House Valuation

Robert Kiyosaki advises that you make your money when you buy something not when you sell it. I definitely agree with this – I put just as much energy into negotiating the price of things I buy down as I negotiate the price of things I sell UP! So I learned something very interesting today that should help us all – the people who do house valuations CAN be influenced. I live in a decent unit that has a decent view of the city BUT it is in a pretty depressed area. My bank said I had to have my unit valued for reasons I will explain some other time, the valuation came in at an amount about $30k below what I believe is a fair value. So I complained to the bank. The ‘said’ they spoke to the valuer and apparently they had done their due diligence very carefully and the valuation was correct. Well I was still dissatisfied and I asked them for their process for disputing their valuations, they wanted similar sales, with the process and the name and details of the selling agents. So I did this (which is exactly their job) and surprise surprise, they raised their valuation by $20k! YAY! So 1. don’t trust your bank / ‘the experts’. 2. YOU need to know your numbers and what things are worth.