What to say to the appraiser

[emorata]

comps are usually giving the most emphasis since most typical homes tend to be in developments/subdivisions and have relative values to each other plus or minus upgrades or remodeling....replacement or cost tend to be given more emphasis for insurancevaluations,disaster relief/mitigation valuations, new homes being built or very unique homes not in subdivisions.

[emorata]

you might want to have a realtor friend pull up some recent comparable sales, pending and listings in your immediate area and review their findings with you so you will gain a better insigt to your area along with what homes may be going for with upgrades and remodeled features.

[John S. Rabi]

quote:

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Originally posted by emorata

...comps are usually giving the most emphasis since most typical homes tend to be in developments/subdivisions...

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It also helps the appraiser that there are similar subdivisions with similar homes in them, so if there are no comps in your subdivision than the appraiser will go out of the area and use a similar subdision for comps.

Aloha,
John S. Rabi, GM,ARB,BFT,CM,CBR,FHS,PB,RB
808.989.1314
http://www.JohnRabi.com
Typically Tropical Properties
"The Next Level of Service!"

[StillHope]

When you upgrade your property,it becomes more expensive - more taxes to pay.

In some cases the ? is -

What NOT to say to the appraser[]?

[John S. Rabi]

quote:

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Originally posted by StillHope

When you upgrade your property,it becomes more expensive - more taxes to pay. In some cases the ? is -
What NOT to say to the appraser[]?

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Your property tax will not increase unless the "upgrade" you did required a permit.

Aloha,
John S. Rabi, GM,ARB,BFT,CM,CBR,FHS,PB,RB
808.989.1314
http://www.JohnRabi.com
Typically Tropical Properties
"The Next Level of Service!"

[StillHope]

John,you know too much...

[John S. Rabi]

quote:

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Originally posted by StillHope

John,you know too much...

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You can't ever know too much, but what you know that can't be taken away from you.

Aloha,
John S. Rabi, GM,ARB,BFT,CM,CBR,FHS,PB,RB
808.989.1314
http://www.JohnRabi.com
Typically Tropical Properties
"The Next Level of Service!"

[Barb Dwyer]

Isn't there a very important issue missed here? Taste. You could put in a $30,000 kitchen with purple walls and pink trim and no one would touch your house. I upgraded my last house with neutral modern shades and up to date fittings and fixtures and it was valued at the top of the market. If you decorate your house for your particular taste, be aware it might not appeal to the appraiser. After all she/he is human and may not like purple (there goes your valuation). But at the end of the day a house is only worth what others in the neighbourhood sell for, give or take a few thousand.

[StillHope]

quote:

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Originally posted by Barb Dwyer

After all she/he is human and may not like purple

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???[][][]

[Fishboy]

Barb makes a good point, and reminds me that this house WAS purple when I bought it. Good gawd it looked awful. The top half of the master bedroom was painted very dark purple, including the ceiling. The lower half was a lighter shade of purple. The whole house had wall-to-wall purple carpeting and the outside was a pale shade of purple. I looked past all that and recognized these were just cosmetic. I took a couple of weeks before I moved my furniture in to make the place more livable. It took three coats of paint to make the inside palatable, and was delighted to find hardwood floors under the gawd-awful purple carpeting.

Besides the cosmetic stuff, I've upgraded both bathrooms, the entire kitchen, new energy-efficient windows, replaced all the inside hollow-core doors with six-panel, installed crown molding and upgraded all the other moldings. Outside I've installed a 480sqft deck and landscaped the whole place.

I'm confident that my home will "show" better than my neighbors', but I have this nervous energy that pulls me to the next upgrade. That's why I started this thread and would still like to hear how KathyH upgraded her landscaping to account for such a higher appraisal. You still here, Kathy?

Aloha pumehana,
Brian and Mary
Lynnwood, WA\Discovery Harbour