PRICING AND APPRAISALS
SEPTEMBER 22ND, 2008

What is "Fair Market Value"? Fair Market Value for any property is what an able and willing Buyer will pay for that property and what a Seller will sell it for at a particular time. The value or price is not engraved in stone anywhere and may be changeable from time to time based on very personal circumstances, as well as general market conditions. Often the terms of a sale offer will affect the price.

The Comparative Market Analysis. When Sellers prepare to list their property for sale, they should require their prospective Listing Agent to prepare an up-to-the-minute Comparative Market Analysis that will compare their Subject Property to other similar properties that have sold in the recent past, and also to similar properties that are currently on the market and will be competition. Your Blowing Rock Realty Agent will use properties as comparable sales that would have been shown with your Subject Property if they had been on the market at the same time. This is an especially difficult task in our market because almost never do we have two homes or two lots that are exactly alike. We are never comparing "apples" to "apples". The sales will be adjusted to reflect comparative value in your Subject Property and will offer a price range that is what the Market says your property should be worth. The report may suggest a price range that is less than you had hoped for, but it will be well-researched and candid. You want an Agent who will tell you the truth as we see it. Don't be fooled by agents who pretend to be so "experienced" that they do not have to do this comparative research for you. I have been in the real estate business since 1971, and expect to do a CMA for any property I consider listing, as do all Blowing Rock Realty agents. You're worth it! Recognize that "experienced" agents may not be more knowledgeable; they may simply be lazy. You have a right to expect your listing agent to do this work for you. If they can't be bothered to do this homework, they will probably disappoint you in the diligence of their marketing efforts, too.

Appraisals. Professional Market Appraisals are done by licensed appraisers for a variety of purposes, including financing, estate valuation, and other circumstances that require an "official" opinion of value. Appraisals consider only sold comparable property data, not properties that are presently unsold on the market. Appraisals are seeking to establish a value at a point in time based on past information, rather than attempting to anticipate a value in the immediate future. Appraisers operate under different guidelines and restrictions than real estate agents and answer to a different licensing authority.

Because of the recent problems in the financial markets, banks are making new, more stringent requirements of appraisers. Because of the rapid decline of some markets, appraisers are now asked to seek sale data within 3 to 6 months in the past, rather than even one year, as had been typical. Mortgage lenders and their underwriters are sometimes seeking more than one appraisal or review of an appraisal before they will make a loan. This is still only "an opinion of value", no matter how skilled and experienced the local appraiser is.
 

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