home improvements and Resale
Paul Adamus
Trent Fierro
>I'm considering several home improvements, and am confident I
>won't lose money because I live in a neighborhood where assessed
>values have increased rapidly, and probably will continue to do
>so. I'm weighing three improvements: a deck, conversion of part
>of the garage to an insulated study/den, and additional
>landscaping. Would all of these add to the resale value of the
>property, over and above the higher value I anticipate anyway
>because of demand outstripping supply in this area? Which would
>have the best benefit-to-cost ratio?
>
A deck adds minimal value. The new buyer has to really like what you
do to add value. Do this for yourself...
In California, changing the shape of your garage and eliminating garage
square footage, changes the way your house is assessed. Investigate
if adding living space will change your taxes, etc... A lot of people
buy houses for garage space as well, so think about that.
Landscaping if only adding plants doesn't change anything much. Trees,
decorative sidewalks, cement borders, etc.... will. Look around your
nieghborhood and see if you'd price yourself out of the area compared
to others, or if you'll catch up.
It's hard to tell because there are no dollar values in your post, it doesn't
mention how long you're going to stay, if you're looking for quick ways to
upgrade and get, etc....
good luck
Ed Green - Pixel Cruncher
>>I'm weighing three improvements: a deck, conversion of part
>>of the garage to an insulated study/den, and additional
>>landscaping.
>
I have read exactly the opposite, that a deck is the easiest way to add
resale value to your home. It is certainly the simplest, least
expensive, and least disruptive modification you can make to the house
itself.
Landscaping is tricky. What would be best for the lot, given the
climate and the soil, is probably not the cheapest, nor will it
necessarily increase resale value. I doubt if any DIY landscaping will
increase the value of the property... if you plant some pretty
flowering shrubs and have a well manicured lawn, it will help you sell
the house (not exactly the same thing). Professional landscaping, with
planting beds and rocks and a waterfall and a goldfish pond, may
ostensibly increase the value, but reduce your pool of potential
buyers.
I wouldn't touch the garage, with the possible exception of adding a
shop area (even people that don't work, like to have a shop area).
---
Ed Green Ed.G...@East.Sun.COM DoD #0111 (919)460-8302
John P. Curcio
In article <2heto0$8...@dasher.cc.bellcore.com>, pat...@dasher.cc.bellcore.com (patterson,george r) writes:
|> In article <2hcpbu$4...@jadzia.CSOS.ORST.EDU>,
|> Paul Adamus <ada...@CSOS.ORST.EDU> wrote:
|> >I'm weighing three improvements: a deck, conversion of part
|> >of the garage to an insulated study/den, and additional
|> >landscaping. Would all of these add to the resale value of the
|> >property, over and above the higher value I anticipate anyway
|> >because of demand outstripping supply in this area? Which would
|> >have the best benefit-to-cost ratio?
|> Since I'm redoing my own house, my mother keeps sending me newspaper
|> articles on the subject. According to these, a deck will add about 80%
|> of the amount the deck costs to the value of the house. A new room
|> will add about 40% of the amount spent, and landscaping isn't even on
|> the list.
|> For what it's worth, bathroom and kitchen renovations top the list, but
|> you will not recover the entire cost of any job.
FWIW:
Our local paper ran a similar article about a month or two ago. They also
mentioned that kitchens and baths were the best rooms to invest in, but they
also said that the value added for these rooms was more than they cost!! Of
course, I live in the high-rent northern suburbs of New York City, so it seems
that the location is important. Additional rooms were at the bottom of the
list here as well...
-JPC
--
-<=>- Just say NO! to Budmilloors... Support your local MICROBREWERY -<=>-
John P. Curcio (j...@philabs.philips.com) (914) 945-6442, 6159
Philips Laboratories 345 Scarborough Road Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510
"If nothing beats a Bud, given the choice, I'd take the nothing..."
