So the house appraised exactly the same amount we bought it for. What?

Appraisers have been known to value a property for whatever it "needs" to be. It's hard to tell from the OP what the timing of all this is... If the bank sold it to you for what their appraiser said the value was and then you hired another appraiser it is not strange that both of them would come up with the same value. They would have used the same data and formula to come up with the value.

 

That's exactly what happened with us. We just got it appraised again today (after living in it for 6 months) so they will include the downstairs, which was "unfinished" at the time we purchased the house. Very annoying.

 

Think of it this way, at least it is the same now.

Many properties back home and at my cousins places in California have lost 10% or so of their value vs when they were bought 5 years ago... Shoot, the place I am renting for school is "worth" 20k less than it was bought for 5 years ago...similar places are selling for 20-30k less than the builder sold them for when they were new.

 

This is very very typical. An appraisal is always required for a mortgage. Your mortgage is coming from a bank or lender and that is who is requiring the appraisal. The appraisal needs to meet or exceed the price you are buying it for. The appraisal is not to protect you, it is the bank making sure that the house is worth the money they are lending you (aka the mortgage). It is very normal for the appraiser to just say Yes it meets the dollar figure and not go any higher.

I am sure there are exceptions to this, maybe if you were buying it for half its value or something crazy it would have a different appraisal value. BUt typically yes, this is the way its done.

If you want to get another appraisal done after you have had the house you will need to wait about 1 year and then do it. If you do it earlier then it won't really have increased much.

We have bought and sold 4 homes plus my hubby used to have his real estate license. We have bought and sold in MO, KS and TX and all were the same.

So again, very typical and its not to trick you or anything, its standard practice. There are times when an appraisal will not come back for the value of house and in that case the mortgage would not be approved and you would not be able to buy the house unless some things changed (price/fix the house up/etc...).

 

Quote:It should be. It sounds like the bank loaned you x many dollars to finance your home purchase and then went out and got an appraisal to support the loan.

For most folks buying a home is the biggest financial decision they will ever make in their life. It may not be as entertaining but I would recommend spending at least as much time researching the purchase and financing as you would "what treats to feed my chick".

 

I thought it would be a good thing you got it for the appraised price. Be thankful the appraised price is not less then what you paid.

 

It is confusing. You can look at like homes in your area and see what they sold for to get an idea if the appraisal is accurate.

We are supposed to be in better shape in the real estate market down here, but our house went down in value, too. But the plus side is that my TAXES and therefore my PAYMENT will go down too!! We already owned the land and we've been in this house for 8 1/2 years, so we had some cushion.

 

Mom bought her house last year and the appraisal was way higher than what she paid... 106 and she paid, think it was 86, so a good deal. Her tax value was listed as being 96.

Then this year, just last month, she got her tax statement (due in Oct) and according to their info the value of the house has gone down... another 2k I think it was... and yet her taxes went up over 200%... with NO tax increases in the area at all according to the tax office. Oh and she filed her homestead break and her disability break in January so even if the value had been identical she'd have gotten a lower tax bill due to those. They show them on there, show lower value, and yet a higher bill.

Called me to ask for advice and I was like "I donno... we RENT!" totally lost me. Real estate procedure really boggles me.