Why did my mortgage appraisal come in so much lower than my assessment? Is my tax valuation too high?

A mortgage appraisal is an opinion of value. You may have paid for it, however in most cases an appraisal is done for a bank or lending institution and they are the actual client. An appraisal, according to standards set forth by the Appraisal Institute should state within the document, the purpose.Unlike a tax assessment, appraisers are often limited by the lending institution to use sales within a short time period, often as little as 6 months and comparable sales within a limited distance from the subject. Limitations placed upon appraisers by lenders often make it difficult for appraisers to develop enough data to arrive at the desired conclusion.

If a property owner wishes to use an appraisal to appeal their assessment they would need to make sure that the purpose of the appraisal was for a tax appeal and would need to provide written permission from the appraiser to do so. An appraiser completing such an appraisal would need to review Bulletin #10 published by the Maine Revenue Service in order to determine what changes may be necessary to make their appraisal comply with assessment standards.