How are home assessments determined?

[Chris Duvall]

I want to refinance my home within the next 1-2 years. How do I maximize what my home is assessed at?

It's a 2 year old cookie cutter in a new neighborhood in Nashville, TN. I have two renters and am living in the 3rd bedroom. I'm likely going to move back in with my parents (who are closer to a new job I'm taking/so I can write off 100% of the home as a rental). 

How does an assessor determine the value of my property? Is it determined by nearby sales within 6 months? There are new houses being sold down the street for 30k more than mine, will they get factored in the assessment instead of my neighbors?

Can I get a better assessment by installing wooden floors upstairs, putting up a fence, "improving" the kitchen, or having a perfect lawn?

Does the home being a rental influence refinancing?

Also, will turning the home into a full rental property influence my goal to get a second mortgage, or will they only factor in my debt to income?

I'm meeting with a accountant next week for rental issues regarding taxes, but a lot of the lending is out of his scope. Thank you all for any assistance!

[Jon Holdman]

Tax assessments are irrelevant for refinancing.  What matters is what the lender's appraiser says.  You want your tax assessed value to be as low as possible so your taxes are as low as possible.  Typically assessors reevaluate properties every few years, and then just apply some percentage adjustment in between.