Home value in excess
 

Saw SM made mention of the way home appraisal value is determined for excess bid purposes. Made it seem like there is a gotcha in there. Anyone have info?

My realtor says company purchases can be a REALLY good deal for the seller (us)

I'll bite. The relocation company (Serva) provides you a list of appoved appraisers in your area. You then choose 2 from the list. They come out and do a "relocation appraisal" which typically is less than a purchase appraisal. If the two appraisals come back within 5% of each other they then average the two and that becomes your buyout offer. You can accept or decline. If they are outside of the 5% they then bring in a third appraiser.

If you accept a buyout, Serva will then have a home inspector come to your house and do another inspection. Serva will then come back with a list of required repairs that need to be accomplished before they buy you out. In my case they also had a mold inspector (every house has mold by the way) and structural inspector come out. Serva will then make a list of required repairs. In my case it was 10 different things. Some of it was small stuff, but I had to pay for mold mitigation and they wanted me to move my electrical service. Two months and $3500 later I finished the inspection process and Serva (FedEx) took over my house. My biggest beef with the home inspection process is it's not spelled out in the contract at all. ALPA wasn't a lot of help either (this needs to be grieved). It was also hell dealing with Serva and the FedEx Relocation Department Head. They made every step painful to say it kindly.

FedEx took over my house in August and promptly dropped the price $25,000 less than what they cashed me out. As of last week it's still on the market. I figure the total cost of taking an excess and the Option 1 move will cost the company well over $100,000. That's taking into account the loss they will take when my mine finally sells, all the closing costs involved, paying the moving company to pack and unpack, 10 airline tickets, etc....

I am the poster child as to why an excess is so expensive. The crazy thing is if I get bumped out of ANC I'm going to have them move me again.

Excellent!
 

Spread the Word everyone. Make it expensive for them. And thank God for the contract!

My house will be FedEx owned given the chance. I figure I will make up the recent loss in value with all of the other stuff that is required to be paid in the relocation package.

I have heard varying stories. If I am excessed out of ANC to MEM will the company buy my house in City "Y" to move to MEM or only a home in the ANC area?

I was talking to an ANC junior captain that lived in the lower 48. When it looked like 08-03 was going to go through, he looked into and they WOULD have to buy his house, even though it was not in ANC. I think he had to move within 100 miles of Memphis, though. Disclaimer: I'm not an expert here.

Spoke with Contract Enforcement last go around. FedEx has to buy your house in city "Y", but you have to move to within 100 miles of your new domicile.

What if you had refused to fix the items? CBA doesn't you have to fix your house then they buy it? Could have reduced the price?

Thanks for the details.

Question: While it cost you $3,500 in "repair costs" before FEDEX would accept your house, how did this compare with the costs you would have incurred if you sold it yourself conventionally?

(i.e. Home repair costs demanded by Joe Avg Buyer, cost of sales agent, other seller incentives one may have to offer in today's real estate market)

Not sure on the value of your home, and thus what percentage $3,500 represents, but perhaps it was still a much better deal than selling it yourself.

Please opine.

Thanks.

To expand some more. I lived in a city other than Memphis. I also had to pay the difference in packing costs because the company has a better deal in Memphis for packing, trucking and storage ($1200). They dropped that bomb on me 2 days prior to delivering my houshold goods and I was basically told they wouldn't deliver unless I sent them a certified check.

The $3500 I spent was less than 1% of my buyout price and there was no negotiation. It was do the repairs or no deal. The inspector Serva sent over was a real hack. He was flat out wrong on 4 of the 10 things they requested, but I still had to hire a "certified" plumber and electrician to refute the inspector and show I was well within code. They then sent the same inspector back for the "reinspection," and I showed him all the repairs were made or documented that they were in code.

If I had to do it all over again I would of had a good inspector come ahead of the process and fix anything that might be an issue to include any mold testing and mitigation. I had mold in some of the rafters of my attic and it was not active. Spay anything suspect with some water and bleech.

The folks I dealt with at FedEx couldn't have been nicer or more professional. It was the head of the Relocation Department and Serva that made it painful.

You want to mess with someone on a home inspection as a buyer when times are tough....put a radon dectector in the basement.

If it's not well ventilated, or has an open crawl space, the numbers can easily be "above normal" compared to "acceptable gov't standards" for living areas (...which why inspectors on "your side" will advise you to "retest" taking an average on all "livable" floors --- 1st, 2nd & basement).

Many real estate agents and real estate attorney's will tell you the home inspection is your biggest vulnerability once you have a signed contract ---- becuase in most states, if the buyer and seller can't come to agreement on the discrepancy or repair methodology, the contract can be legally broken.

Overall, what percent did the $3,500 represent of your total sales price?

...in today's market, I think it would be very diffcult to sell a home without spending 3-7% total on repairs/marketing /agent & other seller transaction costs.

I think that he's already fielded this one.

Was this a typo?

At a minimum, in good times, selling a home by owner will cost you 3% to the buyers agents. In today's market most people are spending close to 10-12% with incentives, closing cost and agent fee's. In California I have seen up to 7% co-op to agents bring in a buyer.

Yep - I missed it thanks!

Not a typo --- but admittedly, what it costs on the "low end".

I've sold 2 homes myself in "so-so markets" and both have cost me about 4% total each time.

I think your assessment of 10-12% in any of the "sand states" - California, Arizona, Nevada & Flordia --- where the vast majority of the real estate bust is occuring --- is spot on!

Thanks, that is what I thought. This is going to cost the company a fortune. I really cannot see this happening. Management heads will roll for their poor planning and there will be early retirement talks and no hiring for a long time. There is no way they are going to buy hundreds of homes.

As long as they buy mine I'll be happy:rolleyes:

Buy your old house back, at a profit! :D

But nothing says you have to buy a house, just move within 100 mi. You could "rent" for 3 months, get your new drivers license, then decide that you don't like the cold or the crime (depending if you excessed to ANC or MEM) then decide to commute again. House still gets bought, you still live where you want.

See 6.B.2.d
and 6.B.8

You are correct I did not mean to imply you had to buy a home in the new domicile. In fact if I remember correctly, too lazy to look it up right now, I think you actually have a year to use you house purchase benefits at you new location.