Real Estate - Can we talk short-sales?

[ninjavanish]

Originally Posted by jmsremax

First off when did I ever say not to use a home inspector and I never said a CMA was an appraisal. Second, home buyers should use all the tools out there to assist them with purchasing a home.

I would take a home inspector over an appraiser any day in my experiences with both. My reasoning, all the appraiser I've dealt with worked for the town or bank. I have yet to see an appraiser give an estimate that a buyer thought was reasonable and this goes back to 2006 when the market was still going up. Also, appraisals are done annually for town and cities and the price they derive will also determine your property taxes (may not be annual in other states, but in MA it is). We had clients going to town hall meetings to fight over home appraisals because their estimates were still going up even when things were headed south. I do not trust them at all. Again, this is merely in my experiences.

At least with a CMA you are able to see what people were willing to spend on a home and what % discount or premium they paid over listing price. To me, this is a good way to derive a market value....what people actually paid since buyers and sellers are the market not an appraiser. Please note, CMAs are merely a starting point and from there you get a home inspection and then deal with the appraisers to help figure out a price that seems reasonable. My process for my clients was a CMA, home inspection, and you are pretty much forced to get an appraisal from your lender anyways. However, none of my clients paid more than 90% of the value the appraiser came up with on a property they were interested in.

Sorry Brad for jacking your thread.

Another thread jack here, sorry:

Only a Certified Real Estate Appraiser can provide you with Actual Value.

The guy that comes around from the city and "proclaims" your home to be worth XX value for tax purposes doesn't even walk through the inside of the home. I'd wager a guess as to say they typically wouldn't actually view the home in person. For all they know the inside could be gutted. Hence why all of your computer generated values and inspectors, and such have no real "say-so" on the final value and why mortgage companies will require an appraisal before lending.

Sure, some appraisers may not be trustworthy/good at their job. But to lump all appraisers into the same category and proceed to say that because your experiences denote a level of untrustworthiness towards them is an afront and quite frankly, a stereotype intended to devalue the profession at best.

Now, just because an appraiser gives a particular value does not mean that the property MUST be sold at that price, right? Ultimately, that decision is up to the seller, right? Though you may have experienced selling house at a mere 90% of the value it appraised for... that is not to say there wasn't a potential buyer out there who would have paid more for it... riiiight? In fact, I think any good agent for the buyer would strive to get the selling price down as far as possible for their client, correct?

Ultimately SvilleKid is correct. Though an agent may not like the result of the appraisal, the Agent is not an expert in that regard and thus the hat must be tipped to the professional opinion of said expert.

So since this is a cigar forum, lets put it in terms we all understand:

I am a cigar expert, especially when it comes to certain Domincan and Honduran Brands. I have had years of training in the subject and privileged knowledge that the cigar consumers do not have access to.

If one were to argue the blend of one of those particular cigars with me, and it was clear that they simply do not have all the information to sustain a winning arguement over the composition of that cigar; while their knowledge may be vast and respectable, it simply may be incomplete or inaccurate. Leaving me, the expert, in the position to provide the correct information, whether the consumer likes that information or not.


So, not to be a terrible thread-jacker, let me revolve back to the topic at hand. Short-selling is a reality in todays market and it appears it will be a reality for some time to come. Whether it is a good thing or a bad thing completely relies on the situation for that particular property. I think it would be foolish to not explore all avenues to obtain the most information about the status and value of a property before making the decision to invest in it. The same goes with just about any endeavour one may attempt to invest in. Ultimately though, it's your money, do what you will with it and the best of luck to you!