Our attorney advised us to obtain an appraisal or a CMA (comparable market assessment). He said some trustees will accept the info on Zillow.com but I found it to be pretty far off in respect to what houses sold for around us. We obtained a CMA for $50.00 from a local realtor. Quite the eye-opener as our house was worth less than what I had ever imagined. Worth every penny we spent on it.

My old realtor did a cma for free. I, too, was amazed that the house that was valued at $124,000 when I bought it, will now go for $55,000-if that.

We had an exterior appraisal done and then an interior. Both were substantially less than Zillow. Bank of America has an online valuation tool that was very very close to the appraisal in our case. Not as good as a CMA, but if you're anxious for some info it's immediately available.

Link to BofA AVM: http://realestatecenter.bankofameric...value-_-102910

Hi all,

Another nugget of advice would be to find out who/how the trustee uses to appraise property and go with that.

Tom in Colo

i found the online valuing of my house to be way off base, including the fact that they list my home as having 3 bedrooms and 1.5 baths. (only has ever had 2 bedrooms/1 bath)

i called a friend of a friend who's a realtor about a cma (which most realtors WILL do for free...) and was informed that (though she wasn't supposed to tell me) she'd already done one on my house, for a 'third party'.

she based it solely on external appearance and online info (which is wrong) and she STILL came up with very low number. she was informed by the third party that it had to be in a higher range.
she told them truthfully she could not compare pebbles to diamonds, as the 'comps' in the area that are high priced are completely renovated, restored historic homes. while mine is still in the 'fixer upper' stage.

a musician friend who is also a realtor told me that the 'comps' are generally supposed to be home sales that have occurred within the past year, that are ALSO: within 10% of the square footage, contain the same number of bedrooms/bathrooms/rooms and similar amenities and are within a 1 mile radius.

I am in the place where it is to my benefit to have a formal appraisal due to the extremes in this neighborhood. so thank you much, Tom in Colo, for the most excellent suggestion.

- elena