I am sorry to hear about your aunt's passing in January. As you have read in the other answers, everyone has recommended getting a Realtor to do a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) on your aunt's house. Different localities re-assess at different times and usually they look at what the increases in sales have been in the area of your home and apply that factor to the previous tax assessment. Sometimes the assessment is too high & in that case you would appeal it so that you would lower your taxes; most of the time however, it may be lower than your fair market value. A Realtor would be happy to provide you with a CMA for the home-with the type of market we are in, this is probably more important than ever. Don't rely on computer generated CMA's-a Realtor can tell you what the trends in your area are and how values are moving in your area. They will also be able to pull out truly comparable homes to yours to come up with the fair market value. You should remember that even with a CMA done, the fair market value is really defined as what a buyer is willing to pay for the house AND what a seller is willing to sell the home for. Many times what a seller is willing to sell the house for will depend upon what their motivation is and how quickly they want to sell the house, what condition the house is in, etc. Along with the CMA, a Realtor can also make suggestions on how to set your home up so that it can show in the best possible way. I hope that this helps you in trying to decide what to set your asking price at. Feel free to visit my website at http://www.YourRichmondHome.com or call me at 804-364-6063 if you would like to discuss this further. Good luck.

The tax appraisal is not the market value for a house. Find out what your house is worth for free-from a real estate agent and expert in your area. Get a market valuation price of your home today. absolutely no obligation. Check my web site.

Have a Realtor do a CMA (competitive market analysis) for you. A tax appraisal really has almost nothing to do with a home's value. What you need to know--and what a CMA will tell you--is what similar homes have sold for recently.

Joyce,
I am sorry to hear about your aunt. My thoughts are with you. As for her house, you need a realtor to do a comparative analysis to compare the prices of other houses that have sold and are listed in the area. That's the best way to get the market value of your house. The tax appraisal is not usually the sales price for a house. A realtor will be able to suggest a price range and offer help explaining the other charges involved in selling a house. Please feel free to call me if I can help. My number is 935-5936.