The Sprengards paid $28,500 for
the subject lot. The MLS listing/sale information and the property record card
show the subject lot was purchased in July 2010. The sale of the subject
property is often the best evidence of the property’s value. See Hubler
Realty Co. v. Hendricks County Assessor, 938 N.E.2d 311, 315 (Ind. Tax Ct.
2010) (finding that the Board’s determination assigning greater weight to the
property’s purchase price than its appraised value was proper and supported by
the evidence).
The MLS listing/sale
information shows the subject lot was listed on September 21, 2009 for $39,000.
By themselves, listings typically do little to show a property’s market
value-in-use. But a ten month listing that ultimately results in a sale at or
below the list price is much more persuasive, particularly where, as here, the
property was actively listed on the relevant valuation date.
The purchase of the subject lot
was only four months after March 1, 2010, which is both the assessment date and
the required valuation date. The price was sufficiently timely and probative.
The Sprengards made a prima
facie case. The Sprengards only requested an assessed value of $35,000 on the
Form 131 and the Board will not reduce the assessment below the amount they
requested.
Once the Petitioner establishes
a prima facie case, the burden shifts to the Respondent to impeach or rebut the
Petitioner’s evidence. See American United Life Insurance Co. v. Maley, 803
N.E.2d 276 (Ind. Tax Ct. 2004).
The Assessor argued that the
sales presented by the Sprengards took place after the assessment date and were
too late to be considered for the 2010 assessment. Three of the four sales took
place in 2012. The Sprengards failed to establish a basis for their relevance
to the 2010 assessment.
Their own purchase, however,
was just four months after the 2010 assessment date. Furthermore, the subject
property had been listed with a realtor for almost a year before it sold. Their
sale price is relevant and probative evidence that the Assessor failed to rebut
or impeach.
