Appraisal

[bisbeelady]

Hi, I live in a funky little artist town, remote..My friend put his house on the market and let me have the first grabs. This was 18 months ago. We didn't have a clue what the houses were worth at the time, but he said $43K (it's a work of art), and I said "It sounds about right". We made the deal and I applied for the loan. Now, the loan gal is a real pushy woman, but I just thought she was being friendly. She got the appraisers to come out and they appraised it at 43,500. We were all happy at the time. The guy said that the appraisers didn't ask any questions and only spent a minute in the house. Now, later, I still don't think the house is worth $35,000. These are pretty dumpty fixer uppers, but I just think she had a deal with those appraisers, however, they found a couple of houses somewhere selling for $45 and they were close enough for them to say my house must be worth 43,500. I think it was just a set up, as I got my taxes today and it is 33,018 limited value and 37,146 full cash value.. I know they tax you lower than the house is worth, but I got screwed by the loan lady. I/we should have had it independently appraised but didn't, since we trusted her. Other than getting it appraised again and being out that money, and confronting her, are there any reasonable alternatives for an obviously broke homeowner?

 

[lyndahart246]

Hi,

I think that if you signed an agreement for a particular price and the appraisal validated that price and if you are now having second thoughts, you may lose your earnest money deposit or possibly be sued if you back out. Not to mention losing a friendship.Appraisals are not an exact science and usually do uphold the selling price on the contract unless there are really major problems with the property or there are absolutely no comparable values in the area. Perhaps you can sit down with your friend and tell him you would like to put it back on the market and see if he will let you off the hook.