Rodney Dangerfield and the lil' ole' lady

[Anonymous]

Last year my assistant appraised a place for a couple who was having a time selling a farmstead they had already vacated for a place in town. Appraised at $185,000. They asked $200K, accepted $190K but the deal fell thru, and refused $180K in a deal that would have went thru (cash buyer.) Old lady reamed us good....fools we were that did not know it was worth far more than they were asking....I mean how close are we supposed to get anyway??

One year later.....we are asked by a bank to reappraise it. Buyer will pay $190K, these old folks have paid taxes, insurance, elec, upkeep, etc. for a full year. The buyers were telling me that the property had never been appraised and they were concerned if it was really worth the $190. I informed them that we had appraised it for those folks a year previously. They were incredulous that these nice old folks would LIE to them...but I knew the old lady would lie for a nickel and her hubby was so scared of her, he did not dare say anything. It will appraise for 190-195K by simple inflation.

Had they taken the $180K a year ago, put the money in the bank for 4%, and not had to pay ins., taxes, etc. They would have come out ahead....somehow I did not feel very sorry for them.
Ter

 

[Robert Dunkle]

Terrel,

They aren't the first and won't be the last to pass up that best offer! My wife and I made an offer Feb. 18, 1994 on the ranch we eventually purchased. The owner said not just NO but HELL NO! We negotiated, broke off negotiations, he had an auction in which we had the highest bid ($50,000 under his asking price) and he again said NO. We negotiated a total of a year (closed 2-16-95) before (according to the broker) his wife finally told him that there was no income from the property and it was costing lost interest and taxes, so to MOVE it. That was the weekend that we signed the deal. Our final deal gave him less total dollars than our original offer plus interest for the year and he had to pay the taxes for that year. We of course, lost the use of the place for that year and had to pay rent on the ranch we had leased.

It is hard to see that perfect opportunity! I have wished a couple of times that I had an offer back that I had refused for a place I owned. She was rather silly to ream you for your appraised value. It was right in the middle of what was the apparent value range. But then, I've been reamed for that, too! Had another appraiser chew me up and down because I did a verbal appraisal on a house (in 1976) for a couple getting a divorce. I told them I thought it was worth about $22,500. He had been appraising for 30 years and said it wasn't worth over $22K. I told him if I was within 2% on everything I would be happy. He didn't like that remark.

 

[Dan Leggett]

Terrel,

Those are the kinds I like to do a 'post sale' interview with. Using my best Goober Pyle impersonation I verify the sale price, calculate & get them to admit their loss of return on the equity for their hold-out period, calculate & get them to admit their holding costs for the same hold-out period, estimate & get them to admit their net yield, and then ask them "Why?".