Problem with appraisel

[Jimbo513]

Hi.

My family is selling our home. We are selling it ourselves with no broker. We have a buyer and both the buyer and seller have signed a contract. Here's where the problem arrose.

The seller's lender had the property appraised. He called us and said it appraised for $123,000, yet we are asking $133,000. I am sceptical of this appraisel. I have spoken with the lender several times and he seems shady. He isn't very profesional, but it is none of my concern really. The lender did use a 3rd party appraiser, but I just don't believe the house is only worth that and I can't afford to hire my own appraiser.

I was wondering if someone could give me a rough estimate on what they think the house may be worth. Here are the details.

Year Built: 1976
Area: 1285
Style: Single Story
Exterior: Brick
Lot Size: 2.5 acre, roadfront
Bedrooms: 3
Bathrooms: 2
Fireplaces: 1
Parking: Carport-single
Driveway: Asphault
Floors: Carpet

The property is 2 miles outside city limits.
The town is small, about 3,000 population.
The area is south-eastern NC, zip is 28466
Located on a state highway.


I know appraisels take alot into account, like surrounding property values and such.

What should I do? We are firm on the price. We have not talked to the buyer. I know he has the option of coming up with the extra money, but throughout the whole ordeal I have felt uneasy about both the buyer and his lender.

Thanks for any input.

[webmaster]

Is it not your priority to sell your home at whatever price you wish? That being said, it is truly impossible to even guestimate a homes value based on statistics posted on a forum. We have no idea of the shape the home is in (And this is reletive) as you say, the area homes values etc etc

[Salt River Media]

I am confused. You said, "The seller's lender had the property appraised."

Are you not the seller?

[Jimbo513]

I am confused. You said, "The seller's lender had the property appraised."

Are you not the seller?

Meant the buyer's lender.

And yes we can sell the house at what we want to sell it at. It's just a tough call because we need to sell badly and if the buyer can't come up with the extra $10K then we either sell at a lower price or put the house back up for sale.

I just get the feeling that the house was appraised at a lower value to try to get us to sell lower. Is this me being overly paranoid or does it happen?

Anyway, thanks for the quick replies. The house is a 7 out of 10 as far is it's shape.

[kensmith]

Really doubt that an appraiser is going to risk his job and fraud charges to help out some buyer save $10k.

[CafeMonkey]

It sounds to me that you already know your options...

1. Get it appraised yourself and hope that it comes in higher. Then, argue with the lender and hope they accept your appraisal.
2. Lower your price.
3. Ask the buyer to come up with the difference. If he can't, you use the contract to determine what next.

This is why people use Real Estate Agents. It's their job to take care of this kind of issue... Or at least explain to you the options...

Good luck!

[Jnazareno]

It sounds to me that you already know your options...

1. Get it appraised yourself and hope that it comes in higher. Then, argue with the lender and hope they accept your appraisal.
2. Lower your price.
3. Ask the buyer to come up with the difference. If he can't, you use the contract to determine what next.

This is why people use Real Estate Agents. It's their job to take care of this kind of issue... Or at least explain to you the options...

Good luck!

yes if you can show proof that your property is worth $133k, then
the lenders will be more than happy to accomodate your request
to re-review the appraisal. or as stated by CafeM, have your own appraisal done.

how do you mean the lender is shady ?
same could be said to you as being too greedy..right

[Boston Condo Guy]

And yes we can sell the house at what we want to sell it at.

I would be very careful with this statement. A fair market value, established by a thoughtful CMA, is the value that you should be shooting for (i.e. it's somewhat unrealistic to put your home on the market for the price that you want...what will the market support).

[Goknights]

I had a problem with an appraisal last week. Some appraiser thought a property was worth 40k less than contract price.. We just hired another appraiser and he took care of the problem. I wrote this to see what my signature looks like. thanks.

[Boston Condo Guy]

I just wrote an article about "Dealing with a Low Appraisal" - it hasn't been published yet, but I will post it once it's up. It's a pretty uncommon thing in the Boulder market, so it's an interesting topic to discuss.