How do I get a low appraisal?...

[fiats3]

I need to get a low appraisal for my house. Any suggestions on how to do this? Afterall, property values are highly subjective, I want to show little or no equity in order to confirm my 13...appraisers always think you are wanting to get re-financed or something and seem to give you high blue sky numbers...

[FilingOnMyOwn]

Well this is an easy one lol. I'm not sure where you live or what the climate is like, but you want an unkept and neglected property for the appraiser to see. Junk everywhere. See some old appliances on the curb on garbage day? Salvage them. Scatter them about your front yard. Turn your garbage cans upside down and spread them around. Fill your kitchen sink with dirty dishes. If they smell bad its a big plus, so some rotting fish or dairy products will help nicely. Take your car in your driveway, put it up on blocks or jacks, raise the hood, and surround it with oil containers and tools, maybe some old parts if you have some. Buy a few cans of sardines or anchovies and bake them in the oven for a short period of time before the appraiser gets there. Hide a can in each room of the house for an unstoppable and overpowering stench that the appraiser will believe is genuinely unremovable. While showing a garage or basement area, please be courteous enough to warn the appraiser of the rats and cockroach problem, and try to assure them that your pest control said they would have it all under control, after a few more applications. Don't forget to mention the black mold surrounding all the leaky pipes. You could even really go overboard and paint a really ugly color. That would be awesome. I myself, for an extra touch, would answer the door with a t-shirt that is too small and potato chips spilled all over it, and say something like 'i hope I can get at least 50 grand for this house, I've been savin up for a monster truck' and smile real big with food inbetween my teeth

[sunshine08]

Short of the above post ( I guess he forgot that somebody has to clean this stuff up, not to mention live with the smell), Get a local realtor to come to your house.
If you have a Remax in the area they are great, may cost around $100 or so.
You want them to give you a value, that if you put your property on the market what you could reasonably expect to sell your home for in a short period of time. They take into account the housing market in "your" area and the price range that the same type homes that been sold recently in your area. They can back these figures up and do (will give you a couple of recent listings of homes sold in your area). This is why the fee. This is an estimate more accurate as to what you could honesly expect to get for your home listing it as is, where is. Example, nice home, nice area, but numerous homes in like condition for sale in your area, estimate will be lower than the same home in the same condition that is in demand in an area that has a small selection of homes for sale. When buying a home, location, size, ammenities, etc. are very key to buyers.
Hope it helps, good luck.

[StaciMM]

Keep in mind that if you manipulate your appraisal and it comes out too low, the trustee will get suspicious and send someone to do one.

Honesty is the best approach...

[robivi3]

Everyone here has given you practical advice. While it would not be advisable to over do any damage to the home I would definitely enhance physically any defects you may have. If you have popcorn cielings you may want to go to Home Depot and get some popcorn patch and place it in a few strategic areas.

Having someone with knowledge pull a power wire and cover it for the AC may not hurt. Just explain you cannot afford to fix it, it's well over 1000 dollars. There are little things you may want to try if you are saving your home for your family.

However, such things involve risk and integrity. I certainly would not have the house overly clean at appraisal. If it is a home inspector that comes out I would not play around to much if he knows about the BK. I would not tell them about the BK as the Trustee may ask them if they do not already know.

An appraiser will not see the attic, an inspector (in Florida) will. For refinance they usually come in lower, for purchase they usually go higher, at least in our area.

[SinkingFast]

Our experience has been just the opposite. Where we lived in Missouri, Refi appraisals come in higher and Purchase appraisals are lower. Purchase appraisals tend to be a truer reflection of the market there.

You should be able to get Real Estate Agents to run a Competitive Market Analysis on your home for free. It's nearing the Spring sales season, just call a few (at least 3) from different offices. You want several in case you happen to hit on a Rookie agent that comes in with a figure totally out of line with the rest of the agents. Tell them you're considering selling and want to know about marketing your home. The REA's will check the MLS for similar properties in you local area that have sold and closed in the last 6 months. That's how they establish the baseline for value. That's the same thing appraisers do. Don't bother making the place look ugly. They don't "see" that when it comes to value. If there are defects in Physical structural things like the roof, foundation,........ Mechanicals like electric, plumbing, heat/AC,..... Obviously old and worn floor coverings like old carpet, broken tile, etc.,.......... Black mold or other environmental/pest issues,........ Those factors will impact value. Also if similar properties have things that your house doesn't like a garage, or finished basement,..... Those will be deductions from your value too.

You might even tell the agents that you need to sell quickly due to financial circumstances so they give you a Quick Sale Price instead of Full Market Asking Price. Quick Sale is not Fire Sale. As an example,........ Similar homes in your neighborhood are selling for $100K, the agents may recommend that you list at $95K to get a bonafide offer within 30 days. A QSP generally is only a few thousand less to make it more attractive to potential buyers and thereby sell more quickly.

[sunshine08]

Now we did the quick sale price. But the agent was great, it took him a couple days to find comparable properties in the area that has sold in the last six months in our area. Those are the key things, comparable size home in the area.
He had specs for the houses (he did 3), tax value and actual selling price. He included pictures as well as the addresses of the houses. He also included a map that marked the area the he drew the sites from. He got the information from the area MLS.(not just properties he dealt with)
Many times appraisals are looking a the loan value. If you want to remodel etc., of course the home is worth more to you than it would probably be to someone else. You know the old saying one man's trash is another man's treasure.
This was not a suggestion to do anything illegal or to draw the suspicion of the trustees. If they take your property, they will sell it for a FAST, BUCK. I can almost guarantee it won't be for what any appraiser has it valued out. Haven't you ever seen those ads for forclosed, bankrupt homes, buy for pennies on the dollar.
I have had a fair amount of experience in this area myself.

[anonymuse]

Did any of you tell the realtor that you needed the appraisal for BK purposes?

[scammer]

Here is a situation, if old scammer would have posted a "how to" or started a thread like this(he knows how so he wouldn't) he would be stoned to death. Naturally you want a low appraisal. But more than that is need to get the job done, there is a certain look that needs to be cast, (NOT FRAUD PEOPLE, DON'T JUMP ON ME YET!!!) that starts with doing a certain smething at the City Assessor Office, and a few other smart tactics. I dropped mine down from $689,000 to $547,000 but it takes a little finese.

First Clue;
Appraisals are worthless when the Trustee has some desperate Realtor do a drive by.

Second Clue; Realtors involved make matters worse, they are kinda like a virus.

[Minnymouth]

If an appraisal is done and they KNOW it's involved in a banruptcy, the appraisal will always be HIGH.......... guaranteed!!
I had to have an appraisal done on mine and my attorney said the appraisor set it very high........ deliberately.

[no_it_all]

Typically, FHA appraisals come in very low. Reason is that they take a good look at the condition and needed repairs. I <think> a FHA apprasial isn't cheap, in the neighborhood of $300.00 or so. If you can afford the cash, it would be the way to go...

[anonymuse]

If an appraisal is done and they KNOW it's involved in a banruptcy, the appraisal will always be HIGH.......... guaranteed!!
I had to have an appraisal done on mine and my attorney said the appraisor set it very high........ deliberately.

I do know two realtors that are friends of my dad though.

[LostOne0069]

"The man we bought it from was so quiet and friendly. I really can't understand why the police keep coming back and digging up the back yard."

[anonymuse]

"The man we bought it from was so quiet and friendly. I really can't understand why the police keep coming back and digging up the back yard."