Can you estimate a properties value without looking at it?

Question

I have located a few bank own properties that the bank is willing sell direct to investors. The problem is that the properties are about 3 hours away. does anyone have any techniques on how to give a wholesale price on a property that you have never seen or that you have never seen a picture of it. I"m located in PA. I know i could call the court house and go through all that jungle and get an idea of the area. I was wondering if there is a simplier way. I know there are a few Comp site out there that don't charge much but they are not that good in my experience but good enough to get ballpark prices. Then what do you do about getting a repair list. well any thoughts let me know.

Ken Hicks · Answer

Paul sorry for the late response. I ask the owner what they think it's worth. and how much in repairs it needs. I have a pretty good idea on how much $15,000 can take you. And Yes if the appraisals come back way off I can get out of the contract.

Jim & Michele Wilcox · Answer

Hi - Like mach says - Putting a contract with an inspection contingecy is a good idea. Or most REO's are sold through RE agents. Maybe you can have the RE agent do a walk thru for you and give you a general idea of condition first. It may be a real dump and not worth a contract. He/she is going to get a commission from the bank anyway.

B K · Answer

Paul Strauss posted on Mon Aug 28, 2006

Paul,

Can you clarify your concept stemming out of your statement: "How many deals will you be able to do if you have to look at ever property you make an offer on?".

How do you make an intelligent offer if you don't see the property. I hope you meant that your employees look at the property, so you don't have to.  So in this case you formally wouldn't look at the property. I cannot imagine another scenario.
In any case, could you clarify it?

B K · Answer

mach: posted on Sat Aug 26, 2006

Could you expand on the concept of the "ACCEPTaBLE APPRAISaL FROM THE BUYER" contingency. What does it mean?  Does it mean that AFTER you've signed (accepted) the contract, the seller will allow you CONTRACTUALLY to get out of the contract just because you will later find out that  appraisal was not sufficient?

Have never heard of it. Please clarify.

John LaBelle · Answer

You can have an appraiser do a "drive by appraisal" (exterior only). No entry to the property is needed by the appraiser.  This is not has reliable as full interior inspection, but should give you a fairly reliable market value for the property.

N/A N/A · Answer

Success is not dependent on having our questions answered, but upon asking the right questions.  The question isn't "Can you estimate the value of a property without looking at it?"; but rather it is "How many deals will you be able to do if you have to look at ever property you make an offer on?"-- and the answer is-- Not very many.

Jim & Michele Wilcox · Answer

I agree - that's a good way to proceed - I don't know about all states, but its worth checking, if you check the tax parcel number (using the assessors info) - they show who the owner is and sometimes there is a COMP link showing homes sold in the last 5 years. This is extremely helpful. I know all states don't offer this but its worth finding out. Usually the info is online.

I agree about zillow. If you check their COMPS, they are much more accurate than the VALUEs they show. The values are not always true for every neighborhood.

Ken Hicks · Answer

Roanimare, I always set my contract contingecy based on a inspection and a ACCEPTIBLE APPRAISEL FROM THE BUYER meaning I'll let you know if it's accetible or not. It's hard to nail down an exact cost of repairs and ARV even if you visit the house. the contractor knows best and the appraiser won't lie to much. but trying to get that ball park number on what the ARV is will be hard. You don't want to back out of to many contracts with an agent. and getting a ARV if it's listed with the bank is extrememly hard zillow isn't reliable enough. I guess it's best to have a strong working relationship with a realtor that can pull comps for you and you can give him a check for that. we'll see

Ken Hicks · Answer

jlabelle, I was looking for more on how to get a ball park price to offer. usually once my offer is made and accepted i have 15 days to get a contractor to do an inspection repair list then i get the property appraised. and if everything is ok then i close. I just can't figure out a way to know what a good wholsale offer would be when alls you see is a address. i'm open to ideas.

Dick Green · Answer

You can check consumer side of mls for current listings in the area though it's not an accurate technique. You can even check tax records for tax assessments in the area still without viewing the property it's hit or miss and very risky.......make sure you have ample back doors in any offer you write up.