Press Release: KRT Appraisal to Assist with Winthrop's Revaluation

Town of Winthrop Press Release

KRT APPRAISAL TO ASSIST WITH WINTHROP’S REVALUATION

The Town of Winthrop will be undertaking a revaluation update on all properties for Fiscal Year 2012. This update is part of an ongoing process, guided by The Department of Revenue regulations, to maintain proper values for all properties in Winthrop.

There are four major phases to a revaluation update being utilized: Data collection, Market Analysis, Valuation, and Field Review. The following is a general outline and explanation of each phase of the project. During these phases many tasks will be implemented in order to successfully complete the revaluation.

PHASE #1: DATA COLLECTION
KRT Appraisal’s staff will be conducting property inspections over the next couple of months. During this phase, Data Collectors will be going to 951 properties that have not had an inspection within the last nine years and physically inspect the interior and measure the exterior of each building. The Data Collectors note the buildings location, size, age, quality of construction, improvements, topography, utilities, zoning restrictions, if any, and numerous other characteristics both inside and out. To ensure that a home was inspected, the homeowner is asked to sign the data collection form to verify that the inspection took place. The entire process takes approximately 15 minutes for most properties.

All KRT Appraisal staff will carry Picture ID, Municipal Letters of Introduction, and have their vehicles listed with both the Assessor’s Office and Police Department

PHASE 2: MARKET ANALYSIS
A variety of resources are used to analyze the real estate market. Appraisal personnel will be analyzing recent sales that took place over the last few years to determine which market factors influenced property values. KRT Appraisal will gather and use information from The Registry of Deeds, property managers, developers, and local real estate professionals. Once all the data is collected and reviewed for accuracy, the appraiser will determine land values and set Neighborhood codes that rate the desirability of locations throughout the Town.

PHASE 3: VALUATION
Valuation is done using one of the three recognized methods: Replacement/Market Cost, Income Approach and Sales Comparison Approach. The Sales Comparison is the most widely used approach, and most easily explained to the taxpayer. During this phase, individual characteristics of the building are analyzed using information from sale properties. Each property is compared to other properties with similar characteristics. Once the market cost is determined, the improvement value is then added to the land value that was previously determined. This value is the final estimate for each parcel of property, building and land.

PHASE 4: FIELD REVIEW
Field Review is the method of checking and re-checking both the values that have been determined and the data that has been collected. During this review, properties are viewed in the field by experienced appraisers who double-check uniformity and accuracy of information.

After all phases are completed, all data, files, records, etc. used in the revaluation are then turned over to the Assessors Office.