REO and foreclosure appraisal

Distressed property is a different valuation problem. Condition is unknown until someone walks it, the marketing period is not typical, and the seller is not a typical seller. Treating an REO like an ordinary sale produces a number that will not hold.

As-is and as-repaired

Most REO assignments need both. As-is value reflects the property in its current condition, with the deferred maintenance, missing systems, and damage that are actually there. As-repaired value reflects it after a defined scope of repairs, and that scope has to be stated rather than assumed. The gap between the two drives the disposition decision.

Condition has to be documented

Photographs, a written condition description, and an itemized account of what is wrong. Where the property cannot be entered, the report says so and states the assumption made about the interior, because an assumption nobody wrote down is a problem later.

Marketing time and exposure

A reasonable exposure period is part of the value definition. Where a client needs a value under a restricted marketing period, that is a different assignment with a different answer, and it has to be requested up front.

Choosing comparables

Distressed sales and arm's-length sales are not interchangeable. Which set belongs in the analysis depends on what the market is actually doing in that area. In a market where most transactions are distressed, those sales are the market. Where they are a small minority, they need adjustment or exclusion, with the reasoning shown.

Order an REO appraisal

Call 984-360-8050 or email claude@globalappraisal.net. Say whether you need as-is, as-repaired, or both, and whether interior access is available.