How would you determine the FMV

When determining FMV, you will contact your realtor. Ask them for 3 active and 3 sold comps (within the last 6 months) and usually within 1 mile of your subject property- a comp means comparable. You will have to give them a thorough description of the property, # of bedrooms, bathrooms, the square footage and the area that the home is in. It is possible that the home has been listed before in the past and they would have all of the information on the home (The MLS is a powerful tool)

They should provide you with the best comps, they will be MLS printouts. It will have the address at the top and all the information about the home on the sheet. What I want you to do is to verify that they are good comparables. You will be doing drive-bys on the sold properties and asking the realtor if you could schedule appointments to view the active listings.

By doing this it will help you calculate the value of your subject property, within a small price range - remember this is an educated guess. This will be good practice for you. Ask the realtor to give you his opinion as to what the value would be only after you have came to your own conclusion. Talk with him about it. Having the best comps is the most important thing.

Remember using websites like zillow, trulia to do this is good if you want a quick estimatated value. It could be way off! You are dealing with money, you have to be exact as possible!

Thank you salden...

I am grateful for your response...

God Bless

Real estate investing is very exciting, it does have its ups and downs as does any business. I am happy that you have chosen this as a vehicle to make money. It can be very rewarding! You are very welcome for the response and I am always glad to help someone in need. Your going to do great, hang in there and don't give up! In real estate persistance pays!

Good luck in your future deals and don't forget to ask as many questions as you need to. This will shorten your learning curve and lead to your success much faster.

Over the months of learning what to look for in a property and getting comps, I've come to learn that zillow gives every home a very high(over-inflated)estimate compared to other sites like totalviewrealestate.com as well as cyberhomes and eppraisals.com which pretty much gives one a real-time estimate of the current market. Here's an example; property is listed at $144,900. Zillow estimates it at around $145,700; totalview gives it an estimate at $105,900; eppraisals gives it an even lesser estimate. So, now which ones should I go by? Zillow?
Cyberhomes?
eppraisal?
Totalview?
Well me personally, I never go by zillow's estimates because they're way off target, especially in todays market(if you ask me). I do a visual inspection of the property myself as well as go by the latter three sources.

I generally only use totalview on when I try to determine FMV. Not because I think it is the most accurate, which I think it is, but because it gives us the most recent comparable sales in the area as well. Under the comparable sales section of the site I generally take the homes that have sold in 2009 only. Also, totalview does a good job of getting pretty close to the same type of homes but I still like to narrow it down even more.

From there I take all of the best comps I can get if I can't get some from a realtor.

I agree completely with ya there.

I would always be leary of trusting any online measure of value. These sites are estimates. I can tell you that in my area there was a home that said the sales price was $125000. I personnally know that it was way off and incorrect because I sold it for $108,000. Remember we are talking about real money, and you should always have the facts not estimates.

Comps from a realtor or from an appraiser are the best determiners of FMV. You should always remember, that these comps provided from the realtor are based on his/her opinion. You should always check the comps provided by the realtor with a quick drive by of the property to ensure that it is in fact a "good" comp. It is very possible that the realtor quickly went through a search and printed something off to make you happy. This doesn't take them a long time they should be able to do in less than 10 minutes - that would be a good job or should be at least.

Just remember, do your due diligence, use facts never estimates. If a realtor states they can't find comps, just ask another one. Someone will take time out to help you!

What If all you find are Realtors who don't want to help you know the FMV?

What if you don't have money to hire an appraiser?

Would it be best if we can just learn a way to come up with the best way to determining FMV our selves?

Because a lot of time most Realtors would rather let you fail then help you succeed.

And not everybody have money to hire a professional.

This is one math formula I don't mind learning about

I was only using Zillow I will check the other sites

In my area there were over 8,000 realtors (NW Missouri) and in the small town of 6,000 people where I grew up there were over 70 realtors - not including brokers. Some were full time professional realtors that earned their pay day in and day out, but many were part time - weekend warriors, hungry for a bonus check, ready and willing to help anyone that needed their assistance. Sure, there are some lazy ones that would not really help people, but they would weed themselves out of the business quickly - having NO BUSINESS!

