House Appraisal.. Sucks

[Lumpy 1]

My wife and I have been considering moving out of California for sometime now and moving north. So we wanted to start the new year knowing how much our house was worth.

Well we got the appraisal and damn, it comes out almost exactly the same as what we owe, if you add in closing costs damn, damn. To add to that with all these foreclosures on the market and pending they expect home values to drop even more. The general feel is that homes wont start appreciating for a good 5 years. You know this really sucks and we still intend to move. Ah decisions, decisions...

 

[Mr. H.]

Can you rent it out? You could depreciate the property and write off any repairs/improvements while still deducting the mortgage interest on your tax return.

 

[strollingbones]

if they rent it out they lose out on the 2 yr primary residence tax thing.....

i dont think i would sell at todays prices...esp in location you are in....plus an apprasial is not normally the sale value..did you have comps done...seems like that would be a hard area to do comps in

 

[Ringel05]

My wife and I have been considering moving out of California for sometime now and moving north. So we wanted to start the new year knowing how much our house was worth.

Well we got the appraisal and damn, it comes out almost exactly the same as what we owe, if you add in closing costs damn, damn. To add to that with all these foreclosures on the market and pending they expect home values to drop even more. The general feel is that homes wont start appreciating for a good 5 years. You know this really sucks and we still intend to move. Ah decisions, decisions...

Call Arson Inc.
Professional torch jobs. We handle all insurance claims.
Have match will travel.

 

[Lumpy 1]

if they rent it out they lose out on the 2 yr primary residence tax thing.....

i dont think i would sell at todays prices...esp in location you are in....plus an apprasial is not normally the sale value..did you have comps done...seems like that would be a hard area to do comps in

I've spent some time calling around to loan and real estate brokers in the area that I know and checking on line, the appraisal is pretty well spot on, maybe even a tad high. Their saying walk away but my responsible side says no... at the moment.

 

[goldcatt]

if they rent it out they lose out on the 2 yr primary residence tax thing.....

i dont think i would sell at todays prices...esp in location you are in....plus an apprasial is not normally the sale value..did you have comps done...seems like that would be a hard area to do comps in

The proceeds are exempt from capital gains if the home has been your primary residence for 2 of the last 5 years, which allows for up to three years of renting it out and waiting for the rebound before a 1099 would be issued at sale.

I don't know about any CA tax consequences, but it would be worth looking into.

 

[Zander]

why not pay down the mortgage over the next few yrs? Increasing your payments by a few hundred a month can have a huge effect over 5 years.

 

[Xenophon]

My wife and I have been considering moving out of California for sometime now and moving north. So we wanted to start the new year knowing how much our house was worth.

Well we got the appraisal and damn, it comes out almost exactly the same as what we owe, if you add in closing costs damn, damn. To add to that with all these foreclosures on the market and pending they expect home values to drop even more. The general feel is that homes wont start appreciating for a good 5 years. You know this really sucks and we still intend to move. Ah decisions, decisions...

Loser.

 

[Zona]

Can you rent it out? You could depreciate the property and write off any repairs/improvements while still deducting the mortgage interest on your tax return.

True, but then they have to deal with property managers, pool guys, tree guys blah blah. There is no price on worrying about the tenants in the home either.

I did this for two years and I am glad I bought the house when I did, but what a headache.


In his scenario though, I agree, renting is the way to go. In a few years when that house goes back up, it will rise quickly.

 

[Lumpy 1]

My wife and I have been considering moving out of California for sometime now and moving north. So we wanted to start the new year knowing how much our house was worth.

Well we got the appraisal and damn, it comes out almost exactly the same as what we owe, if you add in closing costs damn, damn. To add to that with all these foreclosures on the market and pending they expect home values to drop even more. The general feel is that homes wont start appreciating for a good 5 years. You know this really sucks and we still intend to move. Ah decisions, decisions...

Loser.

Yup

 

[strollingbones]

are you totally upside down on your loan?

i would go for the short sell over walking away....can you rent it out? that is always a chance..renters will destroy property most of the time....absentee landlords take a beating

 

[Lumpy 1]

are you totally upside down on your loan?

i would go for the short sell over walking away....can you rent it out? that is always a chance..renters will destroy property most of the time....absentee landlords take a beating

My original post pretty well covers the position I'm in, as far as the house. I just thought it would be an interesting post because as you mentioned in your Pm, it's fairly common or even worse.. sadly.

