Need CP expertise - Selling a home: Do you get an appraisal before listing your home?

[Lzen]

Or do you go with what your agent recommends?

We have an agent who is very experienced but I'm just not sure what I should do here. She has done a comparison analysis on our home and similar homes that have sold recently in the area. She gave me the three addresses and what they sold for and they were right in line with what she said. Her recommended asking price is about 7-14% less than what I thought it should be. We have done some things to the home to make it perhaps a little more valuable than when the last appraisal was done 5 years ago. Her recommendation was 7% less than that appraisal 5 years ago.

Should I spend the money to have a new appraisal? Keep in mind that what she said was just a recommendation. She did say that we could ask for more. But she said we should be willing to go down on price if it doesn't sell. I do want to get the house sold quickly as we have already contracted to buy a new house on the 25th and I really don't want to have to pay 2 mortgages for very long.

[Lzen]

Originally Posted by scho63

Most important question: What is your goal?

To get it sold as quickly as possible but also get the value that it is worth. Don't want to leave thousands sitting on the table.

[xbarretx]

Originally Posted by Lzen

To get it sold as quickly as possible but also get the value that it is worth. Don't want to leave thousands sitting on the table.

we had a similar issue before relocating to DFW. we wanted to get the most but we also wanted to start construction on our new build. If it wasnt for timing we could have held off and not sold as fast. I had a place to live either way but i did not want to hold 2 notes for different properties. so the timing of that comes into play. just make sure your realtor doesn't relay that info. you lose a lot of negotiating power if they catch wind that you more or less "have" to sell very quickly.

[Bearcat]

Originally Posted by TomBarndtsTwin

This.

There's a reason appraisals are usually not done till after the inspection has been completed. They don't matter to the sale price. It's only for the loan.

Save yourself the money and have your agent list it for what you think it will sell for. If you don't get a bite, you can always lower it.

It's things like this that make a real difference when it comes to using an agent... if the appraisal comes in low and the buyer can't make up the difference, they'll get creative and figure out how to make it work.... versus simply saying you might have to go down in price or whatever.

But yeah, the buyer will do one anyway and a month from now there could be other examples out there and it would be redone anyway, so there's really no point.

And you can do some math on it when it comes to taxes/etc. paid on that mortgage that you won't get back when you sell, versus differences in price, to tell you what makes sense and how long you can wait and still make it worth it, and when you should drop the price to sell.

[Hog's Gone Fishin]

Appraisals are one of the biggest scams in the Real Estate business. I've bought and sold at least 40-50 properties in my lifetime. The appraiser always wants to know what the contract or sale price is and the appraisal comes in at that amount or a little over. EVERY TIME.

If you're getting an appraisal on your own without a contract or established sales price then the appraiser will base the price on comparable properties in the area. Price per sq/ft is what generates the price. You can get that figure on your own.

[ptlyon]

THE SLUM LORD SPEAKS!

[Bugeater]

Went through the same thing when we were thinking about selling our last home. The comps they were bringing me were close in square footage etc, but none had the updates like i had done to mine. First realtor suggested around 180k....uhhh no. Second was hovering around 190-195k. We were thinking well over 200k. In fairness I still had quite a bit of work to do to the place but i couldn't help but wonder if they were more concerned with a quick, easy sale than getting us top dollar. We ultimately pushed for 205k and sold it in 3 days. Still feel like we should have pushed for more since we didn't have another place in mind yet and not in a hurry to sell, but dealing with showings gets old pretty quick. And in the end we ended up in a far better home so I'm at peace with it.

Bottom line is it's YOUR house and the realtor is working for YOU and if you don't like what they're telling you you can keep looking around. Just make sure you're being realistic in your expectations.

[Bewbies]

If you are in a market with Offerpad, Opendoor or Zillow Offers request free offers. Easy. If you like the offer pick your closing date and skip the bullshit hassle of listing your house.