Scott Finley
bajones@astro (Ebeth Jones) writes:
> I'm realizing how
> vulnerable my house would be if the power went out, and I think that
> having a wood pellet stove would be a good source of backup heat. Now
> for my question - my neighborhood may be getting natural gas this
> summer, but the deal the gas company wants to make is that in order
> to get gas, you need to install a gas heater, gas water heater, and
> gas oven. I realize that gas is more economical than electric, but
> I really hate to replace a perfectly usable heat pump, water heater
> and stove, and I'd at least like the option of choosing which appliances
> will be gas. As far as resale value goes, will having gas be a big
> incentive to buyers, especially if there is a wood stove as a heat
> source?
1) Most heating systems cannot operate without electric power,
regardless of the fuel. Forced air needs an electric blower, forced
hot water needs a pump, and (I think) pellet stoves have electric
"pellet feeders." An "ordinary" wood stove can work without
electricity, unless it depends on a fan to distribute the heat
usefully. I'm not sure about steam heat, but I grew up with it and
hate it for other reasons.
2) I recently convinced the gas company to extend the main into our
neighborhood. They started out insisting on a large number of furnace
+ hot water conversions, but then compromised when no one wanted to
replace 1-3 year old hot water heaters. Your gas Co. may be more
flexible than they talk.
3) I would not buy a house with a wood stove, for a variety of reasons.
I just don't want to bother with the thing, and it sure seems a bit
labor-intensive to me. I don't want a hot thing upstairs with my
children. I don't want to pollute the air in my neighborhood any more
than necessary (wood stoves release a fair amount of particulate). For
_this_ buyer a wood stove would reduce the value of the home almost as
much as a pool.
4) I prefer to cook with gas, dry clothes with gas, and heat water with
gas. When my gas is hooked up I won't have any of these things, but
I'll have the opportunity to do them whenever I (or the appliance gods)
choose.
--Scott Finley Scott_...@smtpgateway.cc.nih.gov
Ebeth Jones
On the subject of home improvements - I'm in the process of looking
for a wood stove for my basement. My townhouse is built in such a way
that it would be impossible to put an actual fireplace in, but a
woodstove would be a nice alternative. Also, my house is all electric,
and now that we're in the middle of a cold snap, I'm realizing how
vulnerable my house would be if the power went out, and I think that
having a wood pellet stove would be a good source of backup heat. Now
for my question - my neighborhood may be getting natural gas this
summer, but the deal the gas company wants to make is that in order
to get gas, you need to install a gas heater, gas water heater, and
gas oven. I realize that gas is more economical than electric, but
I really hate to replace a perfectly usable heat pump, water heater
and stove, and I'd at least like the option of choosing which appliances
will be gas. As far as resale value goes, will having gas be a big
incentive to buyers, especially if there is a wood stove as a heat
source?
Ebeth
--
Elizabeth Jones E-MAIL: baj...@nvl.army.mil
"A home without a cat, and a well-fed, well-petted, and properly revered cat,
may be a perfect home, *perhaps*, but how can it prove its title?" Mark Twain
J. Scott Wilson
various articles from appraisal magazines... the #1 home improvement you can
do is to paint the inside of your house. Basically it offers a ROI of about
2500% if you do it yourself. I will get his findings and then post them
here.
S. Wilson
Kenneth B. Streeter
|> On the subject of home improvements - I'm in the process of looking
|> for a wood stove for my basement ...
|> ... Also, my house is all electric ...
|> As far as resale value goes, will having gas be a big
|> incentive to buyers, especially if there is a wood stove as a heat
|> source?
I don't know about in Virginia, but in New Hampshire, electrically
heated houses are shunned like the plague. Electric costs from PSNH
(Public Service of New Hampshire) are about 11 cents per KWH, while
heating oil can be purchased locally for $.75/gallon. Oil or gas heat
can save approximately $500 or more dollars each year for most
homeowners as compared to electric.
Wood stoves are less convenient, tend to be messy, and require
considerable attention throughout the day. As a supplement to heat in
emergency power outages, they would be excellent. As a primary heat
source, they tend to be inconvenient. I don't think the wood stove
would greatly affect resale value .
