Posted by ken in sc on November 06, 2002 at 08:06:58:
If you do not KNOW the value of the property yourself, feel confidant that you know what it is worth, then you should not buy it. Period. Never take someone elses opinion and spend your money.
Having said that, do not think that value is a specific number. I have been an appraiser for 15 yrs and I know that there is no real value for a property down to the penny. It will depend on the buyers, sellers, interest rate, your ability to negotiate, etc when you sell what exactly you will get for the house. But you should be able to walk through the house and say “This house should bring $90,000 to $100,000 fixed up” on your own with no help. Then you are ready to buy. Remember, the money in RE is made when you buy, so if you don’t know values how can you assure yourself of making a profit?
First: What is the best way to find the value of a house before making an offer. A CMA? If so, do it through a realtor?
Second: A seller has approached me with a house that has been up with a realtor who had it up for 89k. They are unhappy with the realtor and the listing just expired last week. Obviously the realtor evaluated the CMA and cam up with that number. Question is if I make a offer of 77k to them and then turn around and try to sell if for 92k, won’t I need the actual appraisal to do that? I ran into this with another property, listed at about 86k, so I lease optioned it for 86,500. I just got an appraisal from the seller that stated it was worth 80,500 last year. How does that work? If they gave me 3500 as a deposit, that takes it down to 83k, but who accounts for the remaining 2500, since the bank will lend on the appraisal?
Posted by Jasonrei on November 06, 2002 at 10:46:22:
FIRST: When I go out and look at houses I have a pretty good idea of what stuff’s worth up to a point. Still, before I make an offer, I’ll get CMA’s from a realtor. I tell them not to screen too much. I want everything in a subdivision for the last two years.
SECOND: Appraisals can vary significantly. Why did the seller give you an appraisal?