I need the appraisal of my house to come in low. Any hints on how to do this?

[MarylandBK]

2004 my house was valued at $213k, even with this housing bust houses around me sell for $250k. Now my house isn't perfect we have water damage in the kitchen from a leaky dishwasher and flooding issues in the basement.

So my question is what is the best way to get a low appraisal?

[keepmine]

Be sure you point out all flaws to whomever appraises the house.

[Chowder]

Licensed appraisers are much more cautious to provide accurate numbers then they used to be. Rule of thumb is 20 to 30k difference between high and low.

You might be able to get a better number from a realtor. Ask for what you could expect if you wanted to sell your place in 30 to 60 days.

I was able to use Zillow.

Your Attorney will know what the Trustee will accept.

[DeadManCrawling]

Also, if you are a clean person, you may wish to consider becoming "Dirty" or "Untidy" for a bit prior to the appraisal.

Appraisers are not supposed to notice these things, but in my experience, it is almost impossible to look past such things.

I'd let the place go to hell, inside and out, for a couple weeks before. Adding a nasty odor can help too. A pot of rice left to rot for a week in the kitchen works nicely. Open it up the night before the appraiser arrives. The odor is terrible, but is easily dealt with later.

The rice trick I know from a former roommate, who used it for his own insidious reasons which I won't go into here and have little to do with bankruptcy. Well, maybe with personaly bankruptcy of morals, but . . .

Good luck

[joh]

We had realtor do ours. She had sold our old house us a few years ago. Told
her why needed a low number she was happy to help. Said she has done a few
for bk"s

[danaf]

ummmm - get a dead cat, put the poor thing in a box somewhere in your kitchen for a few weeks....the appraiser won't appreciate the smell.

ok, seriously I'm only kidding. But that is what occurred at the home across the street from me. Mind you, this home was foreclosed and there were a bunch a drug addicts living there. I only hope that they didn't kill the poor cat.

[pookieny]

Get a realtor friend to appraise, that is what I did. I would stay away from Zillow because I think it's full of crap and over prices properties.

[Chowder]

I would stay away from Zillow because I think it's full of crap and over prices properties.

Yet in my district the Trustee uses it. Probably because the "Zestimates" are nearly dead on to current selling prices.

OP. Bottom line. Your Attorney will know what your Trustee will accept.

[adviceplease]

Hmmm. Do they have an actual appraisal done for BK of you want to reaffirm? One of the lawyers I talked to said that they just have someone pull houses in the area that are close to the size and type of your house. They said because there are a ton of foreclosures in the area our house went down 70 thousand in 5 years.

[justbroke]

Personally, I would never do anything to negatively affect the price of my home, even if it would save me money in the long run. I had a blind appraisal done, because I didn't want it questioned. In my case, if it came in higher, I would have been unable to avoid (strip) my 2nd mortgage. I just would have not kept the house, plain and simple.

So MarlyandBK, what's the reason why you want the appraisal to come in low? Worried about equity? If the Trustee doesn't trust your appraisal, they'll have their own done anyhow.

[MarylandBK]

Personally, I would never do anything to negatively affect the price of my home, even if it would save me money in the long run. I had a blind appraisal done, because I didn't want it questioned. In my case, if it came in higher, I would have been unable to avoid (strip) my 2nd mortgage. I just would have not kept the house, plain and simple.

So MarlyandBK, what's the reason why you want the appraisal to come in low? Worried about equity? If the Trustee doesn't trust your appraisal, they'll have their own done anyhow.

yes worried about equity. Living in Md. we have ZERO homestead exceptions.

[justbroke]

yes worried about equity. Living in Md. we have ZERO homestead exceptions.

Yuck. I feel for you. I don't know what to tell you. As suggested, you can try to use Zillow, Domania or one of the other "free" on-line automated property appraisals. Next step, get a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) from a licensed Real Estate Agent. Next highest is the full professional residential property appraisal.

I don't know what works in your courts. It doesn't hurt to tell the person assessing if there are any material issues with the home that are not "readily visible". Other than that, I personally don't encourage driving the price down by doing.... questionable things.

So, how much equity are we talking? Are you just guessing at the equity or have you had a decent appraisal or CMA already done?

[bkmaggster]

Yet in my district the Trustee uses it. Probably because the "Zestimates" are nearly dead on to current selling prices.

OP. Bottom line. Your Attorney will know what your Trustee will accept.

Chowder and I are in the same district and Zillow is pretty accurate and accepted here. Reiterating that OP needs to find out what his/her particular district and trustee accepts.

[pookieny]

In my neighborhood the Zillow estimates are way off. For instance, the fixer upper house two doors down from me had a Zillow estimate of $90,000 and it actually sold for $48,000 .