Zillow Advice: Home Selling - Foreclosure Impact on Comps

If you look at a certified ...

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 13:20:00 GMT

If you look at a certified appraisal form, you'll see that each comp's most recent sale price AND its previous sale price are shown (as in "$500k in 2006, $350k in 2005"--hmmmm, maybe this comp is not valid"). The loan underwriter has to actually read and interpret the appraisal. If the lender thinks an appraisal isn't based on valid comps, they should order another appraisal.

"Any justification for the ...

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 12:50:00 GMT

"Any justification for the higher value of your property, while theorectically correct, will not get your home sold in a market that is harder for buyer's to get loans and where supply is high."

Ding ding ding, we have a winner.

I wonder if any comps during the bubble buildup were "special circumstances", as in "this guy makes $40k a year and is buying this house for $500k which was previously purchased last year for $350k."

That is special too.

Appraisers are required to ...

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 09:57:00 GMT

Appraisers are required to note "special circumstances" influencing the sale prices of comps. This was true even before the flood of REO's and foreclosures, when the circumstance was only "seller concessions" -- like holding a second mortgage for the buyer, or giving the buyer incentives (harder for the appraisers to detect, but still noted if known). A savvy lender will interpret an appraisal according to the special circumstances it shows.

Any justification for the ...

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 06:39:00 GMT

Any justification for the higher value of your property, while theorectically correct, will not get your home sold in a market that is harder for buyer's to get loans and where supply is high.

3GirlsVA is right. ...

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 06:37:00 GMT

3GirlsVA is right. The fact of the matter is that if you want to sell in this market (for 99% of the country) you have to be ahead of the market. That means including the REO's that are for sale in your neighborhood. If you are not, why should a buyer even consider your property (when they can have the REO next door)?

I moved out of state and ...

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 01:55:00 GMT

I moved out of state and kept lowering my price until it went low enough for a buyer to bite...($100K lower than appraisal)......was that a sale of circumstance.....ahhhh nope, I would have lowered had I still been living in the house. If you don't wake up you will never catch up to the market.

Will be taking 113K loss ...

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 21:30:00 GMT

Will be taking 113K loss on my house even if I get the asking price. Thanks to the short sales, foreclosures in development. A very sad time for some of us here in the US. So much for my hard work and being a responsible citizen. Thank goodness I was able to pay cash for this house in 2006, but the lost is still a bitter pill to swallow.

Oh, also, the comps were ...

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 18:16:00 GMT

Oh, also, the comps were structurally different than the kind of house I'm (trying) to buy... and it's my understanding that Fannie Mae properties now only use one, not all three, standards of assessment (though I forget which one offhand).

My (Georgia required) foreclosure ...

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 18:15:00 GMT

My (Georgia required) foreclosure comps do not represent the neighborhood as a whole, nor the percentage of comps to AOK homes in that area.

When the first loan co. hired its appraiser, that person used only comps (i.e, sales price) that were foreclosures also. This grossly downplays the area, IMHO.

What's more, I checked the ratios and discovered something fascinating: my chosen area is MUCH more in line with real market conditions than some of the better 'hoods in the metro. So the B.S. I got about the area "going downhill" is, IMHO, just that. B.S.

This whole process makes me sick.

Im sorry but I would not ...

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 18:09:00 GMT

Im sorry but I would not lose 50k on my house because some hoochie could not keep her hands to herself.

Do not worry. If the homes are really worth what you say they are, then there will be multiple bids and their house will sell for 50k over asking.