House Appraisal at its Worst

A house appraisal is supposed to gauge the value of a home at that given time. Someone comes to the house in question, looks over the square footage and improvements that have been made. Then, he compares that house to others in the area, to see how it stacks up. Well, that is how it is supposed to happen.

I'm here to tell you that it is not at all that way now. It is almost pointless to make improvements to your house, if they do not add square footage or size to the garage. The reason I'm saying this is because with today's appraisal process, any other improvements don't make a difference. They don't play a part in the evaluation of the house.

I came over here on my lunch break, to meet the guy that was doing the appraisal on our house. We are getting it done because we are doing a refinance (crazy low rates) and they needed to re-evaluate it to see if we have 20% equity in it to get rid of the PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance). It started off funny. When I pulled up, I saw a truck parked on the street. It was more in front of the neighbor's house than ours, so I thought it might not be the appraiser. There was nobody in the truck, so I convinced myself that I had beat him there. I open the garage, pull my car in and check the mail and bring up the trash can.

As I step inside and set the mail down, I see that someone is in the backyard. Yep, our backyard. It is the appraiser. I don't know why he felt like he could just let himself in the gate, even thought I was there when I said I would be.

So, he's out there measuring the distance of the house and recording it all on his mock-up of our house plan. I decide to be super nice to the guy anyway, because he can really make or break what our home value hits at. I step out onto the back porch and just start joking around with him and introducing myself. We talk for a bit and then he's ready to come inside.

As we step inside, I show him that I built a floor-to-ceiling (pictured) bookshelf/china cabinet...that is 8' wide. It is finished with bead board behind all of it, and painted with over three coats of paint to give it a very refined look. He kind of looks it over, makes some notes, and moves on. He looks at the rest of the inside of the house and takes some pictures and he is just about done. I walk him out the front door to show him all of the landscaping that we have added. Basically, everything that is in the front yard was NOT there when we moved in...including grass. There was barely any grass to mow when we bought the house. Since then, we've won "Yard of the Month" two years in a row in the spring.

He goes out to the garage, measures a couple of things, and then leaves.

At this point, I am expecting a really good appraisal, because it seemed like the guy and I had rapport. I was....wrong. Even thought, the appraisal could have come in much, much lower than it did, I don't feel like it was fairly graded.

He used three other houses in the neighborhood as comparable subjects. Two of them had absolutely NO improvements to the yard, front or back. They still had the basic yopon shrubs that every builder seems to use. In fact, I think both of them had the plain, white garage door that had never been painted...just had the primer on there.

One of the houses he used, was a bit better looking than those others, but still not quite possessing the "curb appeal" that ours now does. It at least had a better looking yard than those others, but about half of what we have in ours. We have planted multiple crepe myrtles (Natchez ones that droop and are white), a maple tree...knockout rose bushes...and many other shrubs that keep foliage year-round.

When we got the appraisal back, we saw that it came in about $2500 under what it should have...even according to his research. He used a couple of different methods, but landed on the comparison method....well, because it was easiest. He "estimated" that the homes in this area were about worth such and such. Then he "estimated" that the homes he used to compare were similarly equipped as ours. Then, he just took what those homes sold for, even though some of those sales were well beyond the six month period that you're supposed to use, and averaged them to come up with our value. Wow! Really special there, guy. You didn't even need to come by the house for that. You could have done that from the comfort of your own home.

Why, if they are going to record things about the improvements made to a house, are they not going to actually IMPROVE the value of the house? I mean, if I build a full-blown china cabinet, right on the end of the dining room, that improves the room and the overall house. Plus, it's not like I'm taking it with me when we move...it's what is called a fixture...immovable. Also, I was told, "Well, 'curb appeal' really doesn't add value to a house." Since when? It could be the difference between you getting someone to look at your house rather than the one next to you with a for sale sign in the yard.

All of that to say, we did not get the PMI taken off. Because of what this guy appraised our house for, we will have to pay for that until we own 20% of the equity. What...a...crook......er....I mean, crock.

Bruce A. Ulrich
1,000 Words Photography
http://bruceaulrich.zenfolio.com

A Good Visit

Yesterday, around lunch, Alan's grandma came down from Grenada to spend some time with him. This is Rebecca's mom.

