HVCC Issue
Parade of Homes- Vancouver and buyer paying over $40,000 Appraised Value
Hope your week was great…. I kind of felt like I was spinning my wheels a little too much but at least the wheels are turning I guess! I attended the VIP night at the Parade of Homes last night and had a great time showing the Casa Bella with Gloria Gomez (thanks Gloria for the invite!)
I encourage everyone to go look at the McDreamy Mansions- made me realize if I work hard enough what I will be able to afford someday…(Well I always was a dreamer)
My $40,000 under appraised issue-
I would like to thank everyone that responded to my question about a client paying $40,000 over appraised value. I was impressed with the input and really learned a lot on this subject and when you read my findings below it is somewhat an opinion or an “ahha moment” for me that I thought I would share. This was a learning experience for me..
I jumped to conclusions that this Realtor was being lazy, taking short cuts and not looking after clients best interest. I even called her and gave my “professional” opinion that this was NOT A GOOD IDEA but in all reality this was based off limited facts.
I have become jaded on what “free will” and pricing opinion means as well as looking at things on a worst case scenario (foreclosure) as the banks now do.
I spent 71 minutes talking to this client today. He was 61 years old and looked at over 100 homes online via county records, Zillow etc. and was moving here from Nevada. His home sold and was one of those UGLY transactions for the buyers….he did not want to experience this on his transaction. He did his research including aerial’s identifying vicinity of the VA hospital as well as airport. When he walked into this one it felt right- he loved every aspect of it and felt 218K was a good price. Being behind my desk I never witnessed the behavior or experience that he felt when he walked the path of this home.
See this buyer had a need- to buy a home with no stress. He had 100K and wanted to spend $200K or so. He was also a Disabled vet that fought the front lines in Vietnam for our country almost 40 years ago. He suffered post traumatic syndrome and just wanted a home he felt at peace with. Due to these bureaucratic HVCC laws that government (aka bank that lobby and control gov’y) put into place the appraiser is now forced to compare a non-hardship, secured, energetic, positive felt, life filled home in perfect “proud of ownership quality” to a short sale or bank owned shack-a lifeless home stressed by the lack of maintenance and care as these may be compared to cancer- a slow death which comes from months of knowing it will never produce happiness. These hardship homes which once offered the American Dream only ended as the American Nightmare for most homeowners. Rates adjusted, values dropped, jobs lost and relationships shattered in the stress. Upkeep was no longer optional as the paralyzed homeowner felt helpless and could only walk away leaving a lifeless structure of neglect. A miraculous recovery is possible- but this calm elderly man did not feel like resurrecting life back into an ill home….
Because of this… market value is what the seller and buyer agree to pay.
To end my conversation with him I thanked him for enlightening me on his situation and to bring a clear picture of the difference between buying a car with 400,000 miles and a car with 20,000 miles that was hand washed and kept in the garage. This has value and must be argued on these appraisals.
Also to dig me out of my initial closed minded opinion I told him his $208,000 purchase just helped stabilize the neighborhood and now with a documented $208,000 purchase it increased the neighbor’s by10-20 percent and maybe now someone can sell or refinance out of a higher rate. He felt good about this and said “see I knew this was right” He invited me to his house warming party and was very grateful for my education and our conversation…but I was the one that was schooled.
Bill- Always learning.
