Appraisals
 

It almost seems like the banks are trying to figure out how NOT to give people the money for a mortgage. Isn't it the business they are in?
This is the result of the banks lending money to people that they knew could'nt afford it and they were in cahoots with appraisers who would inflate the appraisal to justify it. They all made money and then the bottom dropped out. Now we are all paying the price.

Unfortunately the appraisers are only going back six months on comp sales, and the majority of what is selling around here are repos and auctions. Our taxable value (which is usually much lower than what an appraiser will say your house is worth) is $40 thousand dollars more than what our house just appraised at. Our buyers wanted to roll their closing costs into the sales price also, which meant that the house had to appraise for $6,100 more than the sales price. They now have to come up with their own closing costs because the house appraised for $10,000 less than the sales price that we had agreed upon. Makes no sense that our property taxes are based off of a value that the home doesn't have anymore!

Omg
 

I am so sorry for you both that you have to go thru all this aggravation. A roller coaster ride...that is NO FUN at all! My nerves are shot already, I cant imagine all this other baloney thats ahead. Good luck to you both and anyone else going thru this...keeping my fingers and toes crossed for you!

We went through quite a bit of the same thing as we sold our big old house. In NY, the property taxes continue to rise even though they too are based on "market value" as NYC sees it. Those values have declined somewhat, but they covered it by raising the rate. You can't win.
I'm gald for you that the $10,000 wasn't something to make you walk. It's only money and the aggravation you'd (maybe) have to go through to get another buyer, well it has to have a price! And the longer it goes on, the more flexible you wind up beng.
Best of luck with this one!!

My son just called me. He got a reassesment for his 2010 real estate taxes. He just bought in Dec. 09 for what we thought was a great deal $25,000 under the assesed valuation for 2009. Guess what they reduced his assesed value by $100,000. As this is his first home purchase and I was the one who did all the number crunching for him to see if it was worth it , we are both upset. It is a short commute to the most stable and largest employer in that town (Microsoft) so it should recover I hope? But $100,000 reduction on a $535,000 house is huge.
Our house only 15 min away went up by $50,000. I think these assesors need math lessons.

This may show how little I know about real estate taxes, but isn't the assessed value just a percentage of the market value?

Yes and in alot of the states it is now 100% of market value. What we have been complaining about is the way they figure market value. The appraisals for loans (new mortgages) are only going back 3 months so into the worst of the selling history and it pulls up all the loan defaults short sales and does not take into account the major differences )alot of times) between the houses they use as comps and the house they are appraising. The appraisals for taxes depend on the state and local regulations in the area. In some states they have to go back a year in others only 6 months in others it is a complicated % of change formula that is done by district. I have never lived in a place that has done it the same twice. And I have appealed my evaluation when it went up, 11 times in my 31 years of home ownership. (won 8) The tax appraisers often don't even look at the houses they are appraising they just go by the square ft of house and lot and age of home. or they just up it to match the neighbors. I live in a town of some very expensive houses and I often get raised for no reason other than someone paid 3 mil a mile away. Can you tell this is a sore point with me sorry I ran on.

SS,

I wish that you and so many others did not have to go through this frustration and aggravation.

Those foreclosures that the comps are full of often require a lot of money to be put in after closing to make them livable again. I have heard tales of foreclosures that have been completely trashed, even to the point of having plumbing fixtures and wiring yanked out. Sometimes by previous owners and sometimes when the homes are robbed of anything that can be carried out.

The comps now seem to have a bigger share than usual of "as is" sales. I heard of a house that looked wonderful on the outside and was located in a great area, but there had been a fire that had made a mess inside but did not show outside. It sold for a very low price "as is" but the real reason did not show on the outside. Buyers then expected to get other homes in the neighborhood at such a low price.

The lenders who put us into this mess with their drive-by appraisals and stated-assets loans are now refusing to acknowledge the real value of good homes that do not need extensive work or in cases like yours, do not need any work at all.

How can appraisers ignore what is obvious. You cannot comp beautifully maintained homes with homes that have been gutted or wrecked. What a mess this all is and the wrong people are being punished.

I sure hope this works out soon, SS. I wish you the best.

Boomer

Well, the inspection went fine. They want to close around the 17th of July!:pepper2::pepper2::pepper2: Things are moving along quickly now. We'll be out of here in no time!

That is wonderful...Being from the Northeast I find July to be the perfect time to switch homes. Plenty of time to settle down before winter and the holidays.

It's about time. Wwe have been dealing with a most frustrating buyer. I am very happy for you.

Yoda

Now all that packing! Just put you PC on the webcam of your favorite chair, put on some Jimmy Buffett and the packing goes ever so smoothly! (Of course pretending you are in TV and it's happy hour doesn't hurt either.

Congratulations!

Kate

CONGRATULATIONS, SS!!! Can you believe it's finally happening?? I bet your head is swimming. Best of luck to you as you start your packing and preparing for the next wonderful phase of your life. I'm so happy for you!!!:pepper2:

Congratulations!
 

Thats is great news SS!!!! Now you can really put the cleaning supplies away lol relax!!! :beer3:
You will be busy packing, but that will be fun cause you know what you are packing for!!! I'm very happy for you!!! :pepper2:

Good luck to you Yoda, most buyers are really irritating!!! I hope you have a final sale soon!

Congratulations!
 

What an ordeal - finally light at the end of the tunnel!