Forum Archive: Appraisals

We have an accepted offer on a “fixer-upper” in habitable shape, and are really nervous about the appraisal process. Forgive me if these are rookie questions, but this is our first house. The first issue that makes us nervous is that the building has a CofO for 2 fam, but is currently set up as a 3 fam (sort-of –I’ll explain). The questionable “unit” has no bathroom with direct access to the unit, but it does have a tiny, but complete kitchen (stove, sink, fridge). The bathroom opens to the common hallway. We intend to use it as a 2 family. I’ve seen posts about nonconforming uses, so I don’t think this situation is unusual. However, none of those posts address the appraisal issue. Have any of you obtained a mortgage in this situation?
The second issue is that there is some unfinished work. Specifically, one bathroom has no ceiling. The good news is that we can see the work that needs to be done up there. The bad news is that it looks scarey to an appraiser. These are problems that any buyer would face, so you’d expect the seller to want to remedy them. Again, we’re prepared to do a lot of work to the house, but we’re worried about the appraisal.
Thanks for any advice and experience you can offer.

Hi there. I recently discovered NYC Dept of Finance website that lists market values of condos and apartment buildings. A condo I am interested in is listed to be valued at $203K. The asking price is $280K. Does the market value play a big role in price negotiation? Also, does anyone know how accurate the market value is on that website? $80K difference is a big one, but I’d like to be more informed on this before making a possibly insulting offer.
Thanks a bunch.

I bought it at Home Depot last year and we never used it. It is a Hamilton Bay “52 Ceiling Fan in White. Retail 84.95 plus tax.
Selling for 40 USD. Call 3473271667

http://www.homedepot.com/Lighting-Fans-Ceiling-Fans-Accessories-Ceiling-Fans/h_d1/N-5yc1vZarykZ5yctr/R-100630901/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

I’m wondering, how much do you think that a house that was put on the market would suffer from not having a ready to cook kitchen? I’m not talking about no space for one, I’m talking about all the plumbing being roughed in, everything ready to go, but no finished cabinets, counter, sink, etc. I understand for mortgage purposes, there has to be a sink, so a working sink, but basically nothing more than the bare minimum. I’m doing a renovation and I’m not thrilled with any of the cabinets that I’ve seen, I don’t have time to make any and I’d just as soon pass the savings along to the potential buyer, but not if it means I’ll leave too much money on the table. House is completely renovated (or will be), decent neighborhood, probably in the 1 to 1.25 million dollar range.

Is there a simple formula used to determine the value of rec room space relative to livable space? For example, if livable space is appraised at $500/sqft, the rec room space would be valued at X% of that?
Thanks

Hey All,
We’re looking for someone to fully refinish our cement front stoop, which consists of six steps, with 3 foot cement sides (no iron railings).
We’ve had two quotes so far: $6500 and $6700, both by contractors recommended on this site.
Do these quotes sound reasonable? We’d really like some input before we accept any bids.
Thanks for your time!

We are about to take the plunge on our first and only home in Prospect Heights. We don’t have a broker. We’ve done a lot of our own research, but because we are going it alone, I would love to have some feedback on the list price of the house (we are in negotiations now). Please e-mail me at landmarklover@gmail.com if you might be willing to lend a bit of your expertise or neighborhood know-how to our hunt. Thanks brownstoner.

Hi –

We’re trying to refinance our co-op with our current lender. The appraisal came back with some red flags, so we’re trying to decide whether we dispute the appraisal, or shop the mortgage and try our luck with a different bank. Has anyone successfully disputed an appraisal? If so, what did it?

(Note: it’s not just the low value, lower than any comp in our building that’s frustrating. It’s that they used “comps” in other neighborhoods, and that “she” who signed the appraisal was certainly not the “he” who was in our house, and a few other issues.)

Thanks!

Does anyone have insights on how Zillow gets their comps? I’m too cheap to pay for Property Shark ($60/month???) but Zillow’s comps seem awfully high.

Are there other good sources for comps?