Surely, you all have heard that realtors are "a dime a dozen". Many are the most helpful, outgoing people that you will ever meet. They want you to succeed, if you do you will then be a repeat buyer! They will go the extra mile to assist you. Now you stated that you have to hire them, In 8 years of being a realtor, I was NEVER paid upfront (in some cases retainer fees that were refunded)- only if someone bought something was I ever paid. If a closing had taken place. I educated and showed clients homes many, many times and was never compensated, so did many of my co-workers, thats part of the deal and everyone that is involved knows it. You should look at this from their perspective.

I understand if you have called one or two realtors and they don't express the desire to help - how many have you went to meet in person. How many have you interviewed? This is an area that should not be left to chance or estimation, in my opinion. These are for the most part great people, that work hard and care for others.

You all have the chance to build good relationships with these people. Interview an agent, then invite them out for lunch at McDonalds, offer to pay, they are average people too. If nothing else they would appreciate the invite. You can learn so much from these people, give back! Make them feel like they are valuable to you. Let them know that you are starting a new business, that this is something that you love - they love it too! You have something in common, build from there!

Thanks Shawn your right Not Every Realtor/Agent are bad...

I just have to keep looking and I would find them...

I need to change the way I feel about them from my experience...

I wish that you live around NY state I would have gone to you for help...

I will try my best to find one that would help me...

Where On Craigslist should I post an ad to find the best and hunger real estate Agents out there?

Just post in the legal services section

Thank you so much for the reply. I have gone thru about 8 realtors... i had never got to a stage where i can interview them... I was starting to wonder maybe they can tell im very new at this and not 100% know what im talking about i dont know... please if you know of a different strategy than the one in Deans book please let me know. I have been realy scared lately because i know in my heart i dont want to go back to the life of having nothing and struggle, wondering where my next meal was gonna come from so im am giving this my all and i dont wantto fail....so please i may be doing something wrong here and i just need guidance. What i was doing is send the letter , call the company first. I also got 4realtors thru people i know. After the letter there were no replies. One lady wanted money upfrom and and a stable salary for her services,cause she stated she cant be doing all the work for nothing. so I kindly told her i did not think we were a match. So lately my approach has been going to real estate companies talking to them and i emailed them a letter to fully explain what i was looking for. That is when i was getting the " are you serious looks" I went to like 3 companies in my area but i stopped and went home cause i did not want to start second guessing ma slef and be skeptical all over again. I read the chapter 6 again to see if maybe i did miss something. I dont know if im appearing to be negative but trust me im not. Im just someone who has had doors close in her face for 16 yrs, but kept trying though failing had become whats normal. But still im not givng up even though i have this constant struggle with myself, convincing myelf everyday that, its all in the past, this is different, the system is different and it is going to work. Even though i dont have positive people around me I religiously read the coments and blogs, re read the material, drive around everyday looking at houses in different areas cause i want it to work. So please if im doing it all wrong somebody do let me know I would truly appreciate it, and again thank you for taking the time to reply to my questions.

First off let me assure you that in no way, shape or form are you alone in your struggles with day to day life. I've been struggling since day one and lots of others here have also, so, we're all here for you in this. As far as realtors go, just post on craigslist or whatever venue you so choose to use that you're looking for an anxious realtor to be a part of your team. Explain to them that there's lot's of money to be made and that you make lots of bids every month. How many bids you want to tell them you make is up to you. You're looking for a go-getter and not a couch potato who wants a deal to fall into their laps. Someone eager and willing to go that extra mile when needed(but only when asked to). If they choose to go that extra mile on their own it becomes a bit more lucrative for them. Just keep the pot sweetened and you'll find the right agent sooner or later. As far as interviewing one(agent). Do it on your turf so that you're comfortable and feel in control. After all, it's their job interview, not your's. Even though you're not paying them up front, it's still a job that's required of them and you will be paying them once the two of you close on any deals. When all else fails, just take a deep breath and hold it before you start talking(gets the jitters out in one fell swoop).

You guys are awesome!!! I can't thank all of you enough for the information and conversations that take place here in the DG World. I am just getting started, and I already have more notes and information than I know what to do with!!! I just enrolled in the Success Academy, and will be around for a very long time! Thank you again, Joe.