Real Estate Red Flags

The Seattle Times published a great article this weekend on common items that can delay or jeopardize the closing of a real estate transaction. Many items can pop up without warning but as they point out, most of them can be avoided with forethought by the Realtor and lender.

Also interesting to note that several of their points occur on even the smoothest of transactions. For instance, the buyer's home inspection will most certainly open the door to further negotiations. Unless a home is highly coveted by more than one buyer and is so unique that buyers are willing to pay full price or more for an flawed home...then some form of negotiation will take place during the inspection phase. Another common issue are out of town appraisers. Lenders can no longer dictate specific appraisers to be hired so as a consequence, someone from Pierce County may end up appraising a home in Seattle. Such a drastic circumstance is somewhat avoidable by a quality loan officer but a Realtors should always be double checking the appraisers knowledge of the area and providing justification for the listing price.

Here's the link the full article.