various realtors as a ballpark figure, and float the idea with your family. You can always settle on an exact figure later, and that way you avoid wasting time if they have other plans for the property.
The best way to set market value is to ask several realtors to do valuations. Avoid prompting them in any way as to the value they should come to (don't say "do you think it's worth $50,000?"), and ask them to put the estimated valuations in writing. These should be ranges, rather than fixed figures, and should include a sale time estimate.
When you have an idea of fair market value, you can approach the family. Tell them that you've gotten these valuations, that the market value of the house is $X, and you would like to buy it. It would be a private sale, so no commission would be payable, so you can reasonably presume that as a discount, however do not presume on further discounts as everything you pay less comes out of their pockets.
Also, get builder's and pest controller's reports, whether or not you are legally obliged to, or think there's nothing wrong with the house.
posted by aeschenkarnos at 3:20 AM on July 14, 2011
You're not a nuisance, you're a potential customer.
With regard to the proposed deal, the tone of your question implies that your grandmother is not residing there any more, ie deceased or living elsewhere. Also, it seems that you may be proposing the making of an emotional purchase here, and I strongly advise you to seek legal and financial advice to balance that. Be clear on your intentions - do you want to keep it in the family, live and raise your own family there, or alternatively fix it up and sell it for a profit? None of these are wrong decisions, however all have consequences.
If you intend to make a profit out of it, I would suggest that a better option would be for you to offer to rent it rather than buying it outright, and include in your contract the right to renovate it, the idea being that when it is later sold to a third party, you would be entitled to a share of the profits for that, and relevant costs such as taxes and commissions would only be incurred the once. If you do this, get all rights and responsibilities sorted out well in advance, by a lawyer.
If you're buying it to live there, bear in mind that ideally they, as vendors, need to set the value of the property; it is their responsibility to do that. If you can arrange access to the house, you can get this done yourself, or you can just go by the guesstimates of the various realtors as a ballpark figure, and float the idea with your family. You can always settle on an exact figure later, and that way you avoid wasting time if they have other plans for the property.
The best way to set market value is to ask several realtors to do valuations. Avoid prompting them in any way as to the value they should come to (don't say "do you think it's worth $50,000?"), and ask them to put the estimated valuations in writing. These should be ranges, rather than fixed figures, and should include a sale time estimate.
When you have an idea of fair market value, you can approach the family. Tell them that you've gotten these valuations, that the market value of the house is $X, and you would like to buy it. It would be a private sale, so no commission would be payable, so you can reasonably presume that as a discount, however do not presume on further discounts as everything you pay less comes out of their pockets.
Also, get builder's and pest controller's reports, whether or not you are legally obliged to, or think there's nothing wrong with the house.
posted by aeschenkarnos at 3:20 AM on July 14, 2011
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posted by exogenous at 11:01 AM on July 13, 2011 [2 favorites]