Counties use a concept called “mass appraising” when assessing for property taxes and it’s a mystery to licensed appraisers everywhere mainly because we don’t use the models they use. I’d have to google those models and might only be able touch on certain points even then as they get specific training in mass appraising. No appraisers I know want that training/job lol. We do notice the mistakes though and the truth is they’re bound to happen because they simply can’t blanket assess the market value on everything and get it all correct. It’s much easier to appraise an individual house, obviously.
I do know the models end up with assessments that to tend play catch-up on purpose though. Nearly every house we appraise is undervalued in its assessment and that’s just to err on the side of caution as not to over assess property owners. That’s assuming the county has it close to correct. They want to be close, but slightly under as many people are aware. Over assessing leads to phone calls to the Board of Revisions department and most auditors are understaffed as it is. They reassess properties every six years in Franklin county with an update every three years and I think the other 87 counties by law do the same.
You’ll also notice a property or a parcel’s taxes will increase after it sells as its the easiest method to determine current market value of course...assuming it was an arms-length transaction. We rely on the county auditors’ ability to make that determination and they’re generally better the more developed the market is. Franklin vs Licking, for example is night and day with their documentation so I hate working Licking. They’re wrong a lot and behind on everything. They just recently got photos of the houses for each parcel on their auditor website where Franklin has had them for decades. Current photos go a long way in our business when properties aren’t visible from country roads or from being in wooded areas.
I’m assuming you’re talking about agricultural properties based on asking about land and your farming answers in the other thread and so the specifics to your question are difficult to answer. Mainly because I’m likely not in your county/market and I’d also need to examine the auditor files online and similar nearby recent sales, but also because being in Columbus 95% of my orders are single family or 1-4 unit. Rural work just doesn’t make sense financially for most urban/suburban appraisers.
You should call a realtor and tell them you’d like a CMA done for a certain property or area of properties. You’d likely be able to extract the trends by comparing similarly-sized land sales with their current assessment, but you’d want to note external things both positive and negative...adjacent or nearby RR tracks, highways, heavily trafficked commercial areas, airports, etc...though it becomes a lesser affect on farm land. External things you won’t know though are future planned occurrences like state, county, or corporate development nearby. That can affect sale prices if the transaction has inside knowledge attached. Ponds, creeks, ravines, woods, etc affect large-acreage affect residential sale prices, but in the case of farming I’d suppose hindrances to crop development would come into play like soil viability or environmental negatives like contamination from large or corporate farms or underground tanks of various types. Some of that you’d have to pay to find out or possibly couldn’t ever determine. The realtor CMA would likely be free but then realtors tend to hound people for years to get listings. Just tell them you need it to analyze tax assessments only and you’ll highly recommend to your large group of family and friends often. Realtors eat that up. To quote Lester Bangs to ‘Ben Fong Torres of Rolling Stone Magazine’ in Almost Famous, “they’ll wet their pants” lol.
My second paragraph up from here brings up another point or tip to potential home buyers, maybe someone reading here. Don’t assume your gross monthly housing expense, which includes your mortgage payment, insurance, and taxes will remain constant when determining home affordability. Make sure the current taxes aren’t artificially low due to a previous sale being a non arms-length sale like an estate, probate, bank, or sheriff sale, for example, but there are others. More commonly, though, be on the lookout for homes that haven’t sold in a long time. Those property taxes are far more likely be based on an under assessment. I’ve seen taxes go up 25% after a sale. Depending on the market, that can be significant. My buddy in Grandview Hts, also an appraiser actually, had his taxes jump from $7000 to $14000. Had he sold before the impending reassessment, of which he was aware, the new owner would have taken that hit, unbeknownst likely. Realtors don’t catch that, let alone the average buyer. I generally don’t track those things but I see it often enough to guess there are way more that I don’t see. The more developed the area, the better likelihood the county has ample sales data to get the assessment correct or close, but not as a rule as I see it in high foreclosure urban areas as well.
Obviously you’d also want to know if a house you’re buying is over assessed. Making that determination can be tricky, but the end result is always filing with the auditors’ Board of Revisions office. It usually involves bringing an appraisal to the hearing unless it’s blatantly obvious, but even then they could require one. I did many of those after the market crash in 2006-07. Anyone wanting to talk about their county reviewing their property taxes feel free to post and I’ll share what I know. It used to be free to apply back then I believe - our job in that process usually stops after the appraisal is done unless the homeowner pays us to come in and help them fight it in a second hearing, which I’ve never had to do. I’ve gathered it’s quick and painless if the numbers are in order. A good appraiser will tell you up front if it’s worth the effort, usually requiring a small fee to do the homework, but no appraisal. There are some that will just take your money though. Ask that question up front because appraisers know the value in the first 10% of the job. If they they wont know value until the report is complete then immediately call another appraiser. Call him out for me before you hang on up on too lol.
