Maybe I'm the only one who gets what the ad is saying. It's not saying that the house is beautiful, it's saying that it's in great original condition... that a family who cannot afford a $400k+ house on southern salaries could live in this house without it falling down around their ears. Sure, it may not have the "latest and greatest" but not everyone can afford that. It means that the previous owners took such good care of it that you can live in it as is. I know for many people that would be a horror but it looks pristine and functional as it is... a rare find. Generally you find things that are complete disasters and NEED a lot of money in work or you're paying for someone else's updates. I've heard the term "beautiful condition" used many times in used furniture, jewelry, etcetc. It means that even though it is xx years old, it's been well taken care of and doesn't have the wear and tear you'd expect for something its age.

"Linda-What Sylvia said! and I'd like to add, when people say they found the property on the internet, hello folks, the agent is the one paying to put that property on the internet. It doesnt magically appear for you to find it.' What difference would it have made if we had signed this? It makes no difference at all except to disclose to you that the agent would be getting BOTH side of the commission. Im curious, who went to the home inspection, met the appraiser, got the necessary documents to the atty? Im betting the listing agent. Even though you chose not to use her, she got paid by the seller anyway, because thats how commission works. You saved nothing by submitting the contract to the atty. You probably would have gotten a little better deal using a buyers agent. (seller was paying for it either way). Most people prefer to have an advocate on their side, especially because its not costing them any more if the property is already listed." Linda. Do you approve of dual agency even when the buyer has their own representation? Seems a bit unethical to me. The seller hired the agent first. How much 'advocacy' do you think we could have expected if we'd allowed the seller's agent/agency to handle both ends of the deal? As for all the work the seller's agent did, there was no appraisal or mortgage so the only thing left to do was to get the papers back to our attorney. Meeting the home inspector? Never happened. The seller's agent didn't go to go. She called our inspector and gave him the code to the box over the phone! Think the seller would have appreciated that? Well he didn't because the worst case scenario happened. The furnace broke, the inspector spent two hours trying to fix it then had to leave. We could have left as well but the temps were in the single digits and we knew the pipes would freeze if we didn't find a way to get hold of the seller. As it was, we had to call three numbers before someone from the agency called us back to tell us the seller was on the way over to try and fix it so the pipes in his house wouldn't freeze. When he showed up he was PO'd that his 'advocate' never appeared for the inspection. Our attorney did the same amount of work that a buyer's agent would have. Unlike our last buyer's agent, he was very helpful in making suggestions about how much money off our original offer we should ask after the inspection turned up a few other issues. He didn't expect us to negotiate this with the seller like our 'advocate' did. I think he should have been entitled to at least some of the commission because he actually did something for it, but thats ok, He did fine and was worth what we paid him. Our last buyer's agent cost us three times his fee because we had to hire an attorney to get out of a deal she screwed up. Our 'advocate'/buyer's agent promised to provide an attorney if something happened, but they didn't. When the seller sued us to force the sale., they told us we were on our own. That came out of OUR pocket. Is this the role a buyer's agent is supposed to play when the going gets tough? As far as I'm concerned she was never on our side. She was acting on behalf of the real estate cartel's code of GET THAT SALE, no matter who's side your on. No wonder more people are going FSBO.

Just about the only thing that makes that happen is a very good and recent sale in the "neighborhood" of a house comparable to the one being appraised. Sometimes you'll have a buyer come in with cash (as from an inheritance or divorce settlement) who doesn't bother to get an appraisal. That sale can set a new high---although it is usually used as a fourth comparable since that doesn't represent the "typical" buyer. Strictly defined, a "neighborhood" is the either in the same subdivision or within one mile of the subject. Ideally the sale should have occurred within the previous six months. However, in rapidly changing market conditions some lenders ask for comps within three months. There are all kinds of exceptions to this guidline; for example, when you are in a subdivision that covers several miles and the only comps are within the s/d but beyond a mile. And a comp in the same s/d is better even if it is a mile or two away than a house just outside the s/d boundaries that is only a half-mile away. Things like s/d amenities that would attach to the subject but not the comp "outside the gates" so to speak, even if those gates are only metaphorical. When you have semi-rural properties or areas with no subdivisions it is permissible to go further away and farther back in time for comparable sales. It's very possible that someone bought a house a few miles from you that was in some way very like your house---and bought it within a few months of your own purchase. It's all about group behavior and not individual actions... you look at trends in sales and what other people have bought recently in the same area, try to find sales that match your subject best. When you have no subdivision, or you're in a rural area or dealing with unique properties, often the most difficult task is to identify the most important feature of a home---the number of bedrooms? the tennis court? the five-car garage? the finished basement media room? That's why Realtors are such wonderful resources for appraisers---if they will use their knowledge. They know what is selling houses in their area. Sometimes it is a school district---I've seen people pay $300K for a two-two in a highly desirable elementary school district. That's what makes the business interesting, there is something different with every assignment.

I just checked Appraisers Forum to see what definitions came up for a bedroom, there are several and apparently there is no official national standard definition of a bedroom in The Dictionary of Real Estate Appraisal. One of the definitions by one of the appraisers is as follows: "Ken B (screen name): The primary requirement for a room to be called a "bedroom" is that there is direct egress from the room to the exterior. An interior room with no window cannot be called a bedroom. A basement room must have a window with a sill not more than 48" from the floor and the window size must be large enough for a firefighter in full gear to enter the window. Rooms without closets may likely require a functional adjustment for the cost to add a closet, but if the neighborhood standard is no closet, than a functional adjustment is probably not necessary. HUD had/has a requirement that the room be no less than (if I remember correctly) 81 sf to be considered a bedroom. "https://appraisersforum.com/forums/threads/what-makes-a-room-a-bedroom.118242/ Also note, according to Florida Building Code the min area of a bedroom is only 70 sf but according to the above it would actually have to be 81 sf, which is very interesting. When taking a listing I do look at the room size (measure actually), the fact that it has a door and an egress window. If it doesn't have a closet that fact doesn't eliminate it as a bedroom at all, but I list it as having no closet in the MLS so there are no surprises for those that show the property This occurs most frequently on the 3 or 4 bedroom + 'den that looks like a bedroom' type listings. Some buyers don't mind the lack of a closet at all, but the usual location of that bedroom is not ideal as it is more set up to be a den/office area right off the front door in my geographic area. Of course, there are examples where people have added "bedrooms" in wonky setups where you have to walk through a room to get to it. Those aren't bedrooms at all in many instances because they are missing at least one feature of the definition above (usually the window egress). Edit: If you read the whole link I posted you will see that total sq footage of living area is more important in determining (appraisal) value than bedroom count.