Financial Due Diligence for Home Sellers (and Their Agents) As a former corporate attorney and CPA, one of my strengths selling real estate is helping Sellers “vet” the Buyer’s finances. Before they get to closing. In a nutshell, it comes down to this: “Can the prospective Buyer financially perform?” (legalese for “can they afford the property in...Read More
Home Buyers (and Sellers) can be excused for thinking that the purpose of an appraisal — typically, done at the behest of the Buyer’s lender — is to determine the home’s fair market value. Not exactly. Rather, the purpose of the appraisal — at least one done in the context of a home sale —...Read More
Financial Due Diligence for Home Sellers (and Their Agents) As a former corporate attorney and CPA, one of my strengths selling real estate is helping Sellers “vet” the Buyer’s finances. Before they get to closing. In a nutshell, it comes down to this: “Can the prospective Buyer financially perform?” (legalese for “can they afford the property...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
A Dartboard By Any Other Name Estimated Value: $615,101 Estimated Value Range: $547,440 – $682,762 Confidence Score: 82 Forecast Standard Deviation: 11 –“Estimated Value” by CoreLogic; Hennepin County tax records excerpt. Sorry, estimating a home’s value — with a range of more than $100k (or $136k, in the case of this Eden Prairie home, above) —...Read More
Vetting the Buyer’s Finances Prior to closing, at least, the best evidence that a (non-cash) Buyer can financially perform is a Written Statement from a reputable lender. Typically given by the Buyer to the Seller a couple weeks after the deal has been struck, it says that the lender has: a) completed vetting the Buyer’s finances,...Read More