bostonbubble.com

[wherzmyhome]

Just wondering if the town assessed value means anything. There is a 60s built house that is priced 60k over the town assessed value. Granted they've added a new roof and windows, but does that warrant such a huge jump in value? We like the location and are kind of getting frustrated with our home search........has been ongoing for 4 years now. Price is still affordable and so we are in two minds....stick with what we think its worth or take the bait. (

[Kaidran]

In short no, the assessed value is not a good guide to the value of the house. There is typically a trend for towns or areas of towns that will set the price close to the assessed price +/-X%. The problem is the X% varies a lot between towns and so unless you spend a long time gathering data on your specific location you will not be sure. The state of the house and the last time it was checked also makes a difference and can confound data gathering from Zillow or Redfin. The town website usually has links to records on houses and when they were last reviewed and what was included.