Nat Wallen Real Estate
https://www.natwallen.com/blog/charleston-sc-real-estate-appraisals-can-be-a-little-tricky-sometimes.html

Appraisals Can Be a Little Tricky Sometimes - Part 1

Posted By: nat wallen In: A Day In The Life
Date: Mon, Sep 2nd 2013 8:16 pm

"I love it when this happens!"... A mortgage lender sent me a really great referral one day. These were not first time buyers brand new to the idea of buying a home, they were seasoned veterans. They had been living on Daniel Island, renting a house, and by carefully watching the market for a few years, they decided the time was right to purchase real estate in Mount Pleasant SC.

We started the process very quickly. I call them one weekend, and by Tuesday of the next week we were already planning to meet. 

With today's savvy buyers, things are quite different than they used to be. I used to be the holder of all information. Buyers used to come to me looking for information on what was available for sale. I was the gate holder, the person with the keys to everything available.

Fast forward to modern day real estate; No more real estate books, fax machines are on their way out. And with all the data floating around out there in the world, consumers now come to me with a list of properties that they are already interested in. My role as the gatekeeper for information has changed dramatically, and for the better.

I am now the expert on the area. I am the area consultant, and I help design the blueprint for success moving from point A to point B. This is much more fun for me.

So Tuesday came along, and fortunately I had been showing property earlier that day with some other clients. I had already had a chance to preview some of the listings that they wanted to see before we met. It turns out that I found a home that was not on their list that I was quite impressed with. So the good part of that day for me was being able to sift through their needs, and match them with a property that I felt was even better.

So before we finished our route, I asked them if they had the energy to see one more property. It was a raised pier foundation home, located close to 526 in Mount Pleasant. If you're familiar with the area,  you will understand that in the bustling town of Mount Pleasant, knowing the ins and outs and traffic patterns will make for a much easier lifestyle, because it's quite busy there.  I explained to them that I could cut off quite a bit of travel time on their part during their daily commute, and promised them it would be worth seeing this home.

So we viewed the home on a moments notice, and the buyers were quite pleased with it. It fit all of their needs, it was close to work, close to the interstate, and it was in impeccable condition.

The stars certainly were aligning that day.

So after showing them 4 homes, they decided they wanted to buy the 5TH.  This of course made me very happy.   They made an offer, we negotiated back and forth for a few days, and finally ratified the transaction.

Things were going quite swimmingly until today. There was certainly not much that I could do in advance to encourage the appraiser to match the sale price with his appraised value, and it came in lower than we needed. Labor day has just passed and now the other agent and I are both in the position of having to prove the value to him. Of course, we were not too far off, but $10,000 means a lot to both buyer and seller.

So this is how I will begin my week, debating the value of a property that the buyer saw on day one and wanted. In a market that's increasing in value, appraisers have a hard job. This is why I say but the Mount Pleasant SC real estate market can be tricky. Speed bumps happen, and there is quite a bit riding on it for all parties.

Time will tell how this plays out, and I'll of course keep you posted after the fact.

Fast Forward to Part 2 of this post for next weeks dramatic conclusion --> (Spolier Alert "The buyers are happy")

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Nat Wallen is a Realtor in Charleston SC specializing in residential property sales. He has been licensed since 1995 and is the top listing agent with Carolina One Real Estate. Carolina One Real Estate is the largest company in the Charleston SC area of 700 plus agents. For more detailed information, visit his homepage at natwallen.com. NOTE: Nat Wallen never solicits consumers interacting with his blog unless requested. YOUR comments are encouraged and welcomed. Thanks!