Like most other professions, in real estate, experience makes a world of difference. Lately I have come across several potential deal killing situations that I have been able to turn into windfalls for my clients. If the same situations had occurred at the beginning of my career, the outcomes may have been much different. The experience I have gained over the years has given me the ability to find solutions to problems that would have been insurmountable for an inexperienced Realtor. In the next section, I will provide a few examples.
Faulty Construction – Recently I had a property in escrow that had several major issues turn up during the home inspection. The most serious of which was the fireplace in the master bedroom seemed not to be properly supported in the subarea of the home. Due to my suspicions, I went to the building department and viewed the original plans for the house. As I suspected, the plans showed the fireplace was supposed to be built in the north east corner of the room and instead had been built against the far south wall. How this slipped by the County Inspector, I’ll never know, but the floor was not properly engineered to support the weight of the fireplace the way it was situated in the room. With this information I was able to get the seller to come down $100,000.00 off of the agreed purchase price. It cost my client far less to have the work done to properly support the floor. In short, he saved many thousands of dollars because I was able to ascertain there was an issue and then was able to properly negotiate a satisfactory amount off the price to make the deal go through.
Low Appraisal – Due to the Home Valuation Code of Conduct we have experienced a rash of bad appraisals up here in Big Bear Lake California due to incompetent appraisers taking assignments in areas they have no business working in. In many cases a low appraisal will destroy a deal faster than anything else. However, in the right situation, a low appraisal can be of great benefit to your client. I remember the first low appraisal I was confronted with back in the day. I and my buyer were both panicked over it and I went to work right away requesting a reappraisal to try to get the value closer to what it was worth. One thing you learn very quickly is appraisal companies almost never admit they got an appraisal wrong. It makes them appear incompetent, especially if it occurs in an area they have no business being in. The last time it happened, I went to work right away finding comps that supported the lower value on the property. Once I found them, I packaged them together along with an addendum lowering the purchase price to the price the appraiser came up with. In many instances a seller will lower the asking price to the appraised value due to the fact that the next buyer will, in all likelihood, run into the exact same appraisal issues as your buyer. The last time this happened, my buyer ended up getting $20,000.00 off the agreed upon purchase price.
Short Sale Success – Dealing with short sales is definitely one of the most trying issues facing new agents in the business. They are very tricky and filled with pitfalls for the inexperienced Realtor. I have come to realize that the most important thing for a seller in this situation is to get a warm buyer to start the process. Many times the bank won’t even talk to you unless you have an offer to present. As the Realtor, it is your job to price the property at a price that will bring in a great deal of attention from buyer’s and still have a good chance of being accepted by the bank. Even if the first offer is rejected by the bank, you will have started the process and know exactly what amount it will take to get the deal closed. If you are representing a buyer, the most important thing is to counsel patience and let them know to be prepared for the bank to ask for more money and to reject things like termite work and home warranties.
These are just a few examples of the ways an experienced Realtor can be a great boon to buyers and sellers engaging in real estate transactions. As a consumer, it only takes a little time to google a potential Realtors name and find out what other people have to say about them. Don’t be afraid to ask for references and never use somebody attempting to work outside their area of expertise, especially in an area like Big Bear Lake. If you do decide to use somebody new to business, make sure they have great broker support and work for a reputable firm.