Hi We had an appraisal done of my mother's home to get an idea of what to price it at--we were very dissapointed-- 6,000 sq ft, 4 car garage,3 bed,3 bath,full basement wonderful view with 5.88 acres, w 30,000 in landscaping--the insurance relacement value was over 350--the total appraisal was 200 --lots in the area are at 35,000 each--like 100x80--we have 5.88 acres all with great view and city water--should we price the house separate w land around it and then price the land--per arce or lot separately---I want the highest price for it and there are no zoning laws--so in a way if the buyer does not by it all they have no control of what might be next door--we do not have it separated by deed right now--should we re deed it before we put it up for sale or wait incase someone wants it all--I hate to spend all the lawyer fees by the apprasial in our option did not do the house and acreage a fair market value---I hate to make a deal/seller, then get to the loan and an appraisal makes the deal fall through--we want 300 for all---I hope I am clear lol sorry if not

You should check out the sales trend for land in the area to see how many lots have sold in the last 3 months. If very little or none sold then it's a waste of your time and money to re-deed the land. The bad thing is if the appraisal came in at 200 when a buyers bank comes out to appraise it they will most likely appraise it at the same value and won't approve the buyers mortgage for more then it is appraised for. If you can hold on to the property for a few years you may get what you want for it then. I was in the opposite boat, when we were selling my previous home we had an appraiser come out after we had the house on the market for a while and we actually had our house listed for 20k below the appraised value and sold it for 25k below the appraised value (we sold in the first stages of this awful market).

Did the appraisal you had done include the extra land or was it just on the house? If it didn't include the extra land then you may want to re-deed sell just the house and sit on the other lots of land until the market improves unless you can just sit on the house and wait for the market to pick up again. You're property may have sold for 300k two years ago but the market right now is horrible neighbors of mine who are trying to sell their homes have had appraisers appraise it for less then what they paid for it 4 years ago but 4 years ago homes were selling like hot cakes.

It appears now may not be the time to get appraisals! I just got a call from a friend last night. She's trying to refi on a house she built on 3 acres 10 mos. ago. Her appraisal came in 20K below what she built the house for. The appraiser told her banker "she overpaid for materials," which is so far from the truth it isn't funny. She researched this house for 2 years before building and got a lot of stuff on discount. Land prices in her area haven't changed and the comps are certainly not down THAT much, but according to her banker, apparently the appraisers are cutting everything 20% just because of the downturn, regardless of the local market. Hers is a unique situation because the price she expects the house to appraise for is theoretically the land price and cost of materials (to put it in terms that I know are too simplistic, but you get the point I think), neither of which have changed 20% in the past 10 mos. in her area.

My friend's banker said that she suspects this is a reactionary "blip," has seen it before, and if she were to wait 6-12 mos., the appraisal would likely be back to reality.

If you can wait to sell and ride out this craziness for another year or so, that may be your best bet.

If you feel your appraisal is unjust.. you can supply the appraiser with comps, he may not have picked up...then ask for a re-evaluation.
Your Realtor knows this process.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: real estate lady,