[Bewbies]

Originally Posted by Hog's Gone Fishin

Appraisals are one of the biggest scams in the Real Estate business. I've bought and sold at least 40-50 properties in my lifetime. The appraiser always wants to know what the contract or sale price is and the appraisal comes in at that amount or a little over. EVERY TIME.

.

This is true. Also, an appraisal is not an offer. They don’t mean shit.

[KCUnited]

Appraisals are the PFF ranking of your home.

[arrwheader]

Doesn't matter. Buyers bank will do the appraisal and that's Bible.

We just sold out home and got ****ed on that. Like I mean they just made shit up and used houses not even our size as comparables.

Nothing we could do except ask the buyers to pay out of pocket for the difference the bank wouldn't loan. Wasn't worth it told them to pay the closing cost then and sold it.


Price it for what the market is at.

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

[underEJ]

Originally Posted by Bugeater

Went through the same thing when we were thinking about selling our last home. The comps they were bringing me were close in square footage etc, but none had the updates like i had done to mine. First realtor suggested around 180k....uhhh no. Second was hovering around 190-195k. We were thinking well over 200k. In fairness I still had quite a bit of work to do to the place but i couldn't help but wonder if they were more concerned with a quick, easy sale than getting us top dollar. We ultimately pushed for 205k and sold it in 3 days. Still feel like we should have pushed for more since we didn't have another place in mind yet and not in a hurry to sell, but dealing with showings gets old pretty quick. And in the end we ended up in a far better home so I'm at peace with it.

Bottom line is it's YOUR house and the realtor is working for YOU and if you don't like what they're telling you you can keep looking around. Just make sure you're being realistic in your expectations.

All of this, but also, know if your upgrades are things buyers want. You won't get a dime out of people for weird upgrades they'll just have to pay to redo for themselves. I was buying a downtown KC condo and there was one that I made an offer on, but the sellers were deluded that they were going to recoup for the very unusual and impractical wood they used on the floors. 99 out of 100 real buyers would go in planning to replace it. They opted to wait for the 1 out of 100. It was on the market for over a year and finally went for less than the offer I made them.

The above advice to "Just make sure you're being realistic in your expectations" is the best advice of all.

[cooper barrett]

I furnish pictures and have a friend do what's called a "drive by". He drives by on Google, sees several year's views, and looks up comps based on school district, city and past sales of same condition/ sized homes.

I squeeze a C note into his palm for the info. I always listed at 8-10% over appraisal.

Realtor's do have a nasty habit of pricing low when in their the house is a dog. Smallest house in sub division, in a poor quality school district near a good one, or any of the other hot buttons they sell around. run down neighborhood, main street, no sidewalks.....

Caldwell Banker used to have all branch agents tour every home, listed the previous week, and suggested selling prices. The broker actually set the price that was recommended to the seller.

[HonestChieffan]

Ask what you want, accept what you want. Offers you accept define value not some realtor skank looking for the listing commission

[MahiMike]

If you have made improvements to your home that might affect it's value, it may be worth it.

[Bugeater]

Originally Posted by underEJ

All of this, but also, know if your upgrades are things buyers want. You won't get a dime out of people for weird upgrades they'll just have to pay to redo for themselves. I was buying a downtown KC condo and there was one that I made an offer on, but the sellers were deluded that they were going to recoup for the very unusual and impractical wood they used on the floors. 99 out of 100 real buyers would go in planning to replace it. They opted to wait for the 1 out of 100. It was on the market for over a year and finally went for less than the offer I made them.

The above advice to "Just make sure you're being realistic in your expectations" is the best advice of all.

Even then, just because it may be something buyers want, it doesn't mean it's something they'll pay extra for. I had just rebuilt the 18'x12' shed and renovated the garage the past couple years....didn't really net me an extra dollar. The spectacular renovated kitchen OTOH absolutely did, and it's probably why it sold so quickly.

And yes, there are some that can be turn-offs. You never want to personalize your home too much unless you plan on dying in it.