{"id":2187,"date":"2021-04-16T16:20:57","date_gmt":"2021-04-16T16:20:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.realtrends.com\/blog\/2021\/04\/16\/buyers-are-paying-to-bridge-the-appraisal-gap\/"},"modified":"2025-03-13T02:37:28","modified_gmt":"2025-03-13T02:37:28","slug":"buyers-are-paying-to-bridge-the-appraisal-gap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.realtrends.com\/blog\/2021\/04\/16\/buyers-are-paying-to-bridge-the-appraisal-gap\/","title":{"rendered":"Buyers are paying to bridge the appraisal gap"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Remember the good old days, when single-family home buyers would offer appraisal gap coverage to make sure they were making the best offer? Now, they’re including it just to get noticed, according to multiple agents from brokerages across the country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Single-family home sellers<\/a> are regularly getting multiple \u2014 and sometimes dozens \u2014 of offers in markets nationwide, and transactions are closing at record speeds. In some places, buyers are being given 15 minutes to walk through, if they get inside the home at all, and often less than 24 hours to write and submit a competitive offer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And \u201ccompetitive\u201d in today\u2019s low-inventory, high-demand<\/a> market has taken on a whole new meaning, with homes regularly selling for thousands over list price, and buyers who need to secure financing going up against all-cash investors. With all this money flying around, sellers are accepting sky-high offers from overeager buyers who find they\u2019re at risk of falling into the appraisal gap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the appraisal gap?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Writing coverage of the appraisal gap \u2014 the difference between the offer and the appraised amount the bank will lend on \u2014 into a sales contract isn\u2019t a new negotiation tactic for a hot market like the one we\u2019re in. But agents across the country report it\u2019s become increasingly common in the last several months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI make sure my buyers [really understand that] it\u2019s going to turn into a bloodbath,\u201d said Alison Malkin, who\u2019s head broker and owner of RE\/MAX Essentia<\/a> and is licensed in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Florida. \u201cI ask them up front if they have to buy right now, because it\u2019s going to be an arduous process. You\u2019re going to be frustrated, and you\u2019re going to spend 20% more than you wanted to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Malkin recently listed one client\u2019s home for $210,000 and was immediately bombarded with 22 offers, topping out at $280,000. Her sellers chose one at $239,000, and the lucky buyers had to come up with an \u201cextra\u201d $29,000 to cover the appraisal gap. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Creative, yet risky, ventures<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s where buyers need an agent who knows the area, the market and how to get creative: For another recently closed sale, Malkin\u2019s buyer clients found a particular home that fit their specific and urgent needs, so Malkin reached out to the seller\u2019s agent, who she\u2019d worked with for many years, and found out what the sellers had to have. In this case, the home needed some work, and Malkin\u2019s buyers were willing to do the manual labor before signing a sales contract \u2014 essentially improving someone else\u2019s property with no solid promise the deal would go through (it did).  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Preparing buyers to come immediately with their highest-and-best offer and be ready to back up their offer with actual cash (or sweat equity, as it were) is essential right now, Malkin said. As is making sure buyers understand that appraisal gap cash is essentially gone. She said she\u2019s been asked several times by buyers when they can expect equity gains in their purchased home to make up the difference in what they paid the sellers. \u201cI tell them no one knows, and they need to decide if getting this house is worth it to them.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eli Tene, managing director of CENTURY 21 Peak Corporate Network in Woodland Hills, Calif., agrees with Malkin that agents need to make sure their buyer clients know exactly what they\u2019re signing up to pay for, and are only offering what they can truly afford.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAppraisals aren\u2019t an exact science, and they\u2019re not always fast enough to catch up with the market value … the price someone is willing to pay for a property,\u201d Tene said. \u201cThe appraisal process can\u2019t calculate the emotional value of homeownership, nor the current appreciation in value.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tene is referring to the appraisal gap that occurs when home values increase faster than the comps can keep up, which is another issue that\u2019s complicating transactions<\/a> for both buyers and sellers. Malkin said appraisal values, and therefore comparable sales, in her area are \u201ccatching up\u201d to market values, but \u201cbuyers keep offering even higher than that,\u201d which will likely continue while demand outpaces inventory at such remarkable rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buyers right now have a few options in the Denver, Colo.-area, market, said Angelica Olmsted, an agent with RE\/MAX Professionals Cherry Creek: They can come with cash and bid (appropriately) high, look at \u201cless-desirable\u201d properties \u2014 condos with no outdoor space, for example \u2014 or look at new builds. Olmsted said the Denver-area buyers\u2019 market is especially cutthroat for single-family homes listed at $650,000 and below, and says she\u2019s consistently telling her clients to be ready to pay 10 to 15% more than list price, and to have that cash on hand to cover the appraisal gap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pick up the phone<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat buyers\u2019 agents need to be doing right now is picking up the phone and calling sellers\u2019 agents instead of just relying on comps,\u201d Olmsted said. \u201cAppraisal gaps can be confusing. I have clients repeat back to me exactly what they\u2019re agreeing to do to make sure they understand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Managing buyer expectations, researching the most recent area comps and helping clients \u201cbe 75 to 80% sure\u201d they want a house before they even walk through the door is how Laura D\u2019Ardenne, broker\/co-owner of RE\/MAX of Cherry Creek in Denver is keeping her buyers’ best interests in mind while meeting them where they’re at.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt really depends on the type of buyer and where they\u2019re coming from,\u201d D\u2019Ardenne said. \u201cHave they been saving for years and years and this is really cutting into their budget? Or, are they recent sellers taking advantage of a large gain? I don\u2019t make any assumptions about the financial position a client is in, and just give them up front the reality of the market.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the reality is that some buyers are going extreme routes<\/a> to get the money they need to outbid the hordes of other buyers and cover a sometimes-gaping<\/a> appraisal gap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want my clients to be overpaying,\u201d D\u2019Ardenne said. \u201cBut that\u2019s where we are.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Single-family home buyers used to offer appraisal gap coverage to make sure they were making the best offer. Now they’re including it just to get noticed, according to multiple agents from brokerages across the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17461,"featured_media":4822,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3255],"tags":[],"coauthors":[572],"class_list":["post-2187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archive"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBuyers are paying to bridge the appraisal gap - RealTrends - Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Single-family home buyers are offering appraisal gap coverage just to get noticed, according to agents from brokerages across the country.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.realtrends.com\/blog\/2021\/04\/16\/buyers-are-paying-to-bridge-the-appraisal-gap\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Buyers are paying to bridge the appraisal gap\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Single-family home buyers are offering appraisal gap coverage just to get noticed, according to agents from brokerages across the country.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.realtrends.com\/blog\/2021\/04\/16\/buyers-are-paying-to-bridge-the-appraisal-gap\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"RealTrends - 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