I'm going to share with you a true story of how I saved a lady from making a $10,341 mistake when buying her condo. Let's call her Beth. Beth was from the Bronx and wanted to buy a condo in Pompano Beach, Florida. She was about to buy this condo sight unseen and put her trust in a local realtor.
Well the bank called me to do the appraisal and in the process of gathering information about the condo I found out that there was a special assessment of $10,341 which was due in full at the time of the closing. So I stated this information on the first page of the condo form and in the addendum as required.
Approximately two weeks after finishing the appraisal I got a call from the realtor who just happened to be the listing and selling agent. She proceeded to rip me a new one for putting the special assessment in the appraisal. I asked her why she was so upset and she said that Bernice found out about this and was able to get her deposit back and void the contract.
I told her that I was just doing my job and she should be ashamed of herself for not disclosing this to Beth. So she called me a few choice words and hung up the phone.
This unfortunately was not the first time something like this happened to me in my 21 years of doing appraisals.
So if you're thinking about buying a condo you might want to ask these questions;
Are there yearly or monthly maintenance fees?
Does the condo budget contain any special assessments?
3. Is there a recreation or land lease in the condo project?
Ask your realtor, property manager or management company for these answers before you make an offer because it may affect the financing you can obtain. Plus it may keep you from making a $10,341 mistake!
Well the bank called me to do the appraisal and in the process of gathering information about the condo I found out that there was a special assessment of $10,341 which was due in full at the time of the closing. So I stated this information on the first page of the condo form and in the addendum as required.
Approximately two weeks after finishing the appraisal I got a call from the realtor who just happened to be the listing and selling agent. She proceeded to rip me a new one for putting the special assessment in the appraisal. I asked her why she was so upset and she said that Bernice found out about this and was able to get her deposit back and void the contract.
I told her that I was just doing my job and she should be ashamed of herself for not disclosing this to Beth. So she called me a few choice words and hung up the phone.
This unfortunately was not the first time something like this happened to me in my 21 years of doing appraisals.
So if you're thinking about buying a condo you might want to ask these questions;
Are there yearly or monthly maintenance fees?
Does the condo budget contain any special assessments?
3. Is there a recreation or land lease in the condo project?
Ask your realtor, property manager or management company for these answers before you make an offer because it may affect the financing you can obtain. Plus it may keep you from making a $10,341 mistake!
