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With our relo, we immediately put the house on the market with an approved relo realtor per the relo dept. Hubby went on to the job & had temporary housing there and I stayed back to maintain the property. As soon as we finally had a verified offer , it was sent to relo. They then 'bought' the house from us for the offered amount, we were able to go ahead and make an offer on the new house(got all the closing paid by relo, too)
, and got our equity check, and never looked back. They paid all the commission and closing costs associated with that sell...thank goodness, because the market had dropped like a boulder in the year we were in Miami.....we lost but not as bad had relo not paid for what they did.........
So do you have an option like that? Or is the straight buyout your option? And I don't understand this incentive....are they paying commission/ CC on a deal PLUS this incentive directly to you??
So do you have an option like that? Or is the straight buyout your option? And I don't understand this incentive....are they paying commission/ CC on a deal PLUS this incentive directly to you??
Thank you for the post. I really appreciate the forum posts.
Yes, we have that option. We are encouraged to sell it with a realtor. We don't pay anything, closing costs, realtor commissions, etc. Yes they pay all the costs and yes we get a 2% incentive. If we do sell it with a realtor we pocket the 2% incentive.
The buyout is for people who can't sell their house in a timely manner (like in a bad market, like now). If we order the appraisals and we subsequently sell the house we only get a 1% incentive. Also, once we order the appraisals we have 60 days to accept the guaranteed buyout offer.
Yes, it is a nice deal but we still want to max it out. We don't think we will sell our home in the next two months - maybe but not likely. Homes in our neighborhood are sitting. Average DOM is like 180 days. That is why we want to know what the six appraisal values are now. If we know, and the appraisers are truly independent (and I don't get hanged by my boss) then we would pick the two highest appraisals from which to compute the guaranteed buyout offer.
Perception can be reality. A corporate buyout in this market really is a good deal...sounds like you're attuned to the risk.
Schousse...in an ideal world you'd be right about appraiser independence, but it's clear to me that widespread appraiser complicity had to be part and parcel of the housing bubble blowup. Appraisers were under pressure to go along and come in with high numbers on many of these insane bubblicious deals...they had to be for the whole pyramid to work...and as a result it's not inconceivable that there are some now feeling the same real or perceived pressures from relo companies to come in low or not be used again.
Right now no group of housing market actors...brokers, lenders, realtors, appraisers, title companies etc is outside a healthy dose of suspicion w/r/t their motivations and loyalties.
Sounds like what it boils down to is you might just have to flat out ask if your original idea about getting the 6 appraisers out on your dime would be a contflict of interest or not. Whether it rocks the proverbial boat or not is anyone's guess....
Have you considered at getting at least one independent 'relo' appraisal, to see if it comes out where you believe it might? Kind of test the waters?
I am sure you have looked at this every way possible.
Will you be getting substanial equity out of the sell, or are you barely going to be squeaking out of the home.
Will you get paid for temporary housing where you are going, while the house sits on the market. Will the family join you or will you go on to the new location solo for now.
Are your household moving expenses, including auto transports, air fares, etc. part of the relo, or is that on you.
Can you find a home that meets or exceeds your expectations where you are going? For the same money or better?
I guess you need to do what is best for you and your family.....and that doesn't always mean monetarily.
Good luck!
It is certainly stressful...we were graicously relocated half way across the country then unexpectedly downsized after 14 months....and left floundering on our own ...ugh.
Schousse...in an ideal world you'd be right about appraiser independence, but it's clear to me that widespread appraiser complicity had to be part and parcel of the housing bubble blowup. Appraisers were under pressure to go along and come in with high numbers on many of these insane bubblicious deals...they had to be for the whole pyramid to work...and as a result it's not inconceivable that there are some now feeling the same real or perceived pressures from relo companies to come in low or not be used again.
Bob, as an appraiser I am painfully aware of this problem. I frequently review appraisals where this is the case. And my partner and I et fired a lot by Mortgage Brokers and lenders because we refuse to bend to their pressure. We consider that an honor.
However, not all appraisers are like that and many of us are professional, ethical and highly educated. Why would we go through the time and expense to become a relo appraiser if we didn't play it straight?
Have you considered at getting at least one independent 'relo' appraisal, to see if it comes out where you believe it might? Kind of test the waters?
yes, he came back with $750K. We asked him to perform a genuine relocation appraisal for a 120 day sale. He wasn't on the list provided to us.
I am sure you have looked at this every way possible.
Will you be getting substanial equity out of the sell, or are you barely going to be squeaking out of the home.
