Park City Appraisers Are My Friends (And They Should Be Yours, Too)

While about half of Park City home purchases are cash, the other half are not. And in our current real estate market, many “cash” offers subsequently involve financing. There is a gatekeeper to a successful real estate sale that involves financing, and that gatekeeper is the appraiser.

Yesterday I met an appraiser at one of my listings that is currently under contract. Since I have put 12 listings under contract since January, I’ve made several such trips over the past few months. I have run into the same few appraisers over and over again, including the gentleman I met yesterday.

I knew this appraisal would be a challenge. My listing is going to be the highest sale in the subdivision in 10 years. I arrived prepared. I brought a copy of the real estate purchase contract, a list of all the upgrades my client has made since she purchased the property, and a list of recent comparable sales. Together, the appraiser and I discussed each comparable sale. I left the packet of information with him when we were done.

Diligence is Appreciated

And then, to my surprise, he told me that he loves appraising my listings. He said that some agents do not answer their phones or are slow to return calls and he can barely get an appointment scheduled. He thanked me for always responding quickly, making it easy for him to appraise my listings, and meeting him each time with a packet of useful information.

So far, all of my listings have appraised. The appraiser told me that he didn’t see a problem with this one appraising either.  [Since writing this blog post, I learned the appraisal did come in at purchase price thus enabling the transaction to move forward.  A few years ago, when the real estate market was still in the doldrums, I was not so lucky.  However, with persistence, I was able to appeal the appraisal.  You can read about that situation here.]

Marketing a property and being present for showings is just the first step. I stay engaged with the sale of each one of my listings until the proceeds are in my clients’ bank account. This is the only way I know how to do business. Based on the comments of my Park City appraiser friend, it may not be so typical in this town.