How do appraisers account for a bowling alley in the basement? Or some other unusual feature, like a helicopter landing pad, 10,000 gallon aquarium, basement basketball court, or dozens of other unusual — and therefore hard to estimate — home features? They don’t. Huh?? Self-Cancelling Features If it’s possible, the preferred strategy in such situations...Read More
Weighing Comp’s and “Kind-of-Comp’s” The cornerstone of establishing market value for a given property is the CMA, or “Comparative Market Analysis.” As prepared by both Realtors and Appraisers, it consists of selecting a peer group of three homes (“Comparable Sold Properties”), then going through a compare-and-contrast process sizing up each of the Comp’s relative to the “subject”...Read More
Possible Scenarios and Intriguing Permutations Although there are ways to minimize the risk — and each situation is unique — there are times when a home that’s under contract doesn’t appraise. What then? Assuming that the standard Minnesota Financing Contingency Addendum applies, there are two main possibilities: One. The Buyer’s financing contingency fails, and the...Read More
Copying Goldilocks I’ve written previously about the various mistakes that I’ve seen amateurs make. See, “FSBO Mistake #1 (and #2, #3, etc.)”; “FSBO Mistake #4“; “FSBO Mistake #37.” Does that mean the pro’s — professional Realtors — are perfect? Hardly. It’s just that their mistakes tend to be more subtle (and presumably, fewer). See, “Jumping...Read More
Commission Saved: $8,000 Hit to Sales Price: $20,000 In FSBO Mistake #4, I chronicled the case of the hapless For Sale By Owner (“FSBO”) in Golden Valley who wasted their first — and best — month of market exposure incorrectly classified as a “Foreclosure” on MLS. Hit to their bottom line? I’d estimate 3% to 5%....Read More
No Standard Terms In theory, “rent-to-own” is a tailor-made strategy for today’s housing market, where lots of would-be Buyers have good cash flow but lousy credit, and lots of Sellers are, well, eager to sell. In practice, however, I’ve seen relatively few of these deals. My guess is that the following factors are responsible: –Although it’s...Read More
