Friday, August 15, 2008

Determining Value

So we're closing on our house September 4th. Finally. The escrow got a little kooky a week and a half ago. The appraiser went out to do his job, and then suddenly declared there was no way our house was worth what they were asking, and would only charge us half of his fee, but it wasn't worth finishing.

When our realtor called us with the news, we were flabbergasted. We've looked at 50 houses in person, and 1000 on line, and seriously? We were excited about our house. The seller was so pissed, he offered to pay for another appraisal, which took place the next day. After waiting through the weekend, that one came back in at full price.

Our lender then decides they want the first guy to finish his appraisal, so they can compare the two and get the real story. They call him back, inform him that they've got another appraisal in at full price, and that we are waiting to see what he comes up with. After TWO more days, he comes in a bit under, but not the staggering, drop everything and run number. And he used comps that were TWO years old, and incorrect measurements.

This guy caused a bunch of damage. Matt sulked for two days straight- I truly think he wasn't able to utter one word. The seller had to shell out $600 for another appraisal, and we had numerous agonizing decisions about walking away from the whole mess. The housing market here is pretty crazy, and my take is the appraisers are aggressively trying to undo their ridiculous pumped up values from 3 years ago.

So, the house will be ours. And I will not be inviting any appraisers to our moving in party.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

So good to hear it all worked out! Can't wait to see this place. :)