Foreclosures. Roderick and Linda Sharpe borrowed

$51,300 secured by a mortgage on their home. About six years later, with more than $68,000 needed to pay off the mortgage, the Sharpes defaulted. The mortgage holder, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, foreclosed on the property.

Immediately before and after the foreclosure sale, Wells Fargo obtained two separate real estate brokers’ opinions as to the property’s fair market value. Each opinion was based on the prices of three comparable houses then on the market and three comparable houses that had sold within the previous six months. Both opinions set the value at $33,500.

This was the price at the sale. The Sharpes objected, arguing that the value of the property was $65,000 based on an appraisal that they could not provide. Was the sale price fair?

Explain. [In re Sharpe, 425 Bankr. 620 (N.D.Ala. 2010)] (See pages 585–586.)