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So. Got the appraisal on our property today. Always a fun thing. And I KNOW everyone (okay, not everyone, but a lot of people) are in the same boat, and I don't expect my property value to be skyrocketing, but it'd be nice if it wanted to hover CLOSE to what I paid for it.
(Also also: property values are public record. If you know my address, you can look it up, so I'm just going to flat-out give you numbers. It's pointless to dilly-dally with percentages.)
We bought our house in 2005 for $169,000. Shortly after the appraised value peeked at something like $191,000. Then it started the slow, relentless fall. Last year was another slip, down to $150,600. But everyone was in the same boat, I know people who lost up to $50,000 in value, so I couldn't complain too much. Until this year.
Our appraisal read $119,700.
Yup, a $30,900 drop. 21%. Whoa.
Now, I'm not planning on selling the house any time soon, so this can only mean lower taxes. I shouldn't be upset. And, in fact, there is no check box on the back under "disputes" for "I want to pay more in taxes, assess my property higher!". Still, it rankles.
So I do my usual checking on neighboring properties.
First I check out the other houses in our neighborhood that have the same floor plan. Almost all (except for the one falling apart on the next block that was already valued very low) had the same 20-22% drop in value.
Okay, check out the comparables they listed on the appraisal form. All have approximately the same square footage, same number of bedrooms, two car garage. They sold for $207,500 - $215,000. They are much newer houses, but still. A $95,000 disparity on age? Okay, fine. There's always been a pretty big gap between our subdivision and theirs.
Last check, on a whim - the houses on either side of us. Not really comparable, as one is a 3 bedrooms and has significantly less square footage (like 600 less, our house is half again as big!) and the other is slightly smaller (300 sq ft less) and is falling apart - it's been mostly abandoned and paint is peeling and there's a screen hanging off a window...
The much smaller house? $130,300
The decrepit house? $127,800
What. The. Fuck?
I doubt I'll do anything about it, it seems pointless. But we've easily put $90,000 into this house (downpayment and improvements) and we owe just under what it is currently appraised for. So I could have been renting all this time and been that much ahead. THAT is depressing.
(Also also: property values are public record. If you know my address, you can look it up, so I'm just going to flat-out give you numbers. It's pointless to dilly-dally with percentages.)
We bought our house in 2005 for $169,000. Shortly after the appraised value peeked at something like $191,000. Then it started the slow, relentless fall. Last year was another slip, down to $150,600. But everyone was in the same boat, I know people who lost up to $50,000 in value, so I couldn't complain too much. Until this year.
Our appraisal read $119,700.
Yup, a $30,900 drop. 21%. Whoa.
Now, I'm not planning on selling the house any time soon, so this can only mean lower taxes. I shouldn't be upset. And, in fact, there is no check box on the back under "disputes" for "I want to pay more in taxes, assess my property higher!". Still, it rankles.
So I do my usual checking on neighboring properties.
First I check out the other houses in our neighborhood that have the same floor plan. Almost all (except for the one falling apart on the next block that was already valued very low) had the same 20-22% drop in value.
Okay, check out the comparables they listed on the appraisal form. All have approximately the same square footage, same number of bedrooms, two car garage. They sold for $207,500 - $215,000. They are much newer houses, but still. A $95,000 disparity on age? Okay, fine. There's always been a pretty big gap between our subdivision and theirs.
Last check, on a whim - the houses on either side of us. Not really comparable, as one is a 3 bedrooms and has significantly less square footage (like 600 less, our house is half again as big!) and the other is slightly smaller (300 sq ft less) and is falling apart - it's been mostly abandoned and paint is peeling and there's a screen hanging off a window...
The much smaller house? $130,300
The decrepit house? $127,800
What. The. Fuck?
I doubt I'll do anything about it, it seems pointless. But we've easily put $90,000 into this house (downpayment and improvements) and we owe just under what it is currently appraised for. So I could have been renting all this time and been that much ahead. THAT is depressing.