# First time home buyer - Tons of assessment data!



## OneEye (Sep 8, 2014)

I am a first time home buyer and I do not want to just jump in and buy a house or condo at any time of year or market. I have been looking at the assessment rolls for the last 4 years in my area (Victoria, BC) and it really looks bad. I want to buy a house so I can have a dog and a rental unit downstairs. (I don't care about the legalities around rentals) I have also been looking at condos because my budget is around 370,000 on a house and 250,000 on a condo but I want to keep it on the lower side. I don't mind a fixer upper. *I would like to be able to sell in a few years if I feel like it*. 

The way I am looking at this Assessment data is the loss each year would be divided by 12 months and that monthly loss would be included in my expense with mortgage, insurance, and every other bill that comes attached with a place. If I were to sell in 5 years and the assessment has dropped by $17,000.00 in a year, does that not mean it is costing me $1,416.67 per month in that given year? Now I know that assessment is changing and goes up and down each year, but take a look at the four years attached in PDF below. 2011 looks OK but everything else looks bad. 

*First*... *before* you take a look at my massive amount of assessment data and the PDFs, I took a look at a condo in Oak Bay and went to the assessment office to look the individual assessment for that property and this is what I found. Huge drop!!!! Is this because house prices are dropping and people are moving out of condos and into houses? What do I do? Buy now? Wait until winter or spring? Buy a house or a condo? All the Realtors seem to think I should buy now and go by comparables and ignore assessment data. 

*Assessment amounts:*
2011: $376,800
2012: $375,500
2013: $319,700
2014: $241,500


*Year over year decreases:*
2011 - 2012: decrease of 0.35% during this year
2012 - 2013: decrease of 14.86% during this year
2013 - 2014: decrease of 24.46% during this year


*Between 2011 - 2014, there was a decrease of 35.91% in assessments*.



*Property Values added from 2011 to 2014 * 

Jurisdiction Total Loss/Gain % Total Loss/Gain between 2011 and 2014
Property value is reported from July 01 - to July 01 *(All 3 Years) - *This is data for all 3 years - I have only included 2014's Roll which includes 2013's assessment as well. It takes forever to copy the data to this board so this should be enough. I have included links to all 4 assessment rolls from BC assessment in PDF format. (2 pages each - All under 160k - Very small and easy to download.)

2011 Assessment Roll
2012 Assessment Roll
2013 Assessment Roll
2014 Assessment Roll


*Jurisdiction**Total Loss/Gain %**Total Loss/Gain between 2011 and 2014*Colwood-0.69%-$16,000.00Victoria0.17%$18,000.00Esquimalt-0.44%-$16,000.00Central Saanich-0.53%-$7,000.00Saanich (SD61)-0.70%-$4,000.00Saanich (SD63)-0.46%-$14,000.00Oak Bay0.33%$13,000.00Langford-1.06%-$31,000.00North Saanich-0.92%-$70,000.00Metchosin-1.14%-$54,000.00Sooke-0.95%-$25,000.00Highlands-0.91%-$18,000.00View Royal-0.48%-$0.00Sidney-0.58%-$2,000.00Victoria Rural-1.09%-$26,000.00Gulf Islands-0.97%-$64,000.00

(*Below*) - Property value is reported from July 01 - to July 01 compared to 2013. Calculate difference and loss or gain per month. 
These are actual individual assessment examples and are not an average. 


*Jurisdiction**2013 Completed Assessment Roll**2014 Completed Assessment Roll**Difference**Percent**Loss/Gain Per Month*Colwood$519,000.00$502,000.00-$17,000.00-0.27%-$1,416.67Victoria$542,000.00$526,000.00-$16,000.00-0.25%-$1,333.33Esquimalt$512,000.00$491,000.00-$21,000.00-0.34%-$833.33Central Saanich$512,000.00$502,000.00-$10,000.0-0.16%-$833.33Saanich (SD61)$515,000.00$497,000.00-$18,000.00-0.29%-$1,500.00Saanich (SD63)$705,000.00$683,000.0-$22,000.00-0.26%-$1,833.33Oak Bay$691,000.00$667,000.00-$24,000.00-0.29%-$2,000.00Langford$427,000.00$408,000.00-$19,000.00-0.37%-$1,583.33North Saanich$723,000.00$681,000.00-$42,000.00-0.48%-$3,500.00Metchosin$601,000.00$536,000.00-$65,000.00-0.90%-$5,416.67Sooke$324,000.00$312,000.00-$12,000.00-0.31%-$1,000.00Highlands$474,000.00-$451,000.00-$23,000.00-0.40%-$1,916.67View Royal$431,000.00-$429,000.00-$2,000.00-0.04%-$166.67Sidney$429,000.00-$427,000.00-$2,000.00-0.04%-$166.67Victoria Rural$308,000.00-$296,000.00-$12,000.00-0.32%-$1,000.00Gulf Islands$508,000.00-$479,000.00-$29,000.00-0.48%-$2,416.67


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## Just a Guy (Mar 27, 2012)

Assessments are pretty much useless data in my opinion...the only thing that is important in assessment value is how they are relative to everyone else. So, if my house was assessed at $1, and your house was twice as good, yours would be assessed at $2.

