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...and my house went down. Quite a bit, actually. It's now worth almost 5% less than it was this time last year. I'm torn between being happy and upset. Happy because a lower appraisal means lower taxes and insurance (or at the very least, they won't go up!). Upset because now I've put more into my house than it's worth! I don't owe more than it's worth, but still.
And I don't plan on selling my house any time soon, so it's not like the appraisal makes much difference to me right now. And I do know that the stats on my house aren't quite accurate - if you include all the basement work it's probably worth a bit more. But I'm not sure. I can't figure out how they determine these things. I've looked at a bunch of houses in my neighborhood that are the same style, and I can't figure for the life of my how they set the values. (also, here's hoping all that coding works through an e-mail post!)
When in doubt, make a table! All of the houses have 4 bedrooms, 2 full baths and 1 half bath (with the exception of Comparison House #6, which has 3 full and 1 half), and a 2-car garage. "Rec Rm" refers to basement areas partially finished - usually things like walls and drop ceilings, but a concrete floor.
See? It makes no sense. And I can't imagine they looked at the houses, because Comparison House #4 is in sad, scary shape. The siding is bowed and rotting, the brick facing has fallen off the front in parts, and the windows (the original metal ones) are wonky-looking and streaking rust down the outside. And the driveway is crumbling (not that mine is in great shape).
My only real concern is the fact that I do have the HELOC, and the appraisal of the house is how they determine how much you can borrow. *Does some checking and math* Assuming what they mean by 90% loan is that what I owe on my primary mortgage plus what I owe them is 90% (or less) of the home's appraised value... I should be okay, with even a little wiggle room. *sighs in relief* Though that HELOC is like a giant cloud of DOOM hanging over my head. I don't know why it bothers me so much, it's a fraction (17%!) of what I owe on the mortgage. But the mortgage doesn't bother me as much, probably because you expect to have that hanging over your head.
I just want to be out of debt, but I'm never going to get that way if we keep spending money. *glares* I know, I know, it just takes time. But I want it NOW! You know, without the troublesome second job or selling an organ.
And I don't plan on selling my house any time soon, so it's not like the appraisal makes much difference to me right now. And I do know that the stats on my house aren't quite accurate - if you include all the basement work it's probably worth a bit more. But I'm not sure. I can't figure out how they determine these things. I've looked at a bunch of houses in my neighborhood that are the same style, and I can't figure for the life of my how they set the values. (also, here's hoping all that coding works through an e-mail post!)
When in doubt, make a table! All of the houses have 4 bedrooms, 2 full baths and 1 half bath (with the exception of Comparison House #6, which has 3 full and 1 half), and a 2-car garage. "Rec Rm" refers to basement areas partially finished - usually things like walls and drop ceilings, but a concrete floor.
| House | |||||
| Comp #1 | |||||
| Comp #2 | |||||
| Comp #3 | |||||
| Comp #4 | |||||
| My House | |||||
| Comp #5 | |||||
| Comp #6 | |||||
| Comp #7 | |||||
| Comp #8 |
See? It makes no sense. And I can't imagine they looked at the houses, because Comparison House #4 is in sad, scary shape. The siding is bowed and rotting, the brick facing has fallen off the front in parts, and the windows (the original metal ones) are wonky-looking and streaking rust down the outside. And the driveway is crumbling (not that mine is in great shape).
My only real concern is the fact that I do have the HELOC, and the appraisal of the house is how they determine how much you can borrow. *Does some checking and math* Assuming what they mean by 90% loan is that what I owe on my primary mortgage plus what I owe them is 90% (or less) of the home's appraised value... I should be okay, with even a little wiggle room. *sighs in relief* Though that HELOC is like a giant cloud of DOOM hanging over my head. I don't know why it bothers me so much, it's a fraction (17%!) of what I owe on the mortgage. But the mortgage doesn't bother me as much, probably because you expect to have that hanging over your head.
I just want to be out of debt, but I'm never going to get that way if we keep spending money. *glares* I know, I know, it just takes time. But I want it NOW! You know, without the troublesome second job or selling an organ.
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I don't own a house so I probably shouldn't even talk. But I can tell you that lots of people are afraid of their HELOC...are you on an adjustable rate there?
The job my sister had for about 5 years was running risk reports on borrowers in the secondary mortgage market so HELOCs and other debts on the banking side but they would study minutae sort of like you're doing here with regional demographics etc...They even study how much income you and your spouse make, how much that has raised or lowered over time, etc...
The scary thing about buying a house is that the banks and lending institutions have access to all that information and your privacy is a bit compromised.
For me, I think of the movement as a business cycle, you just have to plan to survive the cycle...I can't imagine this downturn lasting say more than 10 yrs but it is probably not going to last only 1 yr. So the trick is how long is your safety chord/how big is your safety net and do you have plans "b" and "c" etc... for the duration of this downturn? Can you set your interest rates so that they don't balloon or mushroom? You've probably thought this all through but I'm just adding my two not very hands-on (more theoretical since I'm not in your shoes...) scenarios...
Hope this helps and hope I didn't confuse you more.
*mm
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We'll survive, and it's not such a big deal because I don't plan on moving, but it is still depressing on some level, I guess. My regular mortgage is fixed-rate as well, so we'll be fine even if things are rocky for awhile. As long as I keep my job. :) (Last night I totally had a dream that I just up and quit, just because I wanted a more exciting job and was tired of being an engineer)