--Ken
-----
Kenneth B. Streeter | ARPA: stre...@sanders.com
Lockheed Sanders | UUCP: ...!uunet!sanders.com!streeter
PTP2-A001 |
65 River Road | Voice: (603) 885-9604
Hudson, NH 03051 | Fax: (603) 885-0631
Gary Heston
[ ... ]
>4) I prefer to cook with gas, dry clothes with gas, and heat water with
>gas. When my gas is hooked up I won't have any of these things, but
>I'll have the opportunity to do them whenever I (or the appliance gods)
>choose.
First rule of new gas hookups:
Have gas lines run to *all* places it can be used when it's
installed!
I.e., when you have a gas hookup put in place, say for a new central
unit, go ahead and have it run to the utility room with valves for
the water heater and dryer, and the kitchen, with a valve for the
stove. That way, when one of these fail, you simply buy a gas-powered
replacement, and everything else is already in place. Just hook it
up and turn it on. It'll not be significantly more expensive, and
will save you hassle in the long run.
--
Gary Heston, at home..... ...which is now running Unix... :-)
ga...@cdthq.uucp or ...uunet!sci34hub!cdthq!gary (for clueless MTAs)
The brain is a mass of cranial nerve tissue,
most of it in mint condition. Robert Half
Peter Lemmond
I clipped out this chart, which I think came from some sort of Sears Magazine
like thing. Their source is "Remodeling Magazine, 10/91"
THE REAL COST OF REMODELING
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Project Avg Cost Resale Value Cost Recouped Real Cost
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Major kitchen 19,800 17,600 89% 2,200
remodeling
Minor kitchen 8,000 7,200 90% 800
remodeling
Bath Remodeling 7,300 5,700 79% 1,600
Deck Addition 6,800 4,800 71% 2,000
Window Replacement 6,300 4,300 69% 2,000
Siding Replacement 8,100 5,200 64% 2,900
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Peter
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Peter Lemmond / Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution / Woods Hole, MA
---------------------------------------------------------------------
patterson,george r
>I'm weighing three improvements: a deck, conversion of part
>of the garage to an insulated study/den, and additional
>landscaping. Would all of these add to the resale value of the
>property, over and above the higher value I anticipate anyway
>because of demand outstripping supply in this area? Which would
>have the best benefit-to-cost ratio?
Since I'm redoing my own house, my mother keeps sending me newspaper
articles on the subject. According to these, a deck will add about 80%
of the amount the deck costs to the value of the house. A new room
will add about 40% of the amount spent, and landscaping isn't even on
the list.
For what it's worth, bathroom and kitchen renovations top the list, but
you will not recover the entire cost of any job.
All figures assume that you contract the job out. If you do the work
yourself, you should at least be able to recover the cost of the
materials (which are usually about 35% of the contract cost).
In your case, I wouldn't do any of it unless it's necessary to sell
the house (or unless you like doing the job).
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
| The most important thing these ocean flights have
| brought out is that it's a quicker way of transporting
George Patterson - | our marines to other people's wars. Our slogan will
| be now: Have your civil wars as far away as you
| want, but on the opening day, we will be there.
| Will Rogers
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
patterson,george r
Scott Finley <Scott_...@smtpgateway.cc.nih.gov> wrote:
>1) Most heating systems cannot operate without electric power,
>regardless of the fuel.......
>......... I'm not sure about steam heat, but I grew up with it and
>hate it for other reasons.
Steam heat generally requires either an electric timer or an electric
thermostat. Thermostats are usually low voltage, but their transformers
are driven from 110 volt power line. The steam heat systems I had to live
with in rental houses were all driven by timers. My brother's house has
a thermostat driven one.
>3) I would not buy a house with a wood stove, for a variety of reasons.
I also feel a little this way. A non-essential fireplace, I'll buy; a
wood heating system, no way. I have friends who have these critters.
