Watercolor

[Miss Critter]

Sorry to say, but there's your market value. Having been a realtor in a previous life, I remember being taught that market value is what a buyer is willing to pay for a property at a particular point in time. It does not matter what the last buyer paid, what the land cost, what amenities it has or anything else for that matter. Bottom line is - the value is what a buyer is willing to pay. Period. That's why comps are not based on listings, but on sales.

 

[SHELLY]

Sorry to say, but there's your market value. Having been a realtor in a previous life, I remember being taught that market value is what a buyer is willing to pay for a property at a particular point in time. It does not matter what the last buyer paid, what the land cost, what amenities it has or anything else for that matter. Bottom line is - the value is what a buyer is willing to pay. Period. That's why comps are not based on listings, but on sales.

The daze of the 'Drive-By Appraisal' apparently are over according to this article:

Appraisers are looking for signs that values are headed lower. Lenders need to know if a home worth $400,000 today might be on its way to a value of only $360,000. They want assurance that borrowers will have enough cash invested in the home to keep them from walking out on the debt.

"There is higher scrutiny because the market is going down," said James Loizou, co-owner of Suburban Appraisers & Consultants in Fairfax. Loan underwriters, the people who pass judgment on your loan application, are being more demanding. They want information on comparable home sales, homes still on the market, those under contract, closed sales, foreclosures and incentives offered by home builders. They may even want info about homes that didn't sell and were taken off the market.

"Frankly, those are fair questions," Loizou said. "It just makes more work."

"You're looking at what's on the market today and at what's listed. That affects the appraisal, also," he said.

If there are foreclosures nearby, or home builders offering deep discounts, or desperate sellers setting their asking prices 10 percent lower than the most recent closed sale, your appraised value will be lower.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/07/AR2008030703907.html

 

[TooFarTampa]

I think the emphasis on the "cost per square foot" came from investulators using it as a way to keep score. "I paid $200 per square foot last month and sold it for $350 yesterday."

Unless you are are sizing up the price of the "Cookie Cutter II Model" at Vinyl Village or Stucco City the "cost per square foot" pretty much means nothing.

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I'm pretty sure cost per square foot is just the way realtors have been looking at values for many years in Florida. It is not like that in every state, but it was the standard in 1996 when we bought our first home.

I think it is not altogether a bad way to look at values, as long as relevant factors (location, lot size, amenities and quality) are comparable.

 

[Coast is Clear]

Local realtor passed along the following results for 2007:

2007 average sales per square foot for resale houses-

Number
of sales
#20 Seaside- $1,071
#26 Rosemary- $773
#20 Watersound- $546
#45 Watercolor- $510

 

[fisher]

Local realtor passed along the following results for 2007:

2007 average sales per square foot for resale houses-

Number
of sales
#20 Seaside- $1,071
#26 Rosemary- $773
#20 Watersound- $546
#45 Watercolor- $510

Not sure how the realtor came up with these figures. But, in looking at the Walton county website, only 5 of the sales in Seaside sold for over $1000 per square foot so it is hard to imagine how the overall average was above $1000 per square foot. In addition, you need to consider location in these developments when comparing prices per square foot. Three of the Seaside sales were gulf front and none in Watercolor or Watersound were gulf front. In addition, none of the homes in Phase II or Phase III in Watercolor are as close to the beach as any of the homes in Seaside so you are comparing apples and oranges.

I would be interested to know how the realtor came up with the numbers and it would be interesting to see more comparable comparisons such as non oceanfront Seaside compared to Phase I in Watercolor, Phase I in Watersound and non oceanfront/almost oceanfront in Rosemary. I would bet the numbers would be more tightly packed together.

 

[seagrovegirl]

Local experienced Realtors will counsel a client about SF. I have been asked "what is the average SF per home in general for the area?" There isn't one. Unless it cookie cutter as mentioned already or a condo, then a condo's $ can reflect furnishing, which in some units are better than others. Each property is unique and my experience is to pull comps for each property and do the math.

 

[steyou]

Appraisers are looking for signs that values are headed lower. Lenders need to know if a home worth $400,000 today might be on its way to a value of only $360,000.

How about $260,000

 

[Dominoes]

It has finally happened. Two homes closed this month for $300 per square foot. A 3400 sq ft sold earlier in the month for $900,000 and another 3400 sq ft. home sold for $1,050,000. The bottom is here and despite the optimism that spews from most real estate agents, things must be pretty desperate to see these prices. Just my 2 cents...

 

[Matt J]

Another house in WC has a contract on it for around $6 million.

 

[Dominoes]

Must be gulf front. Big difference between that and Phase 2 and 3.