Bruce Lemieux

Hi Vishal,

All lots listed in the MLS are available for reporting. Click on the link below for all unimproved lots in Potomac that have gone under contract this year. A couple of these include 'tear downs'. Good Luck. - Tue Aug 26 2008, 10:16

Hi Agdavis,

Your experience is not unusual these days - I've had a few appraisal issues lately. Appraisal amounts *can* vary significantly between different appraisers -- some are better at their job than others.

As your 1st step, you should have reviewed recent sales with your Realtor when you arrived at the $470K price. Do recent sales support a $470K price? If you think the appraisal is low based on your own detailed review of the sales, then you can get another appraisal (that you have to pay for).

If $430K is the right price, then you should go back to the seller with this price. If they won't come down, then look for another home. Unless this home has unique attributes that are really special to *you*, then don't overpay.

Good luck. - Sat Aug 23 2008, 04:50

Barbara,

This can be tough to determine for a development with fee simple ownership. Condo and co-ops usually manage the number of rentals in a development, so it's very easy to get this number for this type of development. HOAs for single family homes and townhomes normally don't restrict/manage rentals.

Here's what I would do - have your agent look through the tax records for your development. Have her count the number of absentee owners as listed in the public records. This still isn't a fool-proof way to get the number of renters, but I believe this is about the best you can do.

Good luck. - Mon Aug 4 2008, 08:25

Hi Randy, all other things equal, 3 bedrooms (above grade) are better than 2. However, sometimes the 2nd and 3rd bedrooms of a 3 bedroom towhome are so small that they aren't that usable -- avoid these if you can. Good luck. - Sun Aug 3 2008, 12:29

Hi Rakesh,

Realtors have access to all properties that have been withdrawn from the market. We can see the list price at the time a home is taken off the market, and it's pricing and status history (i.e., if it was under contract, etc.). We can't see *why* a home was removed.

What specifically would you like to know? - Mon Jul 28 2008, 19:07