You're probably thinking that your home's value has already been assessed-so if you're selling it, why does it need to be appraised?Conversely, if you're buying a home, why can't you just go off the assessor's valuation rather than paying for an appraiser?Well, the two processes are just different, so let's look at how and why that's so.

For starters, separate the two in your mind. The assessment is like the Blue Book value of your old Ford. But maybe those tired old wheels of yours were kept fresh and mint, sheltered in a garage, the paint was carefully tended to, and the car was generally just babied.You're going to get more than the Blue Book.The same thing goes for a house appraisal.

Your local government is basically looking for the "Blue Book value" of your home in order to determine your fair share of local taxes.This is your contribution as a citizen-your money goes primarily to the schools, but also for roads, local services, and other things necessary to maintain the area. Your county auditor sends out tax assessors to determine how much each piece of property is worth.Valuations are made uniformly across the board within the community.In this way, every property owner contributes his fair share to the maintenance of the community.

A lender financing the sale of a house, on the other hand, wants to know the worth of a house.The lender will take into consideration the condition of the paint and how much the house has been babied-just like your Ford-because it doesn't want to loan more than the house is worth.The lender hires independent appraisers trained to evaluate a home's fair market value.

People also get home appraisals for other reasons. If they want to stop paying private mortgage insurance (PMI), an appraisal might be ordered to demonstrate the owner's equity in the home. If the owner has passed away, the heirs can request an appraisal to determine the market value of the home as part of the decedent's estate.

The appraised value and the assessed value should be pretty close in value, but that's not always the case.A variety of factors plays into the final number for each home.Is your property situated on a corner or on the middle of the block?Corner lots usually rate higher.Of the rooms in your home, are they all finished and ready to live in?

It helps if you understand more about the assessment process.Each county hires auditors who conduct assessments according to state statute.Your state's laws might dictate, for example, that your property is assessed every six years and updated every three years.

The assessor does make an attempt to contact each individual property owner.He takes into consideration the property's characteristics, including the size and type of the land, the home constructed on it, any other structures such as garages or pools, plus its age, condition, and number of rooms.

If an owner fails to cooperate with the tax assessor, the assessor is likely to assign the highest possible value to a piece of property, which spells out higher taxes for the owner.So it pays for you to go through your home with the assessor and point out all its faults.Don't begin any new projects when you know a home assessment is coming, and don't spruce up your property if you hear the assessor is in the neighborhood.

The appraiser, on the other hand, will not welcome your participation.He evaluates the same characteristics.He'll pay special attention to condition and updates.What makes your house more valuable than the one across the road?If most of the houses on your street have two-car garages and your garage houses only one car, your home loses appraised value.

Ultimately, the appraised value and the assessed value should be close to each other, but in a normal housing market the appraised value should be higher.With last year's crash in the real estate market, however, many appraised values dropped significantly.

If you believe your home's value in today's market has sunk below its assessed value, you can contact your tax assessor's office and tell them why a reassessment is in order.But remember that whenever a house is sold, its selling price stands as its new value for a year.

 The information above was written by by Automated Homefinder - a Boulder Table Mesa Brokerage. To search for Boulder homes, or Longmont real estate, simply click here to visit Automated Homefinder.