If you’re thinking of buying or selling a lake home, here are 4 things you need to know about appraisal risk.
- Appraiser Lacks Lake Experience. Lake lots and property value vary greatly due to many factors such as location, lake characteristics and features. An inexperienced appraiser might not be able to provide accurate information regarding your lake home.
- Inflexible Appraiser. Due to time constraints and unfamiliarity with lake areas, getting good quality comps could be difficult. In situations like these, knowledgeable agents can oftentimes help the appraiser get a head start in getting a good quality appraisal.
- Lack of Recent “Comps”. In today’s real estate market where the inventory is low and the demand is high, this trend has made it difficult for appraisers to provide comps to support the new prices.
- Appraisal Too Low. You can de-risk the offer by making up the difference or a portion of it. There is an assumption that if the appraisal is lower then the sellers would drop the price. Lake property is discretionary so there is a good chance that the homeowners would choose to not sell their home or they could get an offer from another buyer.
For more information on buying or selling a lake home or property, be sure to visit Lakehomes.com or contact our lake experts. We’re here to help you navigate the lake home buying or selling process that can oftentimes be complicated.