On homes and real estate: Assessment too low

Q. I’m planning on selling my home within the year. My assessment hasn’t changed for years. My neighbors complain about high assessments, but my house is at least $100,000 under-assessed. Should I have it corrected and pay the higher taxes or leave it alone? I don’t want the current assessment to affect my asking price.

A. Buyers will compare your price with what’s being asked for similar houses in the neighborhood. That’s also the way you should set your listing price, by the way.

Leave the assessment alone — a savvy buyer should be only too happy with a lower property tax bill.

Q. My husband and I are both on our property’s title. Mine is the only name on the mortgage. I want to sell the house to my husband so I have no financial obligation. Do I have to ‘sell’ the property, or can he buy me out? We both have good credit scores.

A. You can’t take your name off the mortgage by yourself, no matter what you do about ownership. Only the lenders can release you. Sometimes they will, if your husband can prove that he’s willing and able to handle the payments on his own. To find out if they’ll allow that, ask them.

Q. I co-own a condo with a relative. We share the mortgage and expenses. I recently found out that the deed stipulates that if either owner dies, the survivor gets the property. How can I change this to protect my investment? I am 10 years older than the other owner.

A. Evidently, your deed says you bought the condo together as “joint tenants.”

That can certainly be changed. You and your relative can go together to a lawyer and sign a new deed, giving the property to yourselves as “tenants in common.” After that, each of you can leave your share to any heir(s) you choose.

If your co-owner is unwilling, consult your attorney about steps you can take on your own.

Q. Should I price my home relative to my assessment? When buying, what kind of an offer can I make when the price is substantially above the assessment? How about foreclosures? Is it a good idea to look for those? How do I search for and ‘buy’ a mortgage? How can I determine what I can really afford? I’m 63 and have owned my house for 40 years. Please help, or point me in the right direction. I don’t just want to read about it. I need people who can really help me. A big ‘thank you’ in advance!

A. It’s not clear if you want help with selling, buying, financing, investing or buying mortgages. But in any event, my advice is the same — start talking with real estate brokers until you find one you feel confident in. That person will be the right person to guide you through whatever it is you’re trying to do.

Q. I recently applied for home refinancing, and my application was approved and accepted — all except for the home appraisal, which needed to be done. They required a $500 deposit at the start of the loan application process and said that it would be refunded to me later, minus any fees. It wasn’t made clear to me at the time that this included a $400 fee for the appraisal.

I had applied for $85,000 to be refinanced, but after the appraisal, they told me that the house appraised at only $80,000 and that they would only finance it for $76,000. So I declined to have them do the refinancing.

Do I have any recourse in this situation? I feel that I was overcharged for the appraisal. They had to know ahead of time that the appraisal would cost $400, and in addition, they are charging me $10 for a credit report. Is this ethical, and is there anything that I can do about it?

A. As far as ethics are concerned, the money was spent. Someone had to be paid to appraise your home, and $10 sounds like a modest charge for your credit report.

But the answer lies in the documents you signed when you applied for that mortgage. Have your read them over carefully? I expect they say what would happen if you ended up refusing a loan. And what if it wasn’t for the amount you applied for? Take a look, and you’ll see for yourself whether you have any recourse. I suspect you agreed in advance to bear those expenses no matter what happened.

Ÿ Edith Lank will respond to questions sent to her at 240 Hemingway Drive, Rochester, N.Y. 14620 (include a stamped return envelope), or readers may email her through askedith.com.

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