I have heard conflicting responses... some believe it's the same as SFH (comparable sales), others say it's more like a stock ("value" is NPV of future returns).Anyone actually know because they've had an appraisal done for a purchase or refi?

Let me ask two questions: Question #1: If you are a homeowner, what is the ratio of the percentage of your equity in your primary residence compared to your REI equity + primary home equity.For example if you live in a $300,000 home that is paid off and your equity in your home ($300,000) + equity in your REI ($700,000) is $1,000,000.

But even though it was less than 5 years ago, it was still 3.5 years ago and this is an early 20's couple, so a long time for them compared to a mid 30's or older.Considering it makes me nervous to show half of the people the house because I'm afraid they could just be scoping it out to come and steel my copper and a/c compressor later, what is your opinion.

How do they compare to top end mobile homes for example?

This neighborhood has maybe half a dozen comparable comps sitting anywhere from 175k - 230k sitting on the market now.

Although it may lack listings for some stations, display incorrect prices once in a while, and have a lackluster interface when compared to its competitors.

Assessed value has nothing to do with market value or what you should pay.You are buying this property based off the income approach as an investment but generally single family properties use the comparable sales approach for valuation,lending,and appraisal purposes.Local recent sold comps would be a better gauge for current market value than looking at any assessment value.Now you do want to look at assessed value for property taxes.Fighting the property taxes and getting them reduced will improve your yearly bottom line.Make sure the cash flow of the property they are reporting does not include exemptions that do not apply to you or they have been putting off capital costs and maintenance to show and INFLATED NOI.

At that point, a pure cash flow investment is going to look pretty crumby compared to something tied to an inflation index.Someone gives you a million dollars today.

Originally posted by Jon Holdman:Yes, you have your Roth get a non-recourse loan for the difference.A non-recourse loan will run you 40-50% down payment and 6.5-7% interest.I'm not saying it's a bad idea, but you may want to see what the tax hit is for liquidating the IRA and compare it to what you could get with a normal loan.

But you may not know how severe the movement is unless you have experience evaluating such things and have a basis to compare.