How can I find out if the dropping land values in a certain area are due to the market, or if there is a problem in the area, such as the wells drying up, some kind of industrial pollution, or some other reason that is adversly affecting land values? What is the best way to research this?
2007-12-17 11:20:37 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Business & Finance ➔ Renting & Real Estate
I recommend that you talk to an appraiser in the area who is a Member of The Appraisal Institute. (MAI designation)
You will get more high quality, accurate information than you ever could have imagined.
Also, hire this appraiser to do an appraisal for you as a second opinion even if the lender insists on using another appraiser when you are purchasing a piece of property.
In fact, my experience with an MAI appraiser is that the designation is so highly regarded by lenders that I have found that many lenders will adopt that appraisal as their own.
This is very unusual. Lenders generally will not let you hire your own appraiser for the purpose of an appraial for the loan on the property.
However I have found that if I have a recent appraisal by an MAI appraiser the lender will often accept that appraisal as their own.
The lender will just ask the appraiser to retype it as an appraisal for the lender an may ask the appraiser to update the appraisal if there have been any recent closed sales since the appraisal was originally performed.
Often when I hire an MAI appraiser I find that he is already on the lender's approved appraiser list anyway.
When I hire the appraiser I find that I get much more valuable information and I can make it clear to the appraiser that I am hiring him tp protect me from paying too much for the property.
Ironically I have found that lenders are as eager to get the deal done as the real estate agents and do not seem to mind if the property is appraised too high because it helps get the deal done.
The only problem is that it is not in my best interest to pay too much for a property.
That is the reason that I hire my own appraiser, even if the lender has their own appraiser.
The value that my appraiser finds is usually less than the value that the lender's appraiser finds.
Also, if the lender insists on using their own appraiser, I have a copy of my appraisal to give to the lender's apprasier. This also discourages the lender's appraiser from appraising the property too high.
The cost of an appraisal is nothing when the difference in the fair market value is often $20,000 or more. That is $20,000 or more that I save for the cost of an extra appraisal.
2007-12-17 11:43:56 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
It could be any or all of the environmental issues you cite, or it could be just the devaluation of property due to the current real estate market.
If your concerns are about environmental issues, you will have to do a thorough search on your own to see what, if anything, might be affecting the area.
2007-12-17 19:25:34 · answer #2 · answered by acermill 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The easiest way? Talk to five neighbors of where you want to buy!
People are more willing to talk and know the most from having lived there obviously. Everytime I buy a new house neighbors love to come and tell me who died there, or what weird quirks they had, etc. Usually they tell me how they neglected the property and how happy they are to have someone in to rehab it!
2007-12-18 01:54:51 · answer #3 · answered by rachel s 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can get an overview of potential environmental problems using the enviomapper applet at the EPA website: http://www.epa.gov/enviro/emef/
2007-12-17 20:32:01 · answer #4 · answered by Bill 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