"Don’t Trust the County on Value of Your Home"

"...While no one likes to see the value of his home decline,
overinflating the value is just as bad.

"Page 3 of the Guilford County “Schedule of Values,”

which covers data behind this year’s real-estate tax revaluation,

cites a statute that says market value is defined as

“the price estimated in terms of money at which the property would sell

between a willing and financially able buyer and a willing seller,

neither being under any compulsion to buy or to sell.”

While refinancing my home last month, I was required to have it appraised.

The detailed 20-page appraisal stated that my home value is $172,000.

But on page 7, under “Distressed and Forced Sales,” it says,

“Both foreclosure and short sales have been largely responsible

for a 20 percent decline in the average selling price of existing homes

over the last three years.”

And “staff appraisers will consider all sales that have occurred

in each appraisal neighborhood over the last several years

but a greater weight will be given to comparable sales

that have happened without duress.”

...I received my Notice of Assessed Value on March 10
to learn that the county claims the same property
to have a value of $195,200, a 14 percent difference.

Tax Director Ben Chavis doesn’t state how much time and effort
go into the county’s assessments,
but I suspect they are not nearly as thorough as my appraisal.

If computer model-based “mass appraisals” were the main tool,

how did the county know which sales were distressed or forced?

If these two sets of measures contradict each other,

what actually happened to whom in the revaluation?

I have emailed my appeal and a copy of the appraisal to the county,
but they said it will take “some time” to process.

If you apply this 14 percent overinflation to the entire county,
you can see it would be easier to reach such a high number,
even with new construction.

Seems like many at the bottom and the top are going to get a relative tax cut,

and the middle is going to make up the difference."

The lesson is not to take the county’s word for your home’s value.

Mike Wiesner
Jamestown

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Please provide data for all Guilford County revaluation assessements
including before and after values of all properties in a comma delimited format
with before and after values seperated, which can be measured in different ways.

Please include a "neighborhood-by-neighborhood" data set.

Please also include a separate data set
of properties not included in the revaluation
that were not "between a willing and financially able buyer and a willing seller,
neither being under any compulsion to buy or to sell"
due to distressed sales, short sales, foreclosure or other reason.

George Hartzman
March 12, 2012
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George Hartzman on Guilford County
and Greensboro Property Revaluation and Real Estate Assessments

A few notable Guilford County property revaluation assessments

We recieved our 2012 Revaluation Assessed Value Today

City of Greensboro and Guilford County Information Request
on Real Estate Revaluation Assessments

Search Directions to Compare Greensboro and Guilford County
Real Estate Revaluation Assessment Outcomes