The appraisal firm of Vision Appraisal Technology has been hired by the town of Candia to begin a townwide revaluation update. The following is a general outline and explanation of each phase of the project.

Vision Appraisal will be working with the assessor’s office to make the process a successful one. There are four major phases to a municipal revaluation that are being utilized: Market Analysis, Valuation, Field Review, and Informal Hearings.

Phase one – 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.

A data collector will visit each property that has sold since April 1, 2007, and inspect the exterior and interior of the property. Vision Appraisal Technology 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 and building values.

Phase two – 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 gathered in phase 1. Each property is compared to other comparable properties with similar characteristics.

Then the market value of the improvements are added to the land value that was previously determined. This value is the final estimate for each parcel of property, building and land.

Phase three – field review
Field review is the method of checking and re-checking both the values that have been determined and the data. During this review, properties are viewed in the field by experienced appraisers who double-check for uniformity and accuracy of information.

Phase four – informal hearings
Once the field review is completed, a notice of new values will be mailed to each property owner. At this time, anyone with questions concerning the revaluation process or about the data on their property has an opportunity to meet with a member of Vision’s staff to discuss their property value.

After all four phases are completed, all data, files, records, etc. used in the revaluation are then turned over to the assessors office. This will allow the town to maintain the data collected during the revaluation on a continual basis.