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Old 09-01-2013, 06:36 PM
 
Location: OK
2,825 posts, read 7,531,400 times
Reputation: 2056

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mack Knife View Post
Ideally but not according to what real estate agents tell you. If your house would sell at a higher price if the seller waits, the tax assessment considers that, not some artificial pressure to sell. Since waiting generally realizes a higher sale price with all other market conditions being neutral, you get a higher tax assessment.

The banks on the other hand, aren't about to go for an appraisal that figures on an open ended period of time to sell the house.
You really should not give out advise when you clearly don't know what you are talking about.

Tax assessment value is very different from market value and is determined differently.

Of course real estate agents have more knowledge. After all, it takes much longer and much more education to become an agent than it does to become an appraiser.

Oh wait. No, that is the other way around. You can get an agent's license in about 30 days with a few hours education vs a minimum of 2 years as an appraiser apprentice and 2500 field hours and 250 classroom hours.

During the past week I have had several of my reports come in below the contract price. Why? No idea. The only reasons I got from the agents were: "That is the price the seller wanted" to (when I asked for the sales this agent used to determine list price) sales that skipped over sales in the same neighborhood (all arms length) and were taken from a superior market in a larger town 20 miles away.

I have had the pleasure of working with some very good, professional agents. Sadly, they are in the minority.
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Old 10-29-2013, 12:33 AM
 
30 posts, read 52,097 times
Reputation: 10
Go for a second appraisal
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Old 10-29-2013, 06:36 AM
 
Location: Annandale, VA
5,094 posts, read 5,163,438 times
Reputation: 4231
Quote:
Originally Posted by Momma_bear View Post
Update:

We disputed the appraisal and the appraiser rejected our appeal. It is a long story but we wound up buying down the rate on our existing loan through a different program at TD Bank. We were able to lower our payment by over $500 per month and the break even on the cost is under 2 years.

At the same time we were refinancing we were contacted by someone who thought they could lower our taxes because the county had a value on our home that was too high. Property taxes in my area are assessed by market value. The county has the property valued at $1.04 million. The person handling the work with the county sent us the following in an email:

"Some will stretch it to February. Your house is assessed at $1,038,910.00 or $182.94/sq.ft. I found two comps in the same immediate area of your home but there were more which sold for in the $190.00/sq.ft. range; similar lot size and adjusted sq.ft.

I decided that I would reschedule your hearing for a turnaround time of 1 month in order to do more research on your case, however, I do not see this as a good case"

So the bank says it's worth $700K but the county says it's worth $1.04 million. Given what I see in the market the higher figure is a bit more accurate but I find it very frustrating that we can't get a traditional refinance because the value of the house is not high enough, yet we can't get our property taxes lowered because the value of the house is to high.
It is in the county's best interest to keep the value HIGH because it generates more taxes for them.
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Old 10-29-2013, 09:16 AM
 
3,805 posts, read 9,302,828 times
Reputation: 4978
Quote:
Originally Posted by Momma_bear View Post
We bought a house in July 2010. It appraised at the purchase price of $1.2 million upon purchase. In January 2011 we refinanced the mortgage and it appraised at $1.1 million at that time. The housing market has been slightly up since then.

Home Price Index for Miami, Florida (MIXRNSA) - FRED - St. Louis Fed

We applied to refinance our mortgage (balance around $840K) and the appraisal just came back at $700K. I do not see how a home that appraised at $1.1 million less than two years ago can decline 37% in a market that is up slightly since then.

I think that our appraisal may be affected by the sale of a foreclosure in the neighborhood. It sold for around $600K. That house needed SIGNIFICANT work done to it when it sold (kitchen, bathrooms, pool, hurricane shutters, landscaping, flooring). I haven't seen the appraisal yet so I am not sure this is the issue.

Is there any way to dispute an appraisal? Remember this is not a purchase, it's a refinance.
1. How much do you owe? 2. Why are you pursuing your second refinance (third overall transaction) in three years? There are higher-LTV Jumbo programs that do not charge MI, and you strike me as an ARM-hopper. Have you looked at those?
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Old 10-29-2013, 09:59 AM
 
Location: MID ATLANTIC
8,670 posts, read 22,856,196 times
Reputation: 10490
Quote:
Originally Posted by cdelena View Post
I worked for a major bank during the period the bubble developed and I really think it was more the government that created the problem. Any appraisal issues were a resultant consequence, not the cause.

The underwriters were told that they could not red-line using the traditional standards so blighted neighbor hoods, applicants with poor credit, marginal LTV, and DTI ratios needed to be accepted... in the name of increased home ownership. Since banks faced restrictions from the regulators if they didn't cooperate, they found a way. The banks response was to sell off the loans they were forced to make either to the government or in pieces/packages.

Lots of blame has been passed out but the real cause of the bubble and crash was Uncle Sam.
Thank you. Someone actually remembers Maxine Waters. In April 2003, Congress wanted to reign in Fannie and Freddie, they actually recognized regulation was needed. But no, Maxine and friends thought if there were regulations, those that couldn't afford a home wouldn't get a mortgage. Yes, this crisis could have been averted. This is a longish version with a tilt to the right. If you can put blinders on and view this for a better view of the hearings.Flashback » Maxine Waters And Dems Defend Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac.flv - YouTube
What is so utterly horrifying is we let Mr. Frank, who stated all was fine in 2003, and Mr. Dodd, who was accepting Friends of Angelo low interest rate buddy buddy mortgages, create our new housing legislation. How did we let this happen America?
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