The One Percent

There’s been a lot of discussion the last several years about ‘the one percent.’  You know, that gap between the wealthiest Americans, and the rest of us.  There was even a 2006 documentary about the one percent.  Well, what does this have to do with appraisals?  

We deal with percentages every day, and one thing I like to track is how close my appraisals come to the actual sale price.  If I do a pre-listing appraisal, or appraise a home for a refinance, and then the homeowner decides to sell…it’s always nice to see how close I got to the final sale price.  Usually, in cases like these, a good appraiser should be within 5% of the sale price, although there are always exceptions to this rule.  And then, there are those rare times, when you get really close…as in one percent close.

So a homeowner in The Downs asked me to appraise his home last Spring.  It wasn’t for a refinance or sale; he simply wanted to know what his home should sell for.  A few months later, he listed with a local Realtor.  The sale price:  $198,500.  My appraisal last spring:  $200,000.  Within less than 1%…not too bad, I’d say.  It doesn’t always work that way, but we like it when it does!

To find out what your home should sell for in the current economy, give us a call!