Written by Scott Accorsini

Due to the recent mortgage crisis, lending institutions have completely re-evaluated the conditions on which they will lend. Now more than ever lenders are placing a greater importance on the value at which a property appraises for, as well as putting more pressure on appraiser’s to justify the value they arrive at.

Here on the Waterfront and other urban locations lenders want all of the comparable properties included in the report to be located within a one mile radius of the subject property, as well as two of the three comparable sales having closed within three months. Coming out of a long winter in the Northeast, when sales activity tends to decline, real estate appraisers have found it more difficult to find good quality sales to include in their reports. Even though an appraiser may have a perfectly good comparable sale to include in the report, if that property transferred over ninety days ago he will be pressured to exclude that sale and include a more recent transaction.

The effect of the tighter regulations that lender’s have installed on the appraiser’s have caused many transactions to fall through. Due to many lending institutions being overwhelmed with foreclosures, they are often times unwilling to lend on properties that do not appraise for the needed value. Now more than ever it is critical for buyers and sellers to have properties whose sales price can be properly justified with an appraisal. Often times an appraisal can be the one thing that either makes or breaks a deal. When listing properties for sale at CL Waterfront Properties LLC, we go to great efforts to determine what properties will appraise for so our clients will not have to deal with the disappointment of properties appraising too low and deals not going through.

If you like to learn more about appraisals or interested in finding a new home on the Boston Waterfront, feel free to contact one of our knowledgeable agents today!