Tax Assessed Value vs Property Value

[Ana Coello]

Hello Everyone!

This might be a silly question but I’ve been looking at many properties on Zillow, Homesnap, Realtor, etc. and when it comes to looking at the property taxes (I know I should be more thorough but for now is a rough estimate) I see that they usually give a “tax assessed value” for the home. What does this mean? How does whoever arrive at that number? Should I care about it? Any input is welcome. Thank you!