All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

@Jason Ma if you look in the neighborhood section of the appraisal the appraiser usually lists street names which are the north south, east and west boundaries of where the comps he used lie within or he may have even searched all of a certain city or within certain distance.

GLA is gross living area. You want comps to lie within 25% variance meaning it can differ by +/- 25% of the subjects GLA to be considered as a comp. If the appraiser exceeds this GLA variance there is good reason why. Some even stick to 15-20% or below.

@Rachel Nocella Cleveland is a great place but I'm a little biased on that as it's my hometown (: I house hacked a property here to get started using an FHA loan. I loved the city i lived in and I was able to make it very successful. If you can get the VA loan, definitely take advantage for a house hack! Personally i like to look for a project. If I'm going to live in it, I can do remodel projects on my own time to make it better for myself and also add value, win win. Good luck to you!

@Jason Ma I manage an appraisal firm and plenty of reconsideration of values DO work and values are revised. Have your realtor send comps however, so many times I see how terrible realtors are at pulling comps and appraisers can very easily discredit them. I've literally even seen realtors send comps that prove a lower valuation lol. Look at the adjustments your appraiser made and do the math.

- properties over average DOM can be easily discredited (here it's over 180 days-this is usually from initial unrealistic seller expectations)

- make sure comps have been sold within the last year, even better when it's the last 90 days-6 months.

- comps should lie within the boundaries unless you have solid evidence that properties outside the boundaries are similar & I mean actual evidence, numbers.

- make sure properties follow appraiser guidelines for GLA (comps should be within 25% GLA variance)

- comps should have sold on the MLS. Off market transactions cannot be verified for condition/quality/DOM/etc.

- MLS photos or at least a very thorough description of the property on the MLS should be available. Otherwise, condition/quality cannot be verified.

- if you havent already, Include a list of improvements you've completed on the house.

@Nicole Blair The seller should probably check if they can even use the buyers appraisals in the 1st place. The buyers appraisal was written for the purpose of a purchase not refinance/blanket mortgage/whatever. Also, I rarely ever see a lender accept an appraisal they didnt order themselves or through an AMC.

I wouldn't provide the appraisal.

@Benson Gee Theres no way to be absolutely sure unless you're the appraiser himself. Appraisals are very subjective and can range in value across a pretty large percentage. For example, 1 guy can come in at $150k while another can come in at $175k. It's happened to me and I've seen plenty of field reviews (reviews on other appraisers work) that show this. The best you can do is to be prepared. Provide a list of improvements with everything you've done-you can even include a market cost estimate for each section. You can also provide comps that fit within appraiser guidelines to help out. No guarantee they'll use them but a lot of appraisers will at least take it into consideration and itll give them a gauge of what you feel the values worth. Not that they will do all they can to please you but itll give them a good starting point.

@Mike Trzaska it's so good to see a success story from you! I know we talked a while back and everything was in the works still. Please keep me updated on your project. Best of luck!

@Mateus Vakuda I took my classes online through hondros. If you find a broker beforehand, a lot of them have a discount code through the brokerage. Feel free to reach out and I can connect you with my broker who understood that I had a full time job and was looking to get my license for investment purposes/side hustle. He also provided me with the discount code. I finished my classes and passed the exam in less than a month lol not that I recommend this (I have a background in real estate to begin with) but it's relatively easy to do even with a full time job so dont be discouraged.

@Joel Loughrin I actually just read that you can have an unlicensed employee manage but they must be on w2 and they'd have to be a regular employee (you'd have to pay workers comp, etc) so I guess that's up to you but sounds more expensive than a property manager. I self manage my properties but I work with someone that is a property manager and I'm sure he would be happy to speak to you.

@Joel Loughrin Yes I believe the only instance where licensing is not required is if the person managing is a direct owner of the property.

@Joel Loughrin Pretty sure Ohio requires that a property manager be a licensed broker or a salesperson under a broker. You'd be limiting your independent contractor on their scope of work unless operating illegally. Dont quote me as maybe things have changed or I'm just wrong but worth researching.