Home Sales in Durham weak?

[eliterun]

Originally Posted by toot68

We've refinanced our house three times in 4 years, and had 4 appraisals done including 2 in the same month. The two in the same month were the $60,000 apart, and the subsequent appraisals fell $15K apart between these two. I'm pretty confident in saying appraisers are blowing just as much smoke out their backsides home owners and real estate agents. Give them a house thats more than 5 years old in an established neighborhood and they are just waving their hands.

If you want to positively influence an appraiser, provide a list of all the comps in the area, as well as a list of all the upgrades that you've made over that time period. You can also provide an extensive list of your method of care (vacuum/wash carpet weekly) that may help increase price.

[VickiR]

Originally Posted by Kids_Dentist

Unfortunately, blood, sweat and tears provides zero increase in home value. Neither does an owners descriptive view of the property. This is what makes an appraiser's value fair. It is based on hard data and not subjective, emotional viewpoints.

You are so right!

I had a seller tell me that they had just had the interior of the home painted because the kids had really messed up the walls. They wanted an additional $3500 added to the price of the home because that is what they paid the painter!

That is simply MAINTENANCE.

Buyers won't pay for maintenance.

Real Estate agents don't set the market value. Appraisers don't even set the market value. BUYERS set the value. If a buyer refused to buy a home for $450,000 and it sets on the market for a year and FINALLY the sellers reduce the price to $400,000 and it sells in one day, WHO determined the price??? THE BUYERS!

That is why COMPARABLESS are so important. They are the houses that BUYERS already purchased. They tell you what BUYERS are willing to pay.

Sellers want Agents to use the most expensive comps and buyers want to use the least expensive comps. It is up to those Agents and Appraisers with experience to choose which comps are the MOST SIMILAR to the seller's house.

There are no tricks! If you don't understand the process, you may think there are!

I have had houses that sold for more than they appraised. Sometimes it is as simple as explaining to the appraiser which comps "I" used and WHY I used them (typically I do this BEFORE the appraisal). I've had appraisers make mistakes. I've had appraisers use a n'hood for comps that are not comparable to the neighborhood that my sold house is in, especially is the appraiser comes from out of the area.

Once you understand the process, you would know better than to blame Realtors and Appraisers for the price the buyer is willing to pay.