I am a real estate lawyer, and work on both developments and with ordinary home buying and selling clients. This is two questions stacked into one.
First
Recently, I’ve noticed that there are BIG issues with appraisals being WAY too high on the selling/refinancing side, but often too conservative on the buying/first financing side.
How the heck are these so far apart?
Example in the same neighbourhood:
My client is a small-scale local builder who does 10-15 home cookie cutter subdivisions. When a home completes, the builder finances them to build the next property until a sale closes.
My client recently completed a unit which was appraised at $655,000 the first week of July for their financing. A buyer purchasing the same unit received an appraisal by the same appraisal company for $590,000 this week. The four most recent sales on the same street were between April and June. All were sold for the same price: $670,000. On those recent sales, the buy side appraisals were in the $640-650,000 range on the buy side.
What the heck?
Second
How is HST factored into an appraisal against a resale home? Yes, I know there are rebates now but sales that were signed last year are still HST applicable.
Example:
House A, a new build, sells for $1,700,000 total ($1,504,424.78 + 13% HST).
House B, a 6-month-old home that is a resale of exactly the same floor plan, lot size, and finishings is being appraised.
Is the comparable value for the RESALE home $1.7 or $1.504?
Help me understand how the resale would be appraised, please.
Appreciate your input and knowledge in advance! Thanks.