I have to make some decisions over the next month or so. I guess I was hoping for some constructive ideas and I appreciate the ones I've received, obviously.. not all..

Sometimes your forced to accept your woulda-shoulda-couldas figure out your best resolution, count your blessings and move on.. as you probably already know.

 

[Toro]

I had my house appraised a few months ago and it came in below what I thought it was worth. C'est la vie. That's what happens in a market crash.

I can't tell you what to do but if I wanted to move and my mortgage was worth my house, I'd sell it and eat the loss in equity.

 

[Toro]

My original post pretty well covers the position I'm in, as far as the house. I just thought it would be an interesting post because as you mentioned in your Pm, it's fairly common or even worse.. sadly.

I have to make some decisions over the next month or so. I guess I was hoping for some constructive ideas and I appreciate the ones I've received, obviously.. not all..

Sometimes your forced to accept your woulda-shoulda-couldas figure out your best resolution, count your blessings and move on.. as you probably already know.

Something like 40% of all homes with mortgages in the country are underwater, which is amazing when you think about it.

Don't view your home as anchor. It is a place of residence first and an investment second. People got that backwards the past several years. If you want to move north, sell the house and move north. Some investments work out, some don't. If they don't, move on, and move on with your life. You'll feel better once you have.

 

[goldcatt]

are you totally upside down on your loan?

i would go for the short sell over walking away....can you rent it out? that is always a chance..renters will destroy property most of the time....absentee landlords take a beating

Getting a lender to agree to a short sale on a mortgage can be almost impossible, for all practical purposes it is impossible if you're not delinquent. I can't see the market staying this bad forever, or even 5 years, but for the next year or two it's probably going to stay at least flat. If you can hold out or rent the house, that might be your best choice. Is moving something you'd just like to do, or is there some reason you wouldn't want to wait and would be willing to eat the loss? Unfortunately a lot of people who'd like to move are stuck right now, but it won't last forever.

 

[Lumpy 1]

are you totally upside down on your loan?

i would go for the short sell over walking away....can you rent it out? that is always a chance..renters will destroy property most of the time....absentee landlords take a beating

Getting a lender to agree to a short sale on a mortgage can be almost impossible, for all practical purposes it is impossible if you're not delinquent. I can't see the market staying this bad forever, or even 5 years, but for the next year or two it's probably going to stay at least flat. If you can hold out or rent the house, that might be your best choice. Is moving something you'd just like to do, or is there some reason you wouldn't want to wait and would be willing to eat the loss? Unfortunately a lot of people who'd like to move are stuck right now, but it won't last forever.

As you probably know each microcosm has it's own set of problems. My area is a resort community that's fallen on hard times. A great place to live and raise kids up until now. Sadly there is a great deal of foreclosures, mostly down the mountain in the surrounding towns.
From my preliminary research the potential over the short term (banks unloading a butt load of foreclosures early this year) and long term (flat estimates 5 years) looks grim.

Well.. good morning.. I'm off to bed and thanks

 

[goldcatt]

are you totally upside down on your loan?

i would go for the short sell over walking away....can you rent it out? that is always a chance..renters will destroy property most of the time....absentee landlords take a beating

Getting a lender to agree to a short sale on a mortgage can be almost impossible, for all practical purposes it is impossible if you're not delinquent. I can't see the market staying this bad forever, or even 5 years, but for the next year or two it's probably going to stay at least flat. If you can hold out or rent the house, that might be your best choice. Is moving something you'd just like to do, or is there some reason you wouldn't want to wait and would be willing to eat the loss? Unfortunately a lot of people who'd like to move are stuck right now, but it won't last forever.

As you probably know each microcosm has it's own set of problems. My area is a resort community that's fallen on hard times. A great place to live and raise kids up until now. Sadly there is a great deal of foreclosures, mostly down the mountain in the surrounding towns.
From my preliminary research the potential over the short term (banks unloading a butt load of foreclosures early this year) and long term (flat estimates 5 years) looks grim.

Well.. good morning.. I'm off to bed and thanks

A hard hit resort community? Damn, in that case it really could be a good 5 years. I'm sorry, Lumpy. I'm in the business and haven't heard of any flood of foreclosures hitting the market in general, but in your particular area it might be the case.

Have a good one, and a happy new year.