What's my little bite of the Big Apple worth?

July 3, 2012 8:50 AM

Need to get a NYC co-op appraised - couple of questions.

After nearly 28 years of living here, I need to get my co-op apartment appraised for tax purposes. It's a 1-bedroom in NYC - Chelsea area. I've Googled and looked at a few sources, but I'm still not sure what a reasonable price for this service would be. I've also checked out some of the AskMes, but those mostly seem to be about houses and people interested in selling, which I am not at the moment. Out of curiosity, how much of an inspection does the appraiser do? Also, is this something anyone with a NY State real estate license could do? (Because if so, I'd just like to throw a friend the business and give her a comparable fee.) If not, any recommendations for an appraiser?

posted by Wylie Kyoto to home & garden (4 answers total)

Miller Samuel does appraisals.
posted by brujita at 9:09 AM on July 3, 2012

We recently had an appraisal for a refi (Brooklyn coop). He was assigned from the bank, so I don't recall the company, but it was about $500. They won't "inspect" things like whether all of your electrical is up to code, or whether any boards are loose, but they will want to see the boiler, sewer lines, etc. We were surprised at how broad a lot of things are- after seeing how obsessed people are over things like stainless steel kitchen appliances and granite countertops, it was amusing to see "modern kitchen" as a simple checkmark. A lot more importance seemed to weigh on square footage and comp listings.

Wylie Kyoto: "Also, is this something anyone with a NY State real estate license could do?"

No, it's a separate license.
posted by mkultra at 9:16 AM on July 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

I met our appraiser through our bank, but you can call a title company and they can recommend one.

The appraisal process is pretty boring actually, not as exciting as an INSPECTION!

Usually they look at surveys, measure a bunch of stuff with a measuring tape and take random pictures. No point in following around, it's like watching paint dry.

Then they look up comperable sales, and you get your value. Easy peasy.

Let them know what it's for, they have wiggle room and if you want it lower, they'll find the back up for that.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 10:31 AM on July 3, 2012

Ruthless Bunny: "Let them know what it's for, they have wiggle room and if you want it lower, they'll find the back up for that."

I don't know what your experience has been, but I would absolutely not go in with this expectation. An appraiser works in a Federally-regulated system, has no stake in your valuation and is probably not interested in helping you out that way. There's a form they have to stick to with a few discretionary options, but nothing that will matter more than things like the financial health of the building and neighborhood comps.

You'll have the opportunity to appeal your appraisal, but they'll only consider serious errors on the form or higher comps they may have missed.
posted by mkultra at 10:50 AM on July 3, 2012