I had a big afternoon planned for Rebecca, as it was her 29th birthday. We had reservations at The Parker House, but before that, we were going to see "The Help."

So, we all ate lunch at home together, and Alan got reacquainted with his grandma. The last time they had seen each other was a few months back.

Alan was being just as sweet as ever. After lunch, he was showing her every toy in the house. He wanted to make sure that she knew everything that he had.

We left for our special afternoon at about 2:00, and Alan was just as happy as can be, playing with grandma in his room. We called at about 6:00 to check on them, after we got out of the movie. We could hear him just talking up a storm in the background and she said that they were having a ball. They had been out in the backyard, playing with the garden hose and swimming pool.

The movie, The Help, was really good. I went into it not really knowing what to expect, but was pleasantly surprised. It delved into some deep southern issues, and really challenged the viewers. I think I got a little teary-eyed about 5 times.

Dinner was amazing. We had a very nice, intimate dinner for two at The Parker House restaurant. It was our first time eating there, but it will not be our last.

This morning, we just all hung out together, drinking some coffee and chatting. Alan wanted to go outside, so he and grandma went out there and walked around everywhere. We followed right behind, and ended up watching him try to sweep the driveway. He was working so hard that by the end of it, he was soaking wet with sweat.

By this point, Alan was ready for a nap, so we put him down, and then grandma left. The cutest thing after I got him up, he was standing up in his crib. He was kind of looking around, looking for grandma. I told him that she had to go back to her house and we would see her again soon. He kind of frowned and just stared out the window. He missed her.

Thanks for coming to visit us, grandma! We enjoyed it!

 

 

2011.08.28_Edit_14.MOV Watch on Posterous

Bruce A. Ulrich
1,000 Words Photography
http://bruceaulrich.zenfolio.com

Easy Way Really Easiest?

This summer, we rented a beach house in Florida through VRBO (Vacation Rentals By Owner). It's a conglomeration of different people that want to rent out their vacation homes to travelers and tourists. They are usually very reasonably priced and you can get good treatment, because you're not just dealing with a management company. Sounds like a good deal, right? Not so fast. After we arrived at the house, only to find that it was a staggering 85 degrees inside, in the smoldering hot almost-100-degree summer Florida, we should have taken that as a sign. We didn't. We just called the owner and told her about it. She called a repairman out to repair it. By about 10:00 that night, it was finally down to about 74. Well, by about 8 the next morning, it was already 80 again...inside. Not acceptable for a vacation home, in my opinion. That first day, we went to Publix (grocery chain down there) and bought over $100 worth of groceries (Milk for Alan...ribs...ice cream...veggies and fruit...etc). By that next morning when we noticed that the air was still not functioning properly, the items in the refrigerator didn't seem very cold either. Just to test this theory, when the AC man came out again, and has his equipment, I had him test out the fridge. He said the air in the fridge was 65 degrees...barely cooler than room temperature. (well, normal room temp, that is) I then called the owner about this issue. So the AC man left, but not before we had to tear a hole in the wall. The owner had built a permanent bookshelf over the AC unit and we had to break out the back of that to get to it. Therefore, the rest of our vacation (this was only the 2nd day), there was a giant hole in the wall with an exposed AC unit. Oh, and just an added bonus, it was quite a bit noisier. At this point, I really didn't care because it was cooling properly...a long overdue amenity for our newly rented beach house. Each time I'm calling the owner about something else that's not working, she is trying to explain to me how it was new and should not be doing this. I keep explaining to her that I really don't care what it "is supposed to do or not do" it isn't doing it. Throughout this time, I'm keeping calm. I've not so much as raised my voice at her. I'm quite proud of this fact. The next night, we awoke to a loud CARAAASH! It came from the kitchen, and I thought someone had broken in. I jumped up, and grabbed my flashlight to see what was happening. I could not find anything. Finally though, I saw something in the kitchen...something had fallen off of the wall. She had some key hooks that were on a very nice board that matched the modernly decorated kitchen and house. The whole board had come crashing down on the tile below!

