The assessor maintains the assessment roll - the document that contains every property's assessment. The property inventory is available for inspection by appointment before the filing of the tentative assessment roll. The assessment roll shows assessments and appropriate exemptions. Every year the roll, with preliminary, or tentative, assessments, is made available for public inspection. All real property, commonly known as real estate, is assessed.
Real property is defined as land and any permanent structures attached to it.
Some examples of real property are houses, gas stations, office buildings, vacant land, shopping centers, apartment buildings, and restaurants. Before assessing any parcel of property, the assessor estimates its market value. Market value is how much a property would sell for, in an open market, under normal conditions. To estimate market values, the assessor must be familiar with all aspects of the local real estate market. This method is used to value special purpose and utility properties.