One property was purchased for 17,000 and the assessed value is 55,000.

What makes it difficult on this property is that the seller challenged her assessment, and got it reduced to about half of the values in the neighborhood.  

It has forums for you to ask and answer questions (and network), there's fantastic blog posts, a great, and long-running podcast series, and a marketplace to post deals. 

If a doctor just started prescribing medication to patients before doing an assessment to figure out what the ailment is, they would be very inefficient and seem incompetent.In my experience, a lack of specificity leads to a perception of incompetence. 

What he said,......I sold a condo when I got wind of a potential assessment coming that was going to be enormous, like $50,000.HOA's can be very bad for owners

Your best bet is to place this in the marketplace.

Special assessments can be costly..  

You can use criteria such as zip code, number of units, last sale price, assessed value, etc. to pull the types of buildings you are looking for.  

It boils down to what the new assessment would be in 2016.

We have time to assess and cherry pick.