The City of Airdrie recently mailed out the property assesments and that ususally leads to phone calls from past and new Clients asking if those values are accurate in the market. Last year I wrote a blog post about Property Assessments so I thought I would repost it since it's that time of year again.
It's important to understand that your property assessment value is not necessarily the current market value of your home.
The City of Airdrie includes a pamphlet that describes how they determine your assessment value. It clearly states that they use "mass appraisal techniques". When we do a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) we have a more focused set of criteria because we are not trying to determine the value of hundreds of properties we are just looking at yours. They city also states "the purpose of the assessment is not to reflect a single sale price but to assess all properties at a typical market value on the same valuation date".
It is also important to note that these assessments are based on values as of July 1 of the previous year and are then mailed out at the end of the following January. During that 7 month period the market can stay relatively flat or change significantly. Market conditions are a large part of our research when it comes to determining market value.
Recent sales of similar homes in your area are usually the best indicator of what a Buyer is willing to pay. The recent sales, market conditions and current listings are all things we will research for you when determining fair market value of your home.
