Appraisals play a big role in our current market.
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In today’s market, houses are selling quickly and there’s a lot of competition for them. A house listed at $250,000 could get offers for $265,000, $275,000, and even $300,000. How will that house ever appraise, though?
From a buyer’s standpoint, it’s written in your purchase contract that the home you intend to buy has to appraise for a certain dollar amount. If it doesn’t, the seller has to renegotiate with you or lower the home’s price—depending on how your wonderful Realtor writes your contract.
In light of this situation, a lot of buyers are doing what’s called a partial appraiser waiver. This means they know the property isn’t likely to appraise, but they really want the house, and there’s not much to choose from otherwise. As I said, houses are flying off the shelves, and people are lining up ready to write a check for the house you want.
So let’s say the one you want to buy is $250,000 and you have $25,000 in cash over what you were going to pay for your down payment. If the seller knew you were willing to pay that much over the appraised value, it would really make your offer stand out. Sadly, you may have to go way over asking price to get the home you want, so be prepared and do your homework. Sometimes the terms of your offer can help your cause.
"Don’t navigate the appraisal work without an expert real estate professional by your side."
If you’re a seller and get an offer over what you believe your house will appraise for, what do you do? If you have a great agent, they’ll ask for a partial appraisal waiver from the buyer that basically asks them to pay a premium to buy your house because there are so few on the market. I’ve been in the real estate business for a while, and nobody’s seen a market quite like this.
A lot of experienced agents are also having their sellers put together a list of home upgrades to help the appraiser do their job. It might not be easy for them to remember everything that’s in your house—perhaps they skipped over certain things that make it more valuable while doing their walk-through. Smart sellers are putting these lists together so their appraisers don’t have to think as hard. Or, if they miss something, they can always refer back to that list.
Appraisals cut both ways in this market, which means it’s tough for buyers and sellers out there. Don’t navigate the appraisal work without an expert real estate professional by your side. If you have questions about this topic or there’s anything else I can help you with, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d love to hear from you.
