What just happened?: Real Estate Advice from Inside the Bowels of the New Market.

Those who know me and have been following my Facebook and this blog probably already know it: We lost our house sale to what appeared to be an otherwise perfectly sound transaction. A few missteps were taken on our part, our buyers part and our agent's part. Not all of them are apparent to the naked eye, particularly anyone who has never been through the process of selling a house.

The following advice is thus offered in the hopes that you too, won't get screwed by the present market.

The Banks don't want to loan money to anyone, even if it drives the market further into the ground.
Bailouts have been given to the largest banks in the country and they're holding onto it. They're not funding anyone's new loans if they can avoid it. The red tape has become thicker. The bigger the bank and the more of a bailout they have scammed out of the government, the less likely they are to cooperate with you on your house purchase.

The rules for Appraisers are good at preventing over-appraising, not under-appraising - the new 'out' for banks.
In our case, our house is worth $30,000 more than what the appraiser for our buyers bank thought. The buyers we're willing to pay it up to that point. The trouble was when the appraiser for their bank (one of the largest in the country) didn't care about that fact. What happens next? The buyers feel like they are getting ripped off and pull out of the sale all together, lest you take a huge loss and drop your price to what the appraiser says. There are no rules saying that they have to re-examine the appraisal. Worse, there are no rules says that the banks have to use an independent appraiser. Sure, you can file a complaint against the appraiser, but it won't get you the sale back. The good news is that on May 1st, new rules go into effect that require appraisals to be ordered by an unbiased 3rd party. This could hurt appraisal values in many areas, but the intention to keep the playing field fair is a good one.

The housing market goes further down the tube if you accept the low-ball appraisal. Pull out of the sale and get your own appraisal immediately to correct the wrongs of the big bank.
If you go through with a sale under those conditions, you're only contributing to the downfall of the market. The moment that goes on record, your neighbors values all go through the floor. You should not accept that weight, no matter how desperate you are to sell.

Do not move out of your house until after you close.
Our agent didn't tell us we could negotiate to stay in the house after closing. In fact, we were told that was a bad idea. We've fired that agent. That advice cost us $5,000 in leasing an apartment that we are going to have to break the lease on now. Like most, we can't afford two housing payments that would equal nearly half of our combined income. Bottom line: Stay in your house until AFTER it closes. Do not move out early.


Gregsta'