What is common sense good way to appraise a house? (square foot, appraisals)

[cully]

Sounds like you've been kind of hunting and pecking and not really getting down to it.

Appraisal .... professional appraiser.

Market analysis .... professional realtor who will show you the comps that have sold and anyone with any intelligence can check it out.

There are communities all over the country with your issue of different style homes in them. Rule out those outside your community. Why would you include a farm?

The realtor will show you those most like yours. If close, if one smaller, one larger, one has less inside, one more, one a pool, one not, one big view, one lesser view....the adjustment can be made.

[ukrkoz]

Originally Posted by Joe Van Fossen

How long has this property been on the market? Are there no comparable sales of similar size homes in the subdivision? Have homes been selling quickly in that neighborhood or have the other active listings in the area been on the market for a while?

One week.
No, no comparables. This particular house is surrounded by houses that are smaller by about 1500 sq feet, and range between 600-700K, or by 1.5 to 2.8 million ones. This is the only property that has finished basement that adds a lot of footage and makes it stand alone.

[ukrkoz]

I'll just address several posters.
Regarding real estate professional. I have ten comps 100% match on hand. None of them is even close to asking $835K. They are all $685K max. Majority of properties across the street or adjacent are around $700K max. With millionaire inclusions.
The reason I asked this here is simple. My so much advised "real estate professional" tried to drag me into bidding war and got booted. Unfortunately, this is how they operate. Just like car salesmen.
So PPPPPlease, give me break with them. I have all info THEY have at hand, and very likely, am much smarter. They are no gods, you know. Just like mechanics that fix your car.

[ukrkoz]

See highlited. This is all I am trying to accomplish.

Some bidding wars happen because a particular house strikes the fancy of a number of buyers who love a specific neighborhood or feature of the home. But encouraging multiple offers on a home is also a marketing tactic used by some real estate agents, who under-price the home and state they will not accept any offers until a specified time. The goal is to get a number of offers simultaneously and take the best one.
In many cases, unsuspecting buyers get excited about buying a home that seems to be in their price range, when it’s likely to sell for much more than they can afford. Once buyers discover they have competition for the house, they may already have an emotional and financial investment in the house (if they’ve paid for a home inspection) and it prompts them to push up their bids. In one city, some would-be buyers reportedly sent the sellers photos of themselves and their children, along with flowers and candies, in an effort to boost their offer. This is all great news for the seller, right?


First of all, remember the old adage that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Educate yourself about value of homes in the community by looking at the sale price of comparable homes or finding out from your real estate agent what other homes sold for recently. If it’s clear that the house is being underpriced to create multiple offers, you have a choice to make. You can play the game or walk away.
There’s a lot to be said for refusing to participate in bidding wars. Normally when you are thinking about buying a home, there’s time to look at the place carefully, come back a few times to make sure it’s what you’re after, compare it to other homes that are on the market, and have a home inspection done on the property. In a bidding war, you may not have time to do any of this. If you are bidding against others, you likely will have to come in with a “clean” offer – meaning no conditions. If there isn’t time to get a home inspection done before the offer deadline, you may have to buy without one. Your dream home may have all kinds of hidden problems.
It’s also good to remember that bidding wars are not happening everywhere. They are generally confined to the most popular neighborhoods or condo buildings. There are lots of other great properties available for sale, and although listings were in short supply early in 2010, they are now increasing every month. Look around and you might find something you like even better than this one.

[Silverfall]

You sound like an analytical sort of person. It is a no brainer. If the comps don't match, you don't engage. If other buyers use other criteria to buy a home that is their choice. I'm not sure what the issue is here?

You are upset that other buyers engaged in a bidding war for a house that you feel is overpriced?

[tamitrail]

Whether this property is unique or not, why do you want to be the most expensive house in the neighborhood? This is not good for resale. To me, it would be a no-brainer, and I would move along.

[ocngypz]

Originally Posted by ukrkoz

One week.
No, no comparables. This particular house is surrounded by houses that are smaller by about 1500 sq feet, and range between 600-700K, or by 1.5 to 2.8 million ones. This is the only property that has finished basement that adds a lot of footage and makes it stand alone.

This finished basement - is it a walkout?

[Ultrarunner]

I don't do bidding either... I may adjust my offer once and that is about it... there is just too much real estate out there.

That said my neighborhood agent was a wealth of info... she farmed one area for 25 years... walked the street each year giving out her calenders and got to know everyone.

Appraisers were always calling on her... she knew homes that were about to go pending, homes that sold and were not on the MLS and often very detailed stats on individual homes... upgrades, additions, etc.

I can safely say she had all the info and no one could match her...

I bought a lot of property through her that I would not have even known about... property that was being sold to settle an estate, property that had been in and out of contract with problems...

I remember looking at one place and called her... she said you know a half-way house is the backyard neighbor and the owner is selling because of constant problems of things missing, drugs stuff in the backyard and fights that can happen at anytime...

[ukrkoz]

Basically, we did very respectful offer at $820K for $835K property, next day after is showed on the market.
My realtor - and she's done it before - gave standard realtor bull about her talking to listing agent and there being some other folks interested in the house, so maybe I should re - offer with full face value and even a thousand more.
And that just did it. At that point I realized, I am not buying house from seller, but am being dragged into bidding game.
I walked away.
But what I want to do is to learn how to determine property value. Like one fella said - there is no such thing as low ball or high ball offer. Property is still worth only what it is worth.
What my realtor forgot is that when we tried that game before, I HAD to buy a house. NOW, I am in no rush, as house is paid for fair and square and indeed, there is lots of property out there and coming out pretty much daily. It's like buying car on craigslist. Wins one who can walk away from a deal that he does not consider right.

[Ultrarunner]

The concept of value is the problem...

I've seen homes sell at prices I would never pay... ever!

On the other hand I missed a property that I had always liked and came in with a full price offer not knowing the seller had just accepted one for a 100k less a few hours earlier.

I was in second position for 43 days and twice it looked like the first offer would drop out... they didn't and closed.

The day after it closed I contacted the buyer... no one would give me the name so I went to the Court House and found it on my own... I offered a 100k over what they had just paid and they kind of laughed saying this was their forever home...

Funny thing is the buyer had problems with the appraisal and that was one of the delays... they overcame it by putting more down.

Each property is unique and judging a home based on what others have sold for is flawed because those homes are sold and no longer available.

In my example, the sales price could have easily been 100k higher and then I would be the comp.

About a week later I did see the buyers again... they said if I was willing to go 300k over what they had just paid we could talk about it... told them they already had my best offer.

We got to talking and they said they almost walked away because their agent told them someone was hot on their heels just waiting to snap-up the property for more money... they did not believe it and actually told their realtor they did not appreciate the pressure and they would have walked had they not been in escrow already...

It's been about a year now and it will always be the one that got away because it was the perfect fit for my needs...