Elementary Real Estate Vocabulary: List Price, Sales Price, Appraised Value and Assessor's Value

If you are doing any research on property values later you see a lot of conflicting information. To understand what real value is, one needs to understand the four different definitions of property value: List Price, Sales price, appraised value, and Assessors Value:

The list price is that price that a property owner sets as an asking price. Generally, this is done with awareness of the market and some experienced advice from a Realtor. In this market the list price is generally higher than the sales price, but not always.

The sales price is the negotiated price at which the buyer is willing to buy and the seller is willing to sell. In an arms length transaction, it is often referred to as market value.

The Appraised value is the price that a licensed appraiser determines ‘fair value’ to be.
In most sales situations, the appraiser has a copy of the purchase and sales agreement which shows the actual sales price. In this instance, the appraiser, with comparable sales, verifies the sales price. Appraised value is sometimes used for estate purposes, tax purposes and refinancing.

The most interesting value is the Tax Assessors value. By State Law, each town and City has an obligation to revalue all of the property in the city and town. Said revaluations typically happen between three and ten years. In East Greenwich the revaluations were based on 100% value of the property as of December 31, 2005. As the market has cooled, it is very common for the assessed value of an East Greenwich house to be 10 percent (10%) ABOVE the sales price. This should not be of major concern as the point of the assessor’s value is contextual: It should be fair value in relationship to all of the other properties in town. In the largest sense, it is.

If you valuation, however, is much higher than similar houses and the neighborhood, it may make sense to do some research. If assumption is correct and the value is higher, it will be of value for you to appeal your assessment. There is a process and documentation will be required.

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