. . . vs. a Pound of Cure The “ounce of prevention” — at least for the listing agent (representing the home seller) — is straightforward: when the appraiser (representing the Buyer’s lender) schedules an appointment to view their client’s home, they email or call to introduce themselves. My usual m.o. is to tell the...Read More
Sticking With the Bird in the Hand The reason that Buyers and Sellers typically renegotiate the price when a home appraises low is that the Seller has no guaranty that . . . it won’t happen again. Either with the same Buyer, and another lender. Or, if they scuttle the deal, with another Buyer and...Read More
“The reason dolphins have a reputation for saving drowning swimmers is because you never hear from the ones they push out to sea.” As a Realtor, you seldom hear about the transactions where the home appraised at (or above) the sales price, and the deal went on to close smoothly. On the contrary, you hear...Read More
But, the Seller (Understandably) May Not Go For It Show me a listing agent (representing the Seller) who’s supremely confident that their client’s home will appraise . . . and I’ll show you a home that sold for too little. Huh?? I only know of two ways to absolutely, positively eliminate the risk of a...Read More
Calculating the Risk that a Low Appraisal Will Scuttle a Deal In a market with lots of first-time Buyers (like today’s), it’s a question I’ve been fielding a lot this Spring: ‘when should I give notice to my landlord?” The (usually) safe answer: ‘once the Inspection Contingency has been removed.’ That is, after the Buyer’s...Read More
Why Didn’t That Home Appraise? Test your knowledge of today’s housing market, and answer the following question: What is the most common reason homes fail to appraise today? A. Buyers who pay an above-market price, perhaps in multiple offers. B. Appraiser inexperience (they use the wrong Comp’s, or get the adjustments wrong). C. Appraiser error...Read More
