Appraisal Value of a new home (Rockwall: loans, first time home buyer, neighborhood)

[sam31]

Hello there,

I bought a new home in February 2010 for $ 300,000 and I just saw the appraisal letter from Harris county. My house is appraised for 235,800. It means that I paid a lot to builder, when I bought this house.

Before buying the house, I called Harris county appraisal district to know the actual value of the property but that time, I was told that since it is a new community, appraisal value was not available. I am just wondering what are the effect of this on my home value. I am a first time home buyer and do not have any clue. Your advice / suggestions will be appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Sam

[cheryjohns]

What subdivision and how many square feet?

[Txgal33]

Originally Posted by sam31

Hello there,

I bought a new home in February 2010 for $ 300,000 and I just saw the appraisal letter from Harris county. My house is appraised for 235,800. It means that I paid a lot to builder, when I bought this house.

Before buying the house, I called Harris county appraisal district to know the actual value of the property but that time, I was told that since it is a new community, appraisal value was not available. I am just wondering what are the effect of this on my home value. I am a first time home buyer and do not have any clue. Your advice / suggestions will be appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Sam

Unless you are planning on moving anytime soon enjoy the tax break for now because it will eventually catch up to you! Even though the two are connected at the same time they are not. Did you have your home appraised by an outside appraiser before closing? I am sure your bank required it before your final approval on your loan. I know ours required it. If your home appraised for near what you paid for it by an outside appraiser than I really would not worry about it. I am guessing it did because from what we had been told many banks are not approving loans for much more than the appraised value these days. We know this from selling our previous home last year. At the same time I ask, did you happen to use a Realtor during your home buying experience?? If you did then they should have been able to guide you in the right direction on pricing for the new home unless of course it is a completely new community with no resales in it what so ever. Even so they would have been able to pull comps for homes in similar communities near by so that you could have had an idea of your new homes value. Using a Realtor to purchase a new home costs the buyer nothing and sometimes will even able you to get a kick back from the realtor in some form or fashion. Ours gave part of her commission back to the builder so we could get the home at what we wanted to pay for it.

[descovy]

If you put in a lot of upgrades at the builder center, that too could affect the difference in market value. Level 1 granite vs Level 4 granite? Appraisal will just call either "average" whether you paid $3000 more for the expensive granite or not. That's just one example...

That said, that's with bank appraisals (like for purchase or refi) The tax appraisal is a different beast all together. I do know in my neighborhood, all of us with the same floor plan are appraised at the same tax appraisal. Some are upgraded to the hilt (and cost more to purchase) others purchased with builder basics that cost a lot less to purchase... but age, sq feet, lot size, number of rooms are exactly the same.

[crone]

Appraise value should have nothing to do with the real value in Texas. Texas has a very convoluted system. When we lived in Rockwall County an article appeared in the local paper advising homeowners to pay no attention to the tax appraisals. The county had enough money that year so rather than tinkering with the tax rate, much trouble, they just lowed all of the values. My friend lives in a rural area. His house is the same size, number of rooms, etc. as mine. We paid about the same. He lets his neighbor run some cows on it and pays 1/10 of what I pay in taxes.

[City Love]

I wouldn't worry about it unless you think you overpaid for the home when compared to other recently built homes.

Enjoy the tax break because it will go up soon.