1. Don't move
2. Rent it out
3. Short sale the property

More questions?

Hi Serenity-
Tax appraisal values and market value are two different things, especially today. Often times, the tax values can be several years old. The crash in market values has hit many areas VERY hard. Euclid has really been effected! On May 31, the Cleveland Plain Dealer ran a story about falling prices. The median home price in our area overall has fallen 58% since 2007.
As a Realtor, I practice in Euclid and would be very happy to provide you a Comprative Market Analysis for your home. I have a unique program that will save Thousands of dollars to people who list and sell their homes with me & then buy their next home with me as their Buyer's agent.
To get numbers for what the houses ion your neighborhood are selling, please check out http://www.BestAreaHomeSearch.com.
If I can be of any help to you please send me an e-mail at john@CallRealtorJohn.com or call me at 440-487-2193.
Look nforward to hearing from you,
John Wirsing
Realtor
Keller Williams Realty Greater Cleveland

Tell me who did the appraisal and I can probably tell you the answer to your question.
If the county did the appraisal you pay higher taxes with a high appraisal. That could be one answer.
If the appraisal was done by a lender, lenders make more money when you borrow a larger amount.
If the appraisal was done by an agent, who knows how trained he/she is.
If it was done by an agent perhaps she/he wanted the listing so badly to beat out other agents so the agent told you a high price.
Also when was the appraisal done? A couple of years ago when homes were selling for a 25-35% more than now?
Maybe your house is larger than the others in your neighbors. Have you ever heard "Buy the lowest priced house on the street" given as advice?
There are more answers, but these will do for now. Send me your address and I will give you a FREE opinion of value. Only licensed appraisers can sell you an appraisal.
Appraisals are always "OPINIONS" of value.

Hey Serentiy,

Very good question and it's nice to see you didn't just accept the appraiser's value as gospel. There is a difference between appraisal value and market value no matter what some appraisers will tell you. This doesn't mean that all appraisals are wrong, but it means that markets change sometimes weekly and uless you are in them (as a realtor or actively looking for a home) using past sales can be misleading.

I can't say I know your area (Im in the Coral Springs / Coconut Creek , FL area) but I know how markets are here and last year we had the same issue. Appraisals came in higher than we could reasonably expect to sell homes for which gave the seller/homeowner the idea that their agent was not working hard because no one would pay the amount of the appraised value. This was because the market was changing and prices were dropping at the time, but there was not much "data" to support that during the transition.

With that said your home may be "appraised" at $129,000 based on sales that happened 4 months ago, but if no other homes have been selling since then at that price and other sellers are lowering their prices to compete that will certainly affect the "market value" of the home since buyers generally want to pay less for similar homes in their area. Make sense?

Also the appraiser tend to be more generous with value when it comes to a refinance vs a sale so that might also have something to do with it...