If the city were smart, and some are, they'd assess houses well below market values so no one could complain...if you did,,they pull up,some comparables and say "you're right, we should increase your taxes". 

If you're going through the work of finding prices, ask a realtor to pull up the actual sale prices of properties, pull up the average sale prices in an area and look at some real information...


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## Mortgage u/w (Feb 6, 2014)

Don't want to offend you but I stopped reading your post after the first paragraph. If you are buying a 'home', then stats are useless. If you are buying a house for investment purposes, then I applaud your research.

A home is a home....no matter what you paid for it. You don't come 'home' everyday and wonder if you increased or decreased in value. You do however come home everyday to appreciate it, relax in it and ultimately live in it.


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## OneEye (Sep 8, 2014)

Just a Guy said:


> Assessments are pretty much useless data in my opinion...
> 
> If you're going through the work of finding prices, ask a realtor to pull up the actual sale prices of properties, pull up the average sale prices in an area and look at some real information...


That's what I thought as well *until* I started seeing "PRICED UNDER ASSESSMENT" on 1 out of 10 to 15 MLS listings in my area and price range... (written by a Realtor). I just don't get it, All the Realtors I have spoken to say the exact thing you said. They use comparables... so we have asked for these comparables and they don't make sense. The other building is brick where as the building we are standing in is wood, and the last sale was 3 months ago and assessment is dropping by nearly 2k per month. Little things make a huge difference. The strata fee may have been $200 less in the place that sold for more... I still think Assessment data does matter... someone somewhere at some time down the road used it to price their property so all of the compatibles could sell at a comparable price. Right? Also... "PRICED UNDER ASSESSMENT" is still on MLS so it must mean something.

I agree... a home is a home, but I want to sell in 5 years so I need to look at this as an investment.

I really appreciate your help!


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## amitdi (May 31, 2012)

Mortgage u/w said:


> Don't want to offend you but I stopped reading your post after the first paragraph. If you are buying a 'home', then stats are useless. If you are buying a house for investment purposes, then I applaud your research.
> 
> A home is a home....no matter what you paid for it. You don't come 'home' everyday and wonder if you increased or decreased in value. You do however come home everyday to appreciate it, relax in it and ultimately live in it.


I have been thinking of buying a first home and did some analysis on buying an apartment and selling it later and buying a house. But then quickly gave up.

I second "Mortgage u/w"s approach. Mixing the two things can create confusion because you cannot compare data with emotions and that may lead you to incorrect decision. If you want to buy something to sell it down the road with profit in mind, then treat it as investment.


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## Berubeland (Sep 6, 2009)

How do you like catching a falling knife?


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## timmitchell (Apr 3, 2009)

Mortgage u/w said:


> If you are buying a 'home', then stats are useless. ... You do however come home everyday to appreciate it, relax in it and ultimately live in it.


Oh come now. A signature on a deed doesn't make a home. I rent, but I still feel like I "come home" every day. Your family, favourite possessions, and familiar surroundings make a home. 

Even in the part you read, OneEye says he or she wants the freedom to sell in a few years (presumably without a loss) -- that's someone who should pay attention to price trends.

OneEye may want to visit http://househuntvictoria.blogspot.ca/ -- there are folks there who love stats and know the Victoria area well. (I'm sure there are people like that here too, but that's all HHV does...)


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## OneEye (Sep 8, 2014)

timmitchell said:


> Oh come now. A signature on a deed doesn't make a home. I rent, but I still feel like I "come home" every day. Your family, favourite possessions, and familiar surroundings make a home.
> 
> Even in the part you read, OneEye says he or she wants the freedom to sell in a few years (presumably without a loss) -- that's someone who should pay attention to price trends.
> 
> OneEye may want to visit http://househuntvictoria.blogspot.ca/ -- there are folks there who love stats and know the Victoria area well. (I'm sure there are people like that here too, but that's all HHV does...)


I will check that site out! Thanks!

I put a Realtor to the question last week... "Why do 1 out of 10 or 15 listings on MLS say (LISTED BELOW ASSESSMENT!) if Realtors don't go by assessment data?" His response was that they go by assessment data when it is in favor for them.


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