If you do not have any realtor friends, maybe start off by picking up the realestate books, look through your paper and maybe call on a few that are for sale. This might give you a feel for market values. Remember, asking price statically is within 3-7% from actual solds.
You really need to get comps from a realtor for sold comparables.
You’ll still need to pull up the tax records for the properties that sold so you can compare similarties to the property you’re looking at (sq ft, bedrooms/bath, tax value, etc)
You ought to know what the price ranges are in any given neighborhood with a drive by. Then research the area through the Realtor’s MLS system for current comps. Or, if all else fails, ask around. I like to talk to other homeowners on the street. They all seem to know what homes in their area are selling for.
Posted by Joe Kaiser on December 09, 1999 at 18:42:33:
. . .you’re just moments away from becoming someone’s lunch.
Foreclosures are a tough way to earn a living, especially if you can’t yet drive by the house and know in your gut what its value is.
When I used to do property inspections for mortgage companies, they’d ask me to provide a estimate of value. I told them, hey, for the $5 you’re paying me for this report, I don’t do appraisals. Still, they wanted it and when I responded that one house in particular looked to be worth a half mill, easy, they said they were glad to hear it because they’d loaned him $5m on it the year before.
My point is, I missed it by 95% . . . and coincidentally, was frequently served up as the catch of the day to my foreclosure competitors . . . lunch.