[cbell74]

Hi. I am moving and my organization will buy my property out if it doesn't sell within 60 days. I wanted to find out from the real estate professionals (and others who have had recent appraisals) how close the Zestimate on Zillow has been to the amount the appraiser has come up with around Las Vegas.

For reference, my block in Henderson has 5 properties for sale and nothing has sold in the past 6 months. One is a repo, one is a short sale, one has been on the market for a year, and the other two are priced similar to what I have mine listed at. Will the appraiser factor in the short sale and repo properties or do they get thrown out since they are well below anything else (even well below much smaller properties) in the area?

Thanks.

Charles

[olecapt]

Originally Posted by cbell74

Hi. I am moving and my organization will buy my property out if it doesn't sell within 60 days. I wanted to find out from the real estate professionals (and others who have had recent appraisals) how close the Zestimate on Zillow has been to the amount the appraiser has come up with around Las Vegas.

For reference, my block in Henderson has 5 properties for sale and nothing has sold in the past 6 months. One is a repo, one is a short sale, one has been on the market for a year, and the other two are priced similar to what I have mine listed at. Will the appraiser factor in the short sale and repo properties or do they get thrown out since they are well below anything else (even well below much smaller properties) in the area?

Thanks.

Charles

Charles. Appraiser don't use listings...only sales. They will go outward from your home increasing distances until they find three similar homes sold. I believe at the moment the appraisers are having trouble deciding how to handle the short/REPOs. It is clear in a tract where there has not been anything else. But it is complex when the comps have two straights and a low REPO. It has been my recent experience representing buyers that the appraisals have been well above the actual price agreed upon. I would also note though that two of these sales were recent year lows for the communities by three or four percent.

Zillow is generally of very low value for this purpose. Error is simply too great. You can however look at the comps picked and see if any make any sense. They may give you a good clue. Get your agent to pull what he/she would use for comps...that will give you another view.

[cbell74]

Originally Posted by olecapt

Charles. Appraiser don't use listings...only sales. They will go outward from your home increasing distances until they find three similar homes sold. I believe at the moment the appraisers are having trouble deciding how to handle the short/REPOs. It is clear in a tract where there has not been anything else. But it is complex when the comps have two straights and a low REPO. It has been my recent experience representing buyers that the appraisals have been well above the actual price agreed upon. I would also note though that two of these sales were recent year lows for the communities by three or four percent.

Zillow is generally of very low value for this purpose. Error is simply too great. You can however look at the comps picked and see if any make any sense. They may give you a good clue. Get your agent to pull what he/she would use for comps...that will give you another view.

Thank you so much for the reply!

How far back in time will they look to determine the price? The reason I ask is two properties the same as mine across the street sold earlier this year (both in March). Will they factor these into the equation, or are the sales too old?

Charles

[olecapt]

Originally Posted by cbell74

Thank you so much for the reply!

How far back in time will they look to determine the price? The reason I ask is two properties the same as mine across the street sold earlier this year (both in March). Will they factor these into the equation, or are the sales too old?

Charles

No way to tell. Depends on how desperate the Appraiser is for comps. In the existing market though they will avoid aged comps like the plague.

[cbell74]

Originally Posted by olecapt

No way to tell. Depends on how desperate the Appraiser is for comps. In the existing market though they will avoid aged comps like the plague.

My organization will have the appraisal done at the end of the month. I will post back here to let everyone know how it ended up comparing to the ZEstimate and other properties in the area.

Charles

[Eric Young]

Can we lay bets on the over under or is that off-topic?

[cbell74]

Originally Posted by Eric Young

Can we lay bets on the over under or is that off-topic?

Ha! :-)

Yes, please do! I suspect most will take the under.

By the way...here are the numbers of similar places for sale within a couple of blocks of my place...

(in thousands)
210
210
229
175
150

Charles

[Eric Young]

I'd put the over/under at 210 and I'll take the over...with a side bet at 219.

I know the appraisers are supposed to have tightened up - and maybe most have - but the appraisals on my recent transactions have all been way higher than either what I could realistically expect or the accepted offer.

Just because I can't imagine someone 210 while two comparables nearby are asking 150 and 175 - assuming they aren't completely banged up - that doesn't mean the appraiser won't give you a 210 value.

[Chest Rockwell]

That's funny, because a couple years ago, you had to pray the appraiser would go high enough so you could get financing for your ridiculous asking price!

Eric Young - I loved your work with the Dodgers, Rockies, Cubs and Brewers as a speedy second baseman!

[Eric Young]

Originally Posted by Chest Rockwell

That's funny, because a couple years ago, you had to pray the appraiser would go high enough so you could get financing for your ridiculous asking price!

Eric Young - I loved your work with the Dodgers, Rockies, Cubs and Brewers as a speedy second baseman!

You know, that's the first time I've gotten that here. What's funny, though, on the baseball sites I post to, people are just amazed that it's actually my name. It's like it's impossible or something!