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Fair Market Value of House

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Anonymous
Not applicable

Fair Market Value of House

Homeowners with chapter 7 experience, have you ever had a trustee get their own CMA/appraisal, even though you furnished one in your filing from a licensed realtor familiar with the property?  What was the outcome?  What happens if a trustee lists your house for sale but can't actually get what they thought it was worth?

13 REPLIES 13
sccredit
Valued Contributor

Re: Fair Market Value of House

IME the trustee will disregard any appraisal provided by you and/or your attorney. That is exactly what they did with mine. The trustee has a realtor (or realtors) they use when selling a home and they will obtain that realtor's opinion. In my case the difference was $50k and they proceeded with the sale. In the end the house sold for exactly what was on the appraisal that we ordered and provided. In my case the equity in the home was about $250k so there wasn't a question about whether it would be sold or not as the homestead was $100k.

Message 2 of 14
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Fair Market Value of House

 


@sccredit wrote:

IME the trustee will disregard any appraisal provided by you and/or your attorney. That is exactly what they did with mine. The trustee has a realtor (or realtors) they use when selling a home and they will obtain that realtor's opinion. In my case the difference was $50k and they proceeded with the sale. In the end the house sold for exactly what was on the appraisal that we ordered and provided. In my case the equity in the home was about $250k so there wasn't a question about whether it would be sold or not as the homestead was $100k.


Thanks, that's very helpful.  May I ask if you are in a state with a large homestead exemption or small homestead exemption?  I saw some states go up as high as $150K to $500K!  I'm assuming that's not the case for you.  

Message 3 of 14
sccredit
Valued Contributor

Re: Fair Market Value of House

Mine was $100k

Message 4 of 14
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Fair Market Value of House


@sccredit wrote:

Mine was $100k


Apologies, I misread it the first time! 

 

 

Message 5 of 14
sccredit
Valued Contributor

Re: Fair Market Value of House


@Anonymous wrote:

@sccredit wrote:

Mine was $100k


Apologies, I misread it the first time! 

 

 


No worries!

Message 6 of 14
jmw1
Frequent Contributor

Re: Fair Market Value of House

When it is your house on the line, you don't go cheap and get a broker's price opinion from a realtor familiar with your property. The realtor's opinion is worth nothing. You use your bankruptcy attorney's recommended licensed appraiser who will lowball somewhat for you. The appraiser's license is on the line so he can't go overboard. That will cost around $400-$500 and you better be happy to pay every last cent of that. If the trustee doesn't give up at this point, the trustee will be forced to spend his own money upfront for his appraiser and both of you take your real appraisals to the judge for the final decision. Sometimes the trustee thinks there is value there where there isn't. Make it expensive and a possible money loser (appraisal cost plus the cost for the trustee to hire an attorney to show up in court) for the trustee to go forward by going in front of the judge. Hopefully you have a good lowball appraisal that convinces the trustee to give up.

Message 7 of 14
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Fair Market Value of House

Yes, agreed.  However, our lawyer advised that we didn't need to get the bankruptcy appraisal even though we wanted to.  He said the CMA was sufficient.  


@jmw1 wrote:

When it is your house on the line, you don't go cheap and get a broker's price opinion from a realtor familiar with your property. The realtor's opinion is worth nothing. You use your bankruptcy attorney's recommended licensed appraiser who will lowball somewhat for you. The appraiser's license is on the line so he can't go overboard. That will cost around $400-$500 and you better be happy to pay every last cent of that. If the trustee doesn't give up at this point, the trustee will be forced to spend his own money upfront for his appraiser and both of you take your real appraisals to the judge for the final decision. Sometimes the trustee thinks there is value there where there isn't. Make it expensive and a possible money loser (appraisal cost plus the cost for the trustee to hire an attorney to show up in court) for the trustee to go forward by going in front of the judge. Hopefully you have a good lowball appraisal that convinces the trustee to give up.


 

Message 8 of 14
jmw1
Frequent Contributor

Re: Fair Market Value of House


@Anonymous wrote:

Yes, agreed.  However, our lawyer advised that we didn't need to get the bankruptcy appraisal even though we wanted to.  He said the CMA was sufficient.  


OK. I think that's fine for now. But once you get a hint that the trustee won't abandon your home, it's time to bring in the big guns and let the trustee know that you will see him in court if he presses on. You need a lowball appraiser that's used to doing them for bankruptcy clients and not any random one. Hopefully the trustee is reasonable and will move on.

Message 9 of 14
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Fair Market Value of House


@jmw1 wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:

Yes, agreed.  However, our lawyer advised that we didn't need to get the bankruptcy appraisal even though we wanted to.  He said the CMA was sufficient.  


OK. I think that's fine for now. But once you get a hint that the trustee won't abandon your home, it's time to bring in the big guns and let the trustee know that you will see him in court if he presses on. You need a lowball appraiser that's used to doing them for bankruptcy clients and not any random one. Hopefully the trustee is reasonable and will move on.


Thanks.  I hope the trustee moves on... so stressful!

Message 10 of 14
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