Houston Real Estate Blogosphere
Houston Real Estate Blogosphere brings together all the blog posts of REALTORS from the Houston area in one place
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Home Appraisals
The most recently published posts in the Home Appraisals category
When you price your home, you need to use comparables that have sold within the last 6 months. You cannot just use any house. You need to find 3 similiar homes that have the same features. I just priced a home in Champion Forest for a buyer. We found 5 houses that all had been updated, had a 3 car garage, pool, game room, study, and 3 full baths. We figured out ...
Read Post [Posted on 05/14/2013 By Donna Burke]
A Colorado State University (CSU) study looked into home prices in
conservation developments, where residential real estate is limited and
usually 50 percent to 70 percent of the land is set aside as open space.
The research shows that home buyers are willing to pay a premium to
live near such open, undeveloped tracts. Sarah Reed, co-author of the
study, and her colleagues compared 2,222 ...
Read Post [Posted on 05/12/2013 By John Askins]
Home appraisals coming in for lower than the agreed upon selling price of a home is making it difficult for some home buyers to take advantage of the market. About one-third of real estate professionals say low appraisals have caused a transaction to fall through, be delayed, or have to be re-negotiated, according to National Association of REALTORS® housing data.The main culprit for the disconnec...
Read Post [Posted on 03/30/2013 By John Askins]
Low appraisals have been blamed for continuing to hamper the real estate market. So Kirchmeyer & Associates has debuted an appraisal warranty insurance program to its appraisal management services to protect lenders and investors against faulty appraisals.
The insurance protects lenders and investors against default losses, including repurchase expenses, as well as “provides assurance to...
Read Post [Posted on 03/24/2013 By John Askins]
The number of U.S. housing markets showing improvement expanded for the sixth month in a row in February, according to the National Association of Home Builders/First American Improving Markets Index.A total of 259 metropolitan areas in 50 states and the District of the Columbia have shown improvement from their respective troughs in housing permits, employment, and house prices for at least s...
Homes that are unusual because of design or building materials are a challenge to finance, bankers says.Lenders are paying stricter attention to home values than they did several years ago. "It's simply a fact of the mortgage lending environment in general that determining value on a property is more important than ever today," said Brad Blackwell, a national sales manager for Wells Fargo.Environm...
Read Post [Posted on 03/03/2013 By John Askins]
The First Sight. Appraisers can hack off hundreds, even thousands, of dollars from your home’s value just for having an unkempt yard.Small Subliminals. Palmisano said you don’t have to redo the entire kitchen. Adding a new faucet can be considered an update and it adds value.Address the mess. Clutter isn’t just an eyesore; it costs money too. Experts say a clean, clutter-free house can appra...
Read Post [Posted on 03/01/2013 By Janet Buff]
I am attending the Winter Realtor Conference. Paul Johnson with the Texas A & M ForestDivision was so informative. Did you know:Trees can add value to your home. Check out: http: //treebenefits.comYour trees need to breathe! Keep the oxyen supply available by not mulching too heavily.Do not top the trees! Cutting the crown of a tree stunts the growth of the ...
Read Post [Posted on 02/08/2013 By Phyllis Clary]
It appears from all the numbers and experts looking at those numbers that housing is starting to shift and the market is changing and improving. One of the more challenging issues facing a seller or even someone trying to use their home's equity for a line of credit is the appraisal process. It is important to understand that tax appraiser's appraise for taxing value, realtor's are look...
Read Post [Posted on 01/28/2013 By MaryCatherin Dean]
Over the last 8 years I've worked hundreds of buyers.
Not one time did the house we were submitting an offer on not meet
appraisal. Not once. When a Listing Agent puts a house on the market
they are not only expected to advise on a practical listing price, but they are required, per the Realtor Code of Ethics, to not mislead the seller about the value of the home.
Over the last few ye...
Read Post [Posted on 12/15/2012 By Gregory Nino]
According to recent surveys, buyers want more environmentally sensitive home features, and they are willing to pay for them. But builders say not enough appraisers are recognizing green’s worth and factoring it into their property valuations. "Appraisers just don't get it," says William T. Nolan, a Florida consultant to home builders. "We can't get them to appreciate the value of net costs. A...
Read Post [Posted on 12/15/2012 By John Askins]
Appraisals are increasingly being blamed for preventing deals from making it to the closing table. In a common scenario playing out across the country, sellers are accepting buyer offers to later have an appraisal come in at a dramatically lower amount, which threatens to derail the entire deal. Unless the seller comes down in price or the buyer puts down more money, the deal often fizzles. "The a...
Read Post [Posted on 12/13/2012 By John Askins]
What do you do when the appraisal on the dream home you want to buy comes in below the price in the offer the seller has accepted—even as much as 10 to 20 percent below?You don’t have to walk away. In fact, some real estate professionals and economists say that low-ball appraisals are pushing home values down and undermining the housing recovery.You can fight back. You have options, an...
Read Post [Posted on 12/12/2012 By John Askins]
Housing affordability differs among races and ethnic groups, finds the National Association of Home Builders, which analyzed home affordability by race. While NAHB found that 72.8 percent of all homes sold in the U.S. in 2010 were affordable to families earning the national median income of $64,400, researchers discovered homes aren’t always that affordable when broken down by race. Affo...
Read Post [Posted on 12/05/2012 By John Askins]
Low-ball appraisals are hurting home sales, real estate agents and home sellers complain. In recent months, low housing inventories in many markets have sparked bidding wars on some homes. The bidding wars have helped push up home prices higher than recent comparable sales, agents say. But a low appraisal then threatens to derail the deal, they add.Appraisers have faced criticism over their proper...
Read Post [Posted on 11/29/2012 By John Askins]
