MILFORD – The town of Milford has hired KRT Appraisal to conduct a statistical revaluation of all properties in the Town. There are five major phases to a municipal revaluation: Data Collection, Market Analysis, Valuation, Field Review, and Informal Hearings. During these phases many tasks will be implemented in order to successfully complete the revaluation.

The first phase, data collection of all properties that sold between April 1, 2020 and March 31, 2021, will begin in February 2021. During this phase “Data Collectors” go to each sale property in the Town to measure the exterior of each building. Interior inspections will not be conducted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These Data Collectors note the buildings’ location, size, age, quality of construction, improvements, topography, utilities, zoning restrictions, if any, and numerous other characteristics. They may also ask the homeowner a few questions regarding the property. The entire process takes about 15 minutes for most properties. The data collected is subject to verification by the New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration and a KRT Supervisor.

KRT Field Representatives will carry Picture IDs, Municipal Letters of Introduction, and have their vehicles listed with both the Town Assessor’s Office and Police Department.

A variety of resources are used to collect data from the real estate market. While the physical data is being collected by the Data Collectors, Appraisal Personnel will be analyzing property sales that took place over the last year to determine which market factors influenced property values. KRT Appraisal will gather and use information from The Registry of Deeds, MLS, and local real estate professionals where needed. Once all the data is collected and reviewed for accuracy, the appraiser will determine land values and delineate neighborhoods, which rate the desirability of locations throughout the Town as determined by actual market activity.

Valuation is done using one of the three recognized appraisal methods: Cost Approach, Income Approach and Sales Comparable Approach. The Sales Comparable Approach is the most widely used approach among the three.

During this phase, individual characteristics of the building are analyzed using information gathered in both phases 1 and 2. Each property is compared to other comparable properties with similar characteristics. Then the market values 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.

Field Review is the method of checking and re-checking both the values that have been determined and the physical data from the property record card. During this review, properties are viewed in the field by experienced appraisers who double-check uniformity and accuracy of information.

Once the Field Review is completed, a notice stating the proposed value will be mailed to each property owner in late July of 2021. At that time anyone with questions concerning the assessment, revaluation process or about the data collected on their property will have an opportunity to meet with a member of KRT’s staff to discuss their property’s value. Meetings will be held either in person or over the phone depending on the pandemic.

After all five phases are completed, all data, files, records, etc. used in the revaluation will be turned over to the Milford Assessor’s Office for retention.