The next day, after a long day at the beach, we put Alan in the tub to get the sand out of every crevasse. We just kept waiting and waiting and waiting on the water to get warm. It never did. We were committed at this point. We had to finish bathing him. He was screaming his head off and for that, I don't blame him. I let that one ride and decided to call the owner about it the next morning. After calling her and not hearing back for an hour, we decided to pack up and head to the beach. After all, this was our vacation and we wanted to get some beach time out of it. SIDE NOTE: it was about a mile walk to the beach. Yep. We were told it was 2 blocks. Slight misguidance on the part of the owner. After getting back from the beach that day, we decided to bathe Alan again. It was still not hot, but we just had to power through it. Poor guy, he did not like baths for a bit after that. That was the last straw. I had taken enough blows at this point. I called her up and let her know I was very dissatisfied with everything and I would like some of my money back. She was upset enough that she offered me a full refund. I, not being like most people, told her that we would talk about it the next day, because it would be better to work it would when I was not so mad. She sighed and sounded relieved. The next day, we agreed that half of my money back would be reasonable for the awfulness that was that week. By the next to last day there, we were having a bad enough time that we packed up and drove home. We did not want to spend one more night there...especially since we were getting half of our money back. Once home, we started receiving emails from the owner, trying to downplay our discomfort over that week. We went back and forth, and I kept making her feel guilty for not sticking to what she agreed. She finally said she would do it, but it would take her a while to get the money together. 5 weeks later, I just did a PayPal transfer of the correct amount. (I did not even mention all of the things that went wrong with this house...like the wifi not working properly...which was part of why we booked this one; or there not being any light outside by the grill...of which we bought some nice steaks for that very fact.)

I can tell you this...that was a "vacation" we will never forget!

Bruce A. Ulrich
1,000 Words Photography
http://bruceaulrich.zenfolio.com
Sent from my iPad

A Cry in the Darkness

I was shutting things down around the house when I heard a cry in the darkness. It started as a whimper, but steadily grew to a sleepy displeasure. I went into Alan's room to see what was the matter. I could not figure it out. He kind of laid there, holding his hands up at me, so I picked him up. After trying to give him a cup of milk, in case he was hungry, I put him back in his bed. It seemed to be what he wanted. Rebecca had come in there by this point (She's she one that brought the milk to us), so we both walked out together. Not long after, Alan cried out again. I went in three to find that he was sitting up this time, holding his hands up toward me. I picked him up again and we sat down in the rocking chair. He hugged my neck and laid his head on my shoulder. I don't know if he needed that more or if I did. I have missed both of them the past couple of days, while out of town on business. It just made me melt. All that I could think of at that moment was how blessed I was to be there, in that moment. Bruce A. Ulrich
1,000 Words Photography
http://bruceaulrich.zenfolio.com
Sent from my iPad

A Week of Sickness

It started out as a bad day already, with us finding water standing on the floor of my toddler's closet. Upon discovering this, I ran to the adjacent bathroom to see where it was coming from. I thought it was leaking from the bathtub, but much to my relief, it was from behind the toilet. You might be wondering why I was glad it was the toilet. Well, it is much more accessible than the drop-in shower/tub that we have in that guest bathroom.

After inspecting the pipes and where it was leaking, I noticed it was the pipe that provides the water to the toilet tank. I got my largest crescent wrench and tried to tighten it, but it would only move the pipe in the wall. I had to leave for work so I just decided to get a large towel and leave it there to absorb all of the dripping.

For lunch, we decided to hit up Lenny's for their Social Wednesday deal. We do this quite often, so I didn't think anything about it...until later. I got the Philly cheesesteak sandwich with the hot pepper relish and my wife got their club sub ( a cold sandwich with different ingredients).

Later that night, my dad came over with some more tools to help me fix the leaky pipe. Turns out, I think it was just not tight enough, but we put a new elbow joint on it anyway. We also put some Teflon tape around the threads before we put it all back together. Guess what? It worked! The leak was fixed!

Later that night, I was feeling some more of the upset stomach that I had that afternoon. I had not previously given it much thought, but now, I was beginning to get suspicious. After about 24 hours of running to the bathroom every 15 minutes, I concluded that I got a healthy dose of food poisoning. After careful consideration, and discussions with my wife about what we had recently eaten, I determined it must have been that Lenny's sandwich.

A week later, and I'm still having some stomach issues. It's just been a horrible time and I will not soon visit there again.

NOTE: I called the Rankin County Health Department, trying to get them to check into this so that nobody else would become ill, I was told I'd have to come to the courthouse and file a complaint. Who has time for that? Not me.

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