How to get expert appraisal?

**riley626** · 07-11-2009, 06:45 PM

Hi all,
I'm a total newbie to the real estate market, so please bear with me here. About 6 years ago, I purchased a parcel/lot in Coffee County, GA through the pressure of my parents and have no idea what it's value is. I've spent the past hour or so online on how to get a property appraisal but all that's popping up in my searches are home appraisals. I do not own a home (yet - plan to buy in 2010/2011). I'm looking to find out how much my property is worth and see if this was/is a good or bad investment.

More info if needed:
Lot price: $11,500
Acre: approximately 0.75
City: Ambrose, GA (31512)
Owe: $9,500 (very low monthly payments)
Interest rate: 14%

Should I drop or sell the property and use the extra $9,500 towards the downpayment of a home?

Any help is much appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your replies!

**Greg** · 07-12-2009, 11:11 AM

The same people who do home appraisals also do land appraisals. Have an appraisal done by someone local before you do anything.

There is always the possibility the lot is worth more than you paid for it. Of course there is always the possibility the lot is worth less.

Either way, once you know the value of the land it will be easier to decide what you want to do.

**tucsonhomes** · 07-13-2009, 09:54 AM

Originally Posted by riley626

Hi all,
I'm a total newbie to the real estate market, so please bear with me here. About 6 years ago, I purchased a parcel/lot in Coffee County, GA through the pressure of my parents and have no idea what it's value is. I've spent the past hour or so online on how to get a property appraisal but all that's popping up in my searches are home appraisals. I do not own a home (yet - plan to buy in 2010/2011). I'm looking to find out how much my property is worth and see if this was/is a good or bad investment.

More info if needed:
Lot price: $11,500
Acre: approximately 0.75
City: Ambrose, GA (31512)
Owe: $9,500 (very low monthly payments)
Interest rate: 14%

Should I drop or sell the property and use the extra $9,500 towards the downpayment of a home?

Any help is much appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your replies!

The only good reason to pay for an appraisal in the situation you describe is that you want to borrow money on the lot.

You can get very good estimates of value, free, from local real estate salespeople. Call 3 or 4, let them know your situation, and have them get you the value of your property in the current marketplace.

Don't rely on just one, get at least 2 or 3.

**RedCarpetSchool** · 07-13-2009, 10:28 AM

Land can be hard to appraise on your own. Not all land sales are recorded there will be a lot of land contracts held that are not recorded for various reasons. One being that most are financed by the seller. One way to find out what land is selling for is to look into all the new construction single family zoning (assuming that is the zoning for your lot) and look into what the land transferred for before the construction. Good luck and hopefully you can find a good appraiser in your area.