We will have plenty of equity. We are just trying to maximize everything to our favor.
Will you get paid for temporary housing where you are going, while the house sits on the market.
We get 45 days temporary housing. After that we pay. Corporate furnished apartments for a family our size (2 adults, 4 kids) is about $100/day.
Will the family join you or will you go on to the new location solo for now.
We would like the kids in our new location before 8/6 school start date.
Are your household moving expenses, including auto transports, air fares, etc. part of the relo, or is that on you.
The company pays everything.
Can you find a home that meets or exceeds your expectations where you are going? For the same money or better?
We love our "house" in Colorado. But, it is on a street with no kids, on a 2.5 acre lot. Sucks for kids. We want to move to a more conventional neighborhood, like no more than 0.5 acre lots with tons of kids.
Here's a shot of our Colorado home (without landscaping)
I appreciate the fact that there are appraisers like Schousse, I even know some! The reality is that there are, however, many that have no particular ethical reservations. They've taken the courses needed to be certified, put in the hours needed to have a license and still they are NOT machines. Just like there are attorneys, physicians, accountants, and securities dealers that have lapses in judgement and/or put short term gain above long term ethical behavior so too does the affliction befall appraisers...
The great risk, as the OP alludes to, is that by attempting to get "an inside track" about which appraisers are likely to produce the highest price, he will violate the trust of his firm and not just lose out on the deal but lose his job. Too big a risk? His call...
OTOH, I have some experience with getting homes appraised in areas where there are wide variations AND falling prices. The risk is that the most recent sales are significantly depressed. The long avg mrkt time is not good. It is going to make it even harder to find valid comps. The dilemma may come down to how far "back in time" each appraiser is willing to go AND how different from the subject property are the comps likely to be. Quite often appraisers MUST reach back a little farther than they feel comfortable or pull in comps that are rather dissimilar from the subject property, in areas where each house is quite distinctive the odds of finding a solid comp from a recent sale gets quite small...
The OP seems to feel that there are SOME comps to support a price in the $700K range. Ideally those are "fresh" and spot-on to their own home. If the appraisers have to "step over" data that is more recent or more similar to the subject property that would be very bad. From a professional standpoint the appraiser will need to make a call based on their judgement and experience as to the validity of each data point. If the OP did not discover ANYTHING that sold for signficantly less than their target and was signficantly less of a house then there seems to be no good reason to risk appearing to attempt to seek inside knowledge by ordering appraisals without the knowledge of the relo company/his employer's consent... If that is the case than I suggest he does "stop worrying" and move forward. However if there are even slight risks that the appraisers will use properties that would not compare that might cost hundreds of thousands. What happens if the offers are all in the 500-600K range and you reject the offer? Does that impact job or family???
EDIT: Looking at your house with the four car garage and huge walk out basement I can see that it would be hard to compare to what in the one shot looks to be a single story further up the road. Your may be worrying over nothing -- no sane appraiser would try to compare those two properties if they could find ANYTHING closer. If the places that you know for over $1mil are recent sales that might be all the "backstop" you need...
love what you hope to be moving to, that type of developement, much more than where you are now...no offense, just not my style...
want to adopt two older 'kids'?
You are blessed to have such a generous relo package.....they are getting harder to come by.
Again good luck to you, and your family, and may you make the right call....
Anyone know if there is any written standard that prevents an appraiser from appraising our home as I described and then appraising it again for the relo company within a certain time period?
If appraisers are as objective as we have read described on this thread, can there be any conflict of interest if an appraiser appraises the home once for me and once for the relo company in a short time fram (less than a month)?
The great risk, as the OP alludes to, is that by attempting to get "an inside track" about which appraisers are likely to produce the highest price, he will violate the trust of his firm and not just lose out on the deal but lose his job. Too big a risk? His call...
I liked this post. I have to read it again but there is a lot of good information there. Thank you for writing it.
Regarding the quoted text above. Am I truly violating the trust? Or, am I simply playing by rules someone else wrote? I consider it a wise thing to do. It's perfectly legal. Unless there is something in the "rules" for appraiser preventing them from performing a"double appraisal" then there is nothing legally from preventing me from doing it.
I am playing by the rules.
Unless it's illegal, it's legal.
Is it unethical? What does unethical mean? Is it subject to interpretation?
Unfortunately, if someone with authority (employer) over me doesn't like my approach (because I outsmarted them, I worked the system), then I could get busted. I won't take a chance unless those in authority give me the green light.
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