Market value is what a buyer would pay for the home today. Assessed value is what the county taxes you on, and the two are often far apart. They move on different tracks. Many states cap how fast assessed value can rise (California's Proposition 13, for example, limits annual increases to 2%), so a long-held home can carry an assessed value that's a fraction of what it would sell for. Assessed values also tend to understate the land itself. That gap makes tax records a poor way to estimate what a home will sell for. Where to look each one up: - Assessed value and tax history: the county assessor or tax collector's website. - Market value: have an agent pull recent comparable sales (comps) of similar nearby homes. Portals like Zillow and Redfin give automated estimates, but treat those as rough. One more wrinkle: a sale often triggers reassessment to the new purchase price, so the current owner's tax bill may tell you little about what yours will be. Ask a local agent or the county assessor how property taxes get calculated and adjusted after a purchase in that area. Knowing both figures, and why they differ, keeps you from over- or under-estimating either your offer or your future tax bill.