By Gordon McKinlay
PropertyGuys.com Comox Valley & North Vancouver Island
How Does BC Assessment Determine the Value of Your Home?
BC Assessment uses your property’s characteristics to determine your home’s Market Value. These characteristics include size, layout, shape, age, finish, quality, number of carports, garages, sundecks, and the condition of buildings. Also considered are your neighborhood characteristics, including services in the area, location, and views.
BC Assessment also takes into account recent sales of properties with similar characteristics. On the property assessment page near the bottom, there is a tab called “Sample Sold Properties,” which shows properties near your property and the reported sale price.
In rare cases, BC Assessment appraisers may enter a home to conduct property inspections to ensure that the accurate reflection of the description and condition of a property on the Property Assessment Notice. BC Assessment appraisers analyze all real estate sales in their area and develop standard units of comparison and corresponding values. They review similarities and differences between properties to arrive at a uniform assessed value for a particular property.
Is the BC Assessment Market Value Accurate?
Do not price your home based on the BC Assessment Market Value; get a professional assessment done. I did a simple assessment using MPAC (Municipal Property Assessment Corporation) data and compared this with the BC Assessment Market Value for the sample home listed above. The BC Assessment Market Value for this home was $627,000, while the MPAC Market Value gave a range of anywhere between $622,000 to $703,000. These two assessments, therefore, seem to correspond nicely, with the MPAC giving a range depending on specific characteristics of the home in question. For instance, if a completely refinished interior of a home with high-end finishes, then the high-end of the MPAC range would likely reflect the actual Market Value.
You can check your own property assessed value using the MPAC tool below.
What is your home worth?
BC Assessment Market Value versus Bank Mortgage Appraisal or Real Estate Assessment
The real estate market is the single most significant influence on market values. Market forces vary from year to year and from property to property. The market value on an assessment notice may differ from that shown on a bank mortgage appraisal or a real estate appraisal. The BC Assessment’s appraisal reflects the value as of July 1 of the previous year; private appraisals are completed just before the sale.
Creating an Account with BC Assessment Provides More Information
When you create a BC Assessment account, under your property assessment, you can see the price value history of your home and your town. The following is an example of the additional data you can view:
Not only do you know the price history, but you can also compare your property with others in a side by side view. This view allows you to compare BC Assessment Market Value to other homes and characteristics.
Meet Gord
Gordon McKinlay is the owner of PropertyGuys.com in the Comox Valley & Strathcona. Gordon is a private sales expert who loves helping people sell their own homes and save tens of thousands of dollars. He has created this guide to help others sell their homes privately.
PropertyGuys.com has developed a system that has helped over 90,000 private home sellers in Canada to sell their homes successfully. PropertyGuys.com is the largest private home sales network in Canada.