I recently had an appraisal done, and I was told that the builder is making everyone's property values decrease. The Base price of my home was 230,000 at the time of my purchase. With options and 30,000 in incentives I paid 280,000 total. The base price is now 269,000, and they sold the house next door for 224,000. It has about 30,000 in upgrades, and they sold it for less than the base price, which is 271000 for that model. This seems very unethical, and it really puts me in a bad position.
2007-04-09 10:59:36 · 7 answers · asked by Eric s 1 in Business & Finance ➔ Renting & Real Estate
No, you cannot sue. Home prices are market driven. A builder cannot guarantee home appreciation. You bought your home at the worst possible time, right before the housing market began to cool down. Millions of homeowners are in your position. Live and learn.
2007-04-09 11:09:28 · answer #1 · answered by Jack Chedeville 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
That is happening all over the country right now.
You paid fair market value when you bought, presumably. Unless there was fraud on the appraisal which induced you to believe that home was worth more than you paid for it, and somehow the builder had a hand in that happening, you've got ZERO legal standing.
In some cases, their banks are making them sell homes for whatever they can, just to get their loans paid off.
Houses are no different from stocks. Their prices can move up or down, depending on overall demand and supply. Believe me, the builder wanted to sell each and every home for the highest possible price they could get. But if no one will pay what they want, and they are getting threatened by their bank, they'll sell for whatever someone is willing to pay.
Would you go sue your local gas station every time they lower the price the day after you filled up your tank? It may sound different, but it's really not. Your local station doesn't control gas prices any more than the builder can control the prices of their homes. The market dictates what it's current market value is at any given time.
And had prices soared since you bought, would you expect the builder to come sue you for more money? Not a chance.
You're not alone. There's thousands of other families just like you. And the same thing happened to me a couple years ago, my developer just dumped the last few units so they could close out the development once and for all. That's actually common in any market. And they pretty much hose the buyers in the middle.
2007-04-09 11:21:57 · answer #2 · answered by Yanswersmonitorsarenazis 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The builder dosn't price the homes. The Economy and the Market do. Real estate got to where the Stock market did before 2000 and the Dot.com crash. people figure that everything is gonna go up forever, just because it did the last couple years. People seem to see what they want to see and hear what they want to hear.
If you bought this house as your long term home, and you have a good mortgage (where you didn't finance more than 80%) and you like the house....Relax and enjoy. You got a great home and you can afford your mortgage.
If you bought this house to live in with the idea you were gonna make money on it, you broke the first rule of Real Estate. A house is an Investment, Your Home is your Home.
Oh, and if you got an introductory low interest rate loan to qualify, refinance it to a fixed rate ASAP while rates are still good.............
2007-04-09 11:19:04 · answer #3 · answered by Ken C 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Nope, you dont get to sue. Its the nature of the business. The man was not selling you an investment, he was selling you a house, contrary to what most people say about houses. He is having to lower his prices in order to get people to buy-- trust me he wouldnt' do it if he didnt have to!!
"options and incentives" are tricky as they aren't usually worth what they cost. Your home appraises for the maximum based on square footage, bathrooms, etc. Adding surround sound or rounded sheetrock and such are selling points but dont necessarily up value.....so beware before "overimproving" your home.
2007-04-09 11:45:17 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Welcome to the "real estate bubble". There's nothing wrong with what the builder is doing. He has to sell the homes somehow and he's probably lucky that he has enough wiggle room in his costs to sell them without going bankrupt himself.
Can you sue? Sure, anybody can sue. The question is, "Will you get anything for your troubles?" I wouldn't bet heavily on your chances. If he has a good attorney and you lose, expect to be billed for his legal costs. (Hint: He'll probably WIN that lawsuit.)
2007-04-09 11:20:09 · answer #5 · answered by Bostonian In MO 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I believe so, if you made a profit. There is a tax deduction that applies after (I believe) 2 years of full time residence in the home, not 18 months.
2016-05-21 01:36:11 · answer #6 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
NOTHING U CAN DO ABOUT IT
2007-04-09 11:08:41 · answer #7 · answered by dstanley66 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