How accurate are comps? (Atlanta, Decatur: comparable sales, for sale, foreclosures)

[nscruggs]

I'm planning on refinancing my home within the next year & would like to get an idea of the current value. How accurate are comps to an appraisal? I'd prefer to wait on an appraisal until we're closer to being ready to refinance.

[LovinDecatur]

Originally Posted by nscruggs

I'm planning on refinancing my home within the next year & would like to get an idea of the current value. How accurate are comps to an appraisal? I'd prefer to wait on an appraisal until we're closer to being ready to refinance.

Depends on the choice of comps, and the availability of them. The ideal comp situation is when you have a good supply of recent sales in an area that is within a 1/2 mile area of your house (with no major thoroughfares bisecting it). Unfortunately, that is not always the scenario. I have seen appraisals that were really stretching the validity of its' comps.
I remember back in the 80's when my mother was selling her house in north Decatur. The realtor was actually trying to use houses in the Stone Mountain area to comp value. For anyone that has lived in the Atlanta metro for a while, you know how ridiculous that is.

[bayarea-girl]

Comps depend on current sales. Appraisals are tightening up now a days and are more consistent with recent sale trends in your area. Hopefully, there will be some refinancing options for you in about a year.

[northatlbroker]

As a Realtor, we use comps to get a market price for your home. We try to stay within a mile or in the same community and use sales from about 6 months out. However, in this market, that is often hard to find. So, when looking for a market price, I can be more flexible if needed.

However, for a refi, they are going to want a more analytical appraisal. An appraiser is also certified to give you a price opinion. Unless you've had a lot of sales recently in your area and the homes are comparable, the comps are not going to help you.

Are you trying to refi and take money out or just lower your rate? If you want money out and are trying to push the value of your home, you'll really need to see what the appraiser says. If it's for rates, unless you have very little equity in your home, it really shouldn't matter what the appraised value is as long as it is greater than your loan amount and keeps you under 80% loan to value for mortgage insurance purposes (assuming you're not paying it now).

I hope this helps.

[saharaga]

Right about now, not very accurate. We currently have our home listed for sale and when the agent brought us the comparable sales for the area, the many foreclosure sales included in those numbers have dragged other property values down substantially. I don't know if the comps they use for appraisals exclude foreclosures but it's certainly something you'll likely have to consider.

[noah]

Unfortunately for a lot of us home values were artificially high in many areas and have come down so what your home was worth 2 years ago may not be the real value today. Of course it depends on your area. A foreclosed home still goes for the highest price possible but people aren't willing to pay those prices anymore, at least not right now and especially a foreclosure which can be a fixer upper. Now we will most likely hit a point, or maybe already have, where homes have come down below what they should and will rebound to middle ground as things get better and the demand for buying a house increases.

Originally Posted by saharaga

Right about now, not very accurate. We currently have our home listed for sale and when the agent brought us the comparable sales for the area, the many foreclosure sales included in those numbers have dragged other property values down substantially. I don't know if the comps they use for appraisals exclude foreclosures but it's certainly something you'll likely have to consider.

[saharaga]

Originally Posted by noah

Unfortunately for a lot of us home values were artificially high in many areas and have come down so what your home was worth 2 years ago may not be the real value today.

I don't think that's the case in our situation (home value being artificially high 2 years ago) but thanks for the info.