the Price of Home Appraisals

The service in question is a real estate appraisal. We had three real estate agents visit our home right before a major (and somewhat spontaneous) move in August and September last year. The extent of their visits were all of 60 minutes, at most, for each of them. They walked the land, and examined the basement, first and second floors, and the garage briefly. However, the review of our property appeared to be nearly a courtesy to us because they all had paperwork prior to their appearance on our doorstep that narrowly defined the category and price range in which our house would fall.

None of them hid the fact that they were interested in turning the house over quickly. They cautioned us about the "other realtors" who might entertain the higher price we were seeking simply to put a sign in our yard to advertise their services.

So I guess I would offer that part of the service we received was a mind game regarding what our expectations of value for our property could be, and how the particular agent with whom we were conversing at the moment was the more honorable one who would look out for us.

We were greatly disappointed with the approach that all three real estate agents seemed to use to decide the value of our home. Of note, the disappointment appears to be unrelated to the overall housing crisis so "surprise" - - the area of my complaint isn't about credit, the inflation of housing prices, or the overall recklessness of everyone involved in creating today's real estate problem.

Rather, we were presented with "comps" that supposedly represented recent real estate transactions and, with this, a list of homes that supposedly resemble our home in terms of features and overall value. We were starkly surprised to find that our 1.25-acre lot added no value to our home, that the brick front of the home wasn't really anything worth promoting, that the extra 800 square footage of our home (as compared other homes in our development), and that the proximity of our home to a state park didn't matter either. No, all three of these individuals were quick to show a range of values and point at, and recommend, the lowest one to move the property fast.

Frankly, we are aware of the fact - - and lingering angst - - that our development, when it was first built, paid nothing to buyer's realtors. One of them even referred to it, and how we might be facing some discrimination in association with that.

I'm not sure how we could have been successful given the time and resource constraints that we were specifically up against a few months ago, but I would offer that the very first consideration that any person should have during the course of selling a piece of real estate is to consider owning the sale yourself. Much like travel agents, real estate agents are becoming a thing of the past, thanks to the Internet. You can list your property on a multiple listing service (MLS) for a fee. If you do a for-sale-by-owner, you will have to consider the unique challenges with that, obviously - - the most notable being the time you need to invest to market the property, show the property, and manage buyer real estate agents (since those will continue to exist for some time due to buyers having little disincentive for enlisting these people), who are starting from the position that the for-sale-by-owner thinks their property is worth more than it is.

The second (and last) consideration I will provide is this: Take your time with the process, however you define it. Real estate is the largest financial asset that most of us will know. An oversight can cost you significantly and, really, a few extra days or weeks of due diligence will likely set you up for success.