I have been reading & studing real estate for 2yrs and finally took a step of faith this year.Yesterday was inspection and everything went well.The property is valued for 148k on the auditor's site and the tax for 2010 is $2980.

My agent just email me information about another REO that he has for sales and am trying to figure out what will be the best price to offerIt's a 9unit apartment building (2bedroom-1 bath) 4units are currently rented for $575/months.The bank is asking for $210,000The tax is around $7450It's going to need some repair around $25000 The last buyer paid $450,000 in 2006 and it's currently valued for $286,000 on the auditor's siteMy calculation for an offer was coming to $145,000 to $162,000I will appreacite your contribution on what you will offer for this property, ThanksTracey

I use comparables, the county auditor site.

Rebecca, you need to find out who really owns it (check the county auditor's website to see who currently owns it).

Do you know if it's 90 days from closing or 90 days from your deed being recording on your county auditor's site?

You can also go online to your local property valuation administrator or county auditor and see what the bank paid.Often times a bank sets an internal number at which they are willing to buy the property back, that they will not bid beyond at master commissioner sale.

There are many ways to get caught and in the end, there is nothing you can do that will out smart the auditors to hide such a loan.....mainly because some will simply knock on the door and see who is there!

The IRS has documents describing this designation, including one to be used by auditors to try to refute your claim.

If the audit leads to a different outcome, and your point is still arguable, appeal to an investigator or higher level auditor.

I also noticed that nearly all the other homes in a 2 or 3 block radius were pricing quite a bit higher then what the auditor listed their home's value.