is this fishy or am i being paranoid

[larry shane]

MB orders appraisal with contract for $800,000. no MLS listing noted for this 3,000 sq ft waterfront home sale.

the subject sold in 11/07 for $1,075,000 through MLS and is owned by a corporation whose name strangely includes portions of the first names of the 'buyers' on the contract. well.. i look up the corporate papers and what do we have but the person listed on the corp papers has the same last name as the buyers.

aside from the fact that i am only concerned about the current fair value, something about this JDLR (just don't look right)...

so.... WWAFD (what would appraisers forumites do ?)

thank you in advance for your time & insight.

 

[Tim The Enchanter]

Lower price would seem to be on trend I guess.
Names sound like a red flag for further review.
I'd be very careful. Dig deep.

And do the best unbiased appraisal you can. Of course.

 

[Tim The Enchanter]

Lower price would seem to be on trend I guess.
Names sound like a red flag for further review.
I'd be very careful. Dig deep.

And do the best unbiased appraisal you can. Of course.

 

[Bama Bayou]

In the analysis of the contract you may want to state that it appears to be a non-arms length transaction. Then don't pay any attention to the contract price.

 

[JP Truce]

Contact the buyer or the seller and ask. Note your sources with contact names, phone numbers and quotes.

If you are paranoid about being paranoid then be very paranoid.

 

[c w d]

What does the market tell you the price should be for such a property? Is the contract price out of the ordinary? If no, then there is no reason to be paranoid.

 

[Mike Kennedy]

....A contract for $800,000. .......well then, of course it's worth $800,000. :new_smile-l:

 

[Wendy]

Could be that they are simply transferring the property out of corporate ownership and into their private holdings? It would be perfectly reasonable to have a contract in that case - creates a nice clean paper trail for the tax dudes.

If $800 is a reasonable price, perhaps they are smart enough to know the market has declined and are taking the hit as a write off to the corporation. It would be a good move especially if the corporation had a banner year and needs a bit of a tax break.

Maybe they also think we are at the bottom of the market and the property will increase from here on out. Well that would be even more reason to put it into personal holdings - take advantage of future tax free capital gains while also writting off a bad investment for the corporation.

Even if the value is higher - I'd suspect they are still looking for a tax break and are hoping your will rubber stamp the contracted value.

Ignore the target and appraise the property with the details of the contract included.

 

[Michael Tipton]

I would consider searching the recorded deed(s) for the subject in order to determine whether the borrower/purchaser was the prior purchaser/authorized signor for the business. If so, list it on page one of the appraisal report-contract review section.

 

[Webbed Feet]

The what?

<..... snip.....>aside from the fact that i am only concerned about the current fair value, something about this JDLR (just don't look right)...

<... snip....>
thank you in advance for your time & insight.

Mr. Shane,

The what?

Webbed.