Are you, by chance, a music afficianado? If you have fine stereo gear,
sell it when you get the wood stove. The temperature fluctuations, dry
air, and fine dust created by these things will gradually trash the
unit.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
| To stand still on the summit of reflection is
George Patterson - | difficult, and in the natural course of things,
| who cannot go forward steps back.
| Gauis Velleius Paterculis
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
William Grant
>In article E...@synoptics.com, tfi...@synoptics.com (Trent Fierro) writes:
>>>I'm weighing three improvements: a deck, conversion of part
>>>of the garage to an insulated study/den, and additional
>>>landscaping.
>>
>>A deck adds minimal value.
>
>I have read exactly the opposite, that a deck is the easiest way to add
>resale value to your home. It is certainly the simplest, least
>expensive, and least disruptive modification you can make to the house
>itself.
>
I have recently had an appraisal done on a townhouse here near
Washington DC. The appraiser allowed $1000 dollars for the deck,
comped against houses that didn't have one. This is the same that
other appraisers have done on my neighbors' houses (lots of refis here
recently). The decks in question are all identical. (10'x12', 3' off
the ground, straight ballusters, no ornamentation, 2"x8" handrail, 3-4
step staircase to ground level with handrails, 2"x8" decking, all PT
wood).
Find out what a local appraiser will allow for a deck. Then realize
that anything you spend over that amount will almost certainly be
lost. I doubt a cedar deck adds any to the appraisal value, but it is
surely more expensive to build around here. Also find out what the
minimum definition of a deck is in your area. Several people around
here put in wooden platforms, and found that they were considered
patios, not decks (imagine a deck built on the ground with steps down
to it from the house, and no rails anywhere).
The cheapest, most cost-effective way I have always seen listed to
increase the appraisal value (by way of the condition line on the comp
sheet) is a fresh coat of paint anywhere you think it might even come
close to needing it. Stick to simple off-whites if possible. This
also speeds up the sale itself.
Good luck
======================================================================
Hopes and wishes, Daffodils and kings...
Leprechaun Liam Gr...@itd.nrl.navy.mil
Code 5541, NRL, Wash. DC 20375-5337, (202)767-0552 W (301)937-2567 H
Ron Rothenberg
SW>My father is a real estate appraiser and from his analysis which included
SW>various articles from appraisal magazines... the #1 home improvement you can
SW>do is to paint the inside of your house. Basically it offers a ROI of about
SW>2500% if you do it yourself. I will get his findings and then post them
SW>here.
I have to agree -- almost all home improvements should be done because
YOU will use and enjoy the improvement, not because it is any sort of
investment. Improving your house for 'investment' reasons is the tale
wagging the dog -- you should do what's good for you and your family.
If you have a 2-bedroom or 1-bathroom home in an are where these are
hard to sell, you may make your home more marketable by adding a bedroom
or bathroom, however even there, you won't recover even 90% of your
'investment,' but you'll probably reduce the amount of time it will take
to sell your house. The same is true of updating existing baths and
kitchens.
When selling a house, there's a few things you can do that will raise
the selling price by as much as 10% -- painting a few walls white,
painting the doorway, trimming a few bushes, POLISHING THE FLOORS, are
all eye-grabbers. Buyers do like shiny, clean things. Even after I
tell them to ignore that sort of stuff, I think we still associate
shiny==good, and the association is hard for most buyers to overcome.
To get the greatest ROI on home improvment and repairs - 1. Make sure
the house looks nice from the street -- fix cracks in the walk, paint
the door, fix the masonry, trim back the bushes a bit. 2. Make sure the
entranceway looks nice -- polish that floor, paint the walls, clean the
glass. All relatively inexpensive stuff.
Everything else you do, besides routine maintenance and pest control,
you should do for your own benefit -- save your investments for other
arenas and make your house a home.
-rsr-
Ron Rothenberg
Broker/Owner/REALTOR(R)
HomeBase Real Estate
Belmont, MA 02178
(617) 489-4812
Greater Boston's Most Accessible Brokerage.
* SLMR 2.1a * I was walking in someone else's sleep last night...
