Appraisal from Sheriff always lower?

[boatboy]

I have been doing some research on foreclosures/auctions and it always seems that the appraiser for the county knocks the house down in value compared to the values of cyberhomes and realtyTrac.

Is this because they also can't get into the homes and do it from the outside. This is what I hear.

[Greg]

The county does not do appraisals, they do assessments which can be high or low depending on your area. As for those 2 websites giving values you are wasting your time and if you use them you will waste your money.

If you don't know your market you need to hire someone who does.

[Bill Wise]

Use actual comparable sale prices. The appraisal dist prices may be high or low. Don't use them as real values.

BillWise

[Trotta Appraisal]

I'm not positive about where you are, but in CT this is my guess.
The county "appraisal" (assessment) is done here by the tax assessor and is used for tax purposes only and you should know when they valued the property, because around here they are updated every 5 years. So you may have an assessment that is from 3 years ago.
When the property goes to auction they sometimes will have the appraisal which is from an appraiser provided to the court and usually the appraiser does not have access to the interior of the house. In foreclosure situations, this can make a huge difference in estimated value.
Check with attorneys at the auctions they can tell you about your local practices.

[Veloz]

You should find a way to get access to you local MLS.

It is easier than you think once you start checking.

Good Luck with your investing.