What Is Market Value Of A Home
Over the years, and even as a real estate agent 17 years ago, I was lead to believe that an appraisal was supposed to indicate the market value of a home. The market value is simply the price that a house should sell for in a reasonable amount of time. Thought the “science” used to determine this is imperfect to say the least, it at least should be objective. You look at similar homes and what they sold for, adjust for the differences between them and the home being appraised, and so arrived at an educated guess as to what the house should sell for. Unfortunately, I discovered as we bought our most recent home that appraisers try hard not to be objective, but to justify the price that a buyer offers on a home, in order to make the mortgage loan possible. Bankers, loan brokers and real estate agents alike seemed genuinely surprised when I suggested that this made no sense. No wonder they are facing so many losses on foreclosed properties.