Ebeth Jones
>
>When selling a house, there's a few things you can do that will raise
>the selling price by as much as 10% -- painting a few walls white,
I just read a story in Readers InDigestion, where a realtor was trying
to sell a house that had hot pink walls and he suggested that the owner
paint them to improve the appeal to buyers. The seller called the
realtor to tell him that he had painted the walls and they looked much
better, and when the realtor took some people over to show them the
house, the walls were newly painted with nice new hot pink paint.
Robert J. Brown
>In article <2hcpbu$4...@jadzia.CSOS.ORST.EDU>,
>Paul Adamus <ada...@CSOS.ORST.EDU> wrote:
>
>>I'm weighing three improvements: a deck, conversion of part
>>of the garage to an insulated study/den, and additional
>>landscaping. Would all of these add to the resale value of the
>>property, over and above the higher value I anticipate anyway
>>because of demand outstripping supply in this area? Which would
>>have the best benefit-to-cost ratio?
>
>Since I'm redoing my own house, my mother keeps sending me newspaper
>articles on the subject. According to these, a deck will add about 80%
>of the amount the deck costs to the value of the house. A new room
>will add about 40% of the amount spent, and landscaping isn't even on
>the list.
>
>For what it's worth, bathroom and kitchen renovations top the list, but
>you will not recover the entire cost of any job.
>
>All figures assume that you contract the job out. If you do the work
>yourself, you should at least be able to recover the cost of the
>materials (which are usually about 35% of the contract cost).
>
>In your case, I wouldn't do any of it unless it's necessary to sell
>the house (or unless you like doing the job).
I have been remodling my house since I bought it 13 years ago and
probably always will be! But I just refinanced my mortgage in '93 and
learned some interesting things from the appraiser. Incidentally, he
was the same guy who did my original appraisal and was quite impressed
with what we had done with the house. Anyway, this biggest single imp-
rovement made on the house was replacing all the windows. It had had
jalousy(sp?) windows which are totally worthless in central Indiana!
My wife called them "trailer windows" (-: I replaced them myself with
a combination of Crestline double-hung, awning, and casement double
insulated, low-E windows. I also made all the interior mouldings using
hardwoods and some nice "fluted" profiles and such. The appraiser said
the 2 things you can get 100% back on resale value are (quality) window
upgrades and new roofs. Everything else is valuated over so many years.
This turned out to be a pretty big thing for me as I spent ~$2000 for
the windows themselves and maybe 2 or 3 hundred for materials for re-
framing the openings and building new headers and also brick moulding
for the exterior trim. I probably put $200 into hardwood for the interior
trim and,of course, about 3 million hours milling the stuff in my shop!
I openly admitted to the appraiser that I did all the work myself but
he gave my credit for labor and added (are you ready?) $6000 for the windows!!
Well worth the my investment!!
One thing he told me is that if you are remodling to resell, DO NOT
add on to the home because you will not recover half of what you invested
into it. And although additional bathrooms are worth a lot more in total
home value, if you add one merely to sell, you'll probably not see half
of the initial investment.
As far as turning a garage into "real" living space; obviously you will
get more $ value for more square feet (although like I said above, you won't
get all you put into it) because living space is given a higher value than
usable garage sq. footage. But consider (especially in colder climes) the
attraction of a heated garage to a potential buyer. Besides that, most times
when people convert garages into family rooms or whatever, they usually end
up looking like, you guessed it, garages converted into family rooms! This
has to be considered in the overall exterior appearance of the home. It
really kills me when I see what was obviously once a garage door (still
trimmed with brick moulding) permenantly filled with plywood and painted!
Looks almost as bad as a "sprawling" ranch home with trailer windows!! (-:
Cheers,
____________________________________________________________
/\ \____
/\\\ Robert J. Brown Bitnet:BROWN@IUCF \ \
\\\\\ Indiana University _____________ \ \
\\\\\____ Cyclotron Facility \ /\ \ \
\\\/ /\ Phone: (812)855-9365 \_________/\\\ \ \
\/___/\\\_____________________________________\ DoD# \\\\\____\ \
\\\/ ____ / 992 \\\/ /____\
\/________________\ \/_________________/ \/__________/
Paul J. Bentkowski
You are correct. But the big push right now is in Master Bedrooms...
