OPTION 1: Advice from Professionals:

You may get advice from an appraiser or real estate sales agent on your property's market value.

An appraisal:

• Usually is the best evidence.
• It analyzes property sales, which are most similar to your property.
• The main disadvantage is the cost to hire an appraiser.  This cost is often more than any tax savings you will get - even if you are fully successful in your appeal.
• You may not want to pay this expense until after you decide whether to appeal.

 

Real estate agent's opinion:

• An agent might only give you a verbal opinion or a very brief written statement with no supporting evidence.
• It can help you decide whether or not to appeal.
• If you decide to appeal you will need more evidence to have a better chance of success.

 

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OPTION 2: Research evidence on your own

You can do your own research.

• Look for sales that are most similar to your property.
• The sales should have occurred as close as possible to July 1 last year.  This is valuation date for your assessment.
• You can find sales:
  - BC Assessment's website
  - Multiple Listing Service (MLS) database - you need a real estate agent to access this data.

Listings of properties for sale are not very useful, because they do not truly indicate market value.  A listing is just one owner's asking price.

For further guidance you can view: Step 1 in Preparing Submissions on the Market Value of your Property.  

Later in this section, we will help you interpret the sales.