Don’t make this $70,000 mistake!
True Story
The Unsuspecting Tourists
Bob and Mary wanted a Myrtle Beach rental condo but couldn’t find one with bank financing (banks hate condos).
Then Realtor Ron found them a new 3-bedroom with breathtaking sea views, sexy bathrooms, and a gourmet kitchen (oh, YES!). All for only $378,000, with bank financing.
Two similar units just sold for $400K and $415K.
Coastline View between Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach
Holy guacamole! It must be a good deal, right?
WRONG.
When we appraised it, it came in at $70,000 below the contract price.
How could this be?
They were bamboozled.
Those sales at $378K, $400K and $415K were all developer sales.
The slippery little trick
When the market crashed, the developer couldn’t sell inventory. His bank, worried about the $59 million development loan, agreed to give mortgages (when nobody else would).
Buyers like Bob and Mary were only shown developer units.
Little did they know, you could get identical resale condos at $70K to $100K less. So if you bought at the developer price, to resell you’d have to drop your price by $70,000 to $100,000.
Even worse, some lame appraisers actually used developer sales for comps, ignoring resale activity, creating artificially high appraisals.
Happy Ending
But here’s the Happy Ending. We pissed off a Realtor, a developer and a lender, but we saved Bob and Mary $70,000 by doing a thorough appraisal.
That is is why you always want an appraisal by a locally experienced, savvy appraiser.
Now you can feel confident bidding on:
Foreclosures
Short sales
Realtor listings
FSBOs
And Auction properties
Information is the most valuable commodity in the world, and you are about to get more than your fair share.
We do the work so you can play
Photo courtesy The Dunes Club
Let us do your research and analysis so you can know what’s what.
We specialize in
Condos
Condotels
Houses
Golf Villas
Multi-family
Vacant Land
We represent private-party investors, equity groups, hedge funds, and mortgage lenders.
If you’re a flipper, we find deals at foreclosure auctions.
Timing is everything.If you’re a serious investor or need real estate advice, contact us today.
info@CertifaxAppraisals.com
Phone: 843-497-9155, Ext. 103