We have friends,etc... in the Real-estate bus. and no-one today (family wise)
are looking for those post-war 1950's 3 cutsie 10x12 bedrooms ... and
god forbid if you add ANOTHER ONE... Families have been basically down-sized
in recent decades... our friends who are in the market, selling/buying...
all basically say... the bedroom turned into a Master bedroom... that's
the ticket these days...
Also... a clear distinction has to made between appraisal value,
fair-market value and MARKETING/ALURING OF A HOUSE...
My wife and I bought a house, on the contingincy... of selling our
"little cape-cod" other people in the neighborhood, were selling...
basically the "same type" house... but we asked an outrageous price...
a few thousands up from our other competitors...
by the trick was to make it MARKETABLE... we had always decorated in
"good taste", poof (?sp) valences, finer furniture, and though none
of that stuff, CAME W/ THE HOUSE (obviously) ... it gave it the
personification of ELIQUENCE...
When no one said we would buy our current house, because, we couldn't
sell it in 10 days (that was our time) ... we sold it the 1'st
day on the market w/ two offers ... and we got the ASKING PRICE...
69,900 for a dinkie-cape cod...
but we set up the stage ... long before...
> As far as turning a garage into "real" living space; obviously you will
>get more $ value for more square feet (although like I said above, you won't
>get all you put into it) because living space is given a higher value than
>usable garage sq. footage. But consider (especially in colder climes) the
>attraction of a heated garage to a potential buyer. Besides that, most times
>when people convert garages into family rooms or whatever, they usually end
>up looking like, you guessed it, garages converted into family rooms! This
>has to be considered in the overall exterior appearance of the home. It
>really kills me when I see what was obviously once a garage door (still
>trimmed with brick moulding) permenantly filled with plywood and painted!
>Looks almost as bad as a "sprawling" ranch home with trailer windows!! (-:
>
Agreed... that's why my garage is now my "workshop" area ... w/ cable,insul.
phone, microwave, refrig, sofa, heat, finished walls, dropped ceilings, sunk
stereo speakers in the ceiling, guncloset,etc.....
I've already had my neighbors come (guys) over and say... Man!!
I'd live OUT HERE FOREVER...
You won't believe how many "guys", I'll get to "buy" this house, w/
their wives once they see the workshop area... but that's if
we ever decide to sell it .... :-) :-) :-)...
Tim Foecke
> the windows themselves and maybe 2 or 3 hundred for materials for re-
> framing the openings and building new headers and also brick moulding
> for the exterior trim. I probably put $200 into hardwood for the
> interior trim and,of course, about 3 million hours milling the stuff in
> my shop!
> I openly admitted to the appraiser that I did all the work myself but
> he gave my credit for labor and added (are you ready?) $6000 for the
> windows!!
> Well worth the my investment!!
>
I would say you have excellent luck with appraisers. My first one, whom I
tossed out when she told me this, had 30 days experience and was not even
going to look anywhere besides the first floor in doing her "appraisal". I
convinced the bank to send someone else.
There may be wide bands of values for resale value retention of upgrades to a
house, but I believe that the variation in buyers and appraisers makes it
more of a crap shoot than a science.
Jonathan E. Quist
>YOU will use and enjoy the improvement, not because it is any sort of
>investment. Improving your house for 'investment' reasons is the tale
>wagging the dog -- you should do what's good for you and your family.
It was almost heartbreaking to see how nice my parent's basement
looked 2 months before they sold the house they'd lived in for 25
years...
>If you have a 2-bedroom or 1-bathroom home in an are where these are
>hard to sell, you may make your home more marketable by adding a bedroom
>or bathroom, however even there, you won't recover even 90% of your
>'investment,' but you'll probably reduce the amount of time it will take
>to sell your house. The same is true of updating existing baths and
>kitchens.
