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
Under Off the Radar In theory, to do a market analysis for a given home, you (“you” being a Realtor or Appraiser) log on to MLS, and do a search for similar, nearby homes that have sold within the last six months. Those are called “Comp’s,” and the magic number is three, good ones. Step...Read More
“Expired’s,” “Cancelled’s” Loom Larger Until a few years ago, I never spent much time looking at Expired or Cancelled listings when I was preparing a Comparative Market Analysis (“CMA”). Today? Depending on the part of town and property type, that’s often where I start. If you don’t take unsold listings into account these days —...Read More
The Blindfold Test, or, “Buyer Due Diligence” Want an old-fashioned way to tell if a given “For Sale” home is a value? Skip the complicated CMA (“Comparative Market Analysis”), detailed spreadsheets, etc. Instead, follow this two-step approach: One. Get up to speed in the area you’re interested in, familiarizing yourself with prevailing prices. Two. When you tour a...Read More
