All Forum Posts by: Jerry Kisasonak

@Mark Whittlesey

Good to hear that I'm not the only one that gets irritated by this!

I understand that these appraisals are done with the spirit of "How can we get this deal done." I'm all for getting deals done. We should not, however, forget that "Doing whatever you need to do to get deals done" is what causes real estate train wrecks.

I would think that with all the consumer protection laws that have come into play in the residential real estate marketplace that this kind of fudged-appraising would not be tolerated. If a consumer orders and pays for an appraisal he or she should be entitled to an accurate one - no magical numbers. Period.

Great input guys... Thanks!

@Darrell Shepherd

To your point, it is funny when people (including some appraisers) don't consider the condition of properties in their valuations. I hear it all the time from sellers of POS houses: "Well, the house two doors down sold for $XXX,XXX,XXX." RIght, it did. But you're forgetting that yours is a POS and needs 75K in rehab!

@Michaela G.

Sorry to hear that story. Dang you got messed on that one.

@Brett K.

That's the thing... Is this "honesty" that you're speaking of really too much to ask for?

We all know that over-inflated appraisals caused a lot of the mess that we're still working through. Appraisers are now on the other side of the pendulum, generally being very conservative with their valuations.

It is not uncommon when a house is sold today for the appraisal to "magically" come in right around what the home is selling for. In my area, it's usually $1,000 over the sales price. Like the bogus numbers of years past, this is another magical number that I have no idea where it comes from. I understand that all the lender wants to know is if the value of the home is at least what the sales price is. HOWEVER, since the buyer of the property is paying a professional certified appraiser to do an appraisal, shouldn't the buyer be entitled to an accurate valuation of the property they are buying?

In my opinion, if an appraiser is inflating an appraisal or if an appraiser is squeezing a number into a sought-after margin ($1,000 over sales price), BOTH scenarios are fraudulent! The number still is not based strictly on raw data, and therefore is not true.

Here's a synopsis of a recent transaction I had: One of my long-term tenants decided that they wanted to buy the home they were renting from me. Because they were great tenants for many years, I gave them a great price on the property. It was worth 45K-48K and I agreed to sell it to them for 36K. Of course, the appraisal magically came in at 37K. I explained to them that the appraisal was essentially bogus and that the property was worth substantially more than that. They were fine with it, but I thought to myself, "Why in the (insert expletive) am I having to explain the value of this property to the first-time home buyers when they just paid a professional to do this for them?!?!" If an appraiser is going to fudge appraisal numbers, either up or down, they are not doing their job and the appraisal is fraudulent. Comments are welcomed!

Try a couple different banks. You'll find one that will work with you on it.

Hi @Iyan Tan

Likewise, I'd likely buy it for 35K cash and get it off of your hands and mind so you can go work on your other projects. Inbox me with info on it if you decide to go that route. Either way, I hope things work out well for you.

Happy investing!

Thanks @Shaun Reilly for thinking of me! I reached out to Chris and will help graft him into our network here in Pittsburgh if he's interested.

By the way Shaun, we're starting on a nice rehab project up in Beaver County in a few weeks. Things are going very well in that area in terms of the real estate market. Hope all is well with your investments there. Thanks again!

Throwing money at someone doesn't mean that they are committed to succeeding in real estate investing. "I gave you lots of money, now make me successful." This is the talk you get from someone who has more money than brains.

If you really look at the giants in business, most of them started by getting themselves around the heavy hitters by whatever means possible. They attended events, networked, and in lots of cases offered to work for free for the big boys (even in low capacity jobs) just to get in the door. It was sheer desire, persistence and having goals and dreams. Notice that no where in here is there anything about getting your wallet out.

Personally, I love it when someone comes to me and says, "Jerry, I have a question. I was trying to find out about X. I've went out and purchased and read a couple books on it, did some Google searches, and I'm still coming up empty on a clear answer. Can you help me?" When I hear this I know the American dream is still alive and someone is going after it. When I hear, "Jerry, will you coach me? I'll pay you for it," honestly, it just feels so damn cheap.

Congrats on your success in real estate Karen! I live and invest in the Pittsburgh market too. I am curious to know what area this property is in.

As for your question, I have nothing to add. Everyone else covered it pretty well!

@Angel Gutierrez

Move on to the next one.

@Angel Gutierrez

You could approach the lender and ask if they want to sell the note - at a discount of course. Then you could foreclose on the property to gain possession.