Quite a few interesting comments and I think we all appreciate appraisers taking part.

To the appraisers, I have the following to offer. Please, if you receive an order to an area for which you are not keenly familiar with, please do everybody a favor and decline it. HVCC code of ethics demands this. I say this out two experiences. The 1^st was an appraiser who traveled 75 miles from Rode Island.  Fortunately his prior disclosure put me into action to provide him with all the "helpful" data he could have ever wanted (Neighborhood boundaries, Comps, a Market Value based on an Assessment Model and finally a 5 year historical graph of market sales). The data was straight off the MLS and could have been similarly analyzed by any person with a working knowledge of Excel. For those wondering if this was ethical; Realtor® magazine has indicated that the new HVCC rules do not prevent agents from talking to an appraiser, offering supporting material, and certainly from summarizing home improvements. We are just not to persuade or pressure them for an outcome. If the appraiser felt otherwise, they could simply file the information in the nearest trash.

Now more to the actual post: I believe there are all sorts of victims. But when we get down to it, it's self inflicted mostly out of our own doing. Take for instance the Stock Market. In the early 90's you were a genius to have purchased 100 shares of Citi Group if you sold it prior to 9/11. But not doing so you held onto it waiting for a full recovery. Now leading into mid 2000, a dark cloud starts forming on the horizon; you held on to it or just forgot about it all together. Now an investment that grew 400% or more is worth just a fraction of what you might have put into it. Who's the victim? I say the holder of the stock for not letting go sooner.

When talking to Sellers, the logic is no different.  If they purchased a home 10 years or more back and kept clear from using it as an ATM, they are likely on solid ground. But those who did not or those who purchased either just before or sadly at the peek and did not put down a real deposit, are backed into a corner. I have had sellers who were fortunate but at the same time did walk away from some or most of their original equity.  

The truth is in how you present it.  I show them a graph such as the one below. Clearly indicating a sample home that recently sold and what it's prior purchase price was. Then I circle the dot for their purchase and pose the question. "All things being equal with regards to the market and condition of these properties then and now, would you mark the graph where your property is most likely to sell today". 7 out of 10 sellers get it the 1^st time. For those who do not, we go through an exercise to determine why they feel their home no longer fits. They may not like what they see, but I have noted that they come around to where they need to be sooner than later feeling a lot less like a victim.

Hello Jill,

Yes that may at first feel like a broad stroke.  Two years is a long time for certain. But even in the high end of the market, if 700+ days on the market is unheard of, well that only tells me a few things. Way over prices from the start, and you are only walking down market while it sprinted away. Just look at the graph again. Look at some of those downs. I did not make up the data. Plenty of sales. The problem too often is that some brokers are just too soft to lay it out in fear of loosing a listing. If you had three agents give you an opinion of value when you listed, I am certain you will had three different opinions. I just hope you did not go with the one that promised high and now every time they call you know why... we need a price reduction again.  Ask yourself, had you priced your home where you are today, would have you sold.  No staging, no matter of marketing is going to get a buyer to pay a $1 more than they should. And if you do not believe me, even if they did, unless they were a cash buyer, there is still the appraiser that must feel what the buyer feels.  I feel your pain. We have areas of Boston that are up 5 - 10%, while less than a mile away, the average property lost upwards of 50% of its 2005 value.

Today, I am suggesting Sellers order an independent appraisal to set the listing price. I would even be happy to reimburse them for their cost when they close with me as their listing agent. Otherwise, I need to move on.

John,

I bet you wish that percentage of agents from every office would go back to work. I too have considered it. It's either time to Change or Die.