This is true - one of the things that got negative comments about
our 1917 house was that we had no ground-level bathroom. There were
a number of other small items, but in a few cases, a bathroom would
have likely sold the house. The increase in selling price would have
been almost insignificant, but we would have sold...
That does make some improvements viable, even though they're "negative"
investments - if it's the difference between selling and not selling,
it may be worthwhile.
--
Jonathan E. Quist j...@lachman.com Lachman Technology, Incorporated
DoD #094, EGFC #002, KotPP, KotCF '71 CL450-K4 "Gleep" Naperville, IL
__ "I love Boris Yeltsin. He's kind of like Ted Baxter's
\/ chubby older brother." - WBEZ (Chicago) personality Aaron Freeman
Christine Neidecker
What does the assessed value signify? Is that different
from the appraised value? (ok, I'm clueless)
We're considering a house (you know, the one with the
new cast iron sewer pipe and cracked driveway ;-), so I
called the utility companies and the county tax office for
more info. I found out that the last assessment totalled
$188K for land & improvements (but I forgot to ask when the
appraisal was done). The asking price is $230K, about the
same as other similar homes in that area (asking price, not
sold price!).
If we decide to make an offer on this house, what does that
$188K assessment have to do with it, other than the fact that
we'd have to put down a large downpayment? Should that be a factor
in our offer?
Thanks,
Chris
patterson,george r
Christine Neidecker <cnei...@cyclone.mitre.org> wrote:
>What does the assessed value signify? Is that different
>from the appraised value? (ok, I'm clueless)
The "assessed" value is the amount of money on which your property tax is
based. In some areas of the country (such as here is New Jersey), it is
supposed to bear a strong resemblance to the actual market value of the
property. In this area, however, it's based on square footage and special
features (such as fireplaces). Recent renovations don't count, nor does
landscaping work, nor does the actual condition of those "features", so a
thirty year old house that's been renovated to new condition supposedly is
worth the same as its twin next door, which is all original. That info
comes second hand from the Somerset county appeals board via a friend who's
appealing his assessment.
In other areas of the country (such as Knox county, Tennessee), the assessed
value is deliberately set at approximately 60% of market value to eliminate
the likelyhood of appeals by property owners. If it's been ten years since
an assessment was done, a house may be worth three times its assessed "value".
>We're considering a house (you know, the one with the
>new cast iron sewer pipe and cracked driveway ;-), so I
>called the utility companies and the county tax office for
>more info. I found out that the last assessment totalled
>$188K for land & improvements (but I forgot to ask when the
>appraisal was done). The asking price is $230K, about the
>same as other similar homes in that area (asking price, not
>sold price!).
As you can see from above, the market price may or may not be close to the
assessed value. Find out when the assessment was done; it may be time for
a reassessment (typically these occur at about ten year intervals). A
reassessment can dramatically change the amount of your property taxes,
though this isn't likely.
>If we decide to make an offer on this house, what does that
>$188K assessment have to do with it, other than the fact that
>we'd have to put down a large downpayment?
Not a thing. In fact, I don't see how it affects your downpayment; the
asking price is more likely to affect that, since what you'll pay for
the house will be a lot closer to the asking price than the assessment.
>Should that be a factor in our offer?
Nope. What *should* be a factor is the prices at which any similar
houses in the area sold recently.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
|
George Patterson - | Trichinosis, n. The pig's reply to proponents of
| porcophagy.
| Ambrose Bierce - The Devil's Dictionary
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ron Rothenberg
WG>>>A deck adds minimal value.
WG>>
WG>>I have read exactly the opposite, that a deck is the easiest way to add
WG>>resale value to your home. It is certainly the simplest, least
WG>>expensive, and least disruptive modification you can make to the house
WG>>itself.
WG>>
In a backyard that is steep or rocky, a deck adds lots of value (not
related to its cost) since it increases the amount of usable yard
vastly. In a level yard, I would think it would only add minimal value.
-rsr-
* SLMR 2.1a * Doesn't EVERYBODY wear tunics?