INCLUDE APPRAISAL GAP COVERAGE IN MY REAL ESTATE OFFER?
If you are trying to buy a house in the Dayton, Ohio area maybe you've heard the term Appraisal Guarantee or Appraisal Gap Coverage. I've been a Realtor for 30 years but I'd never heard of it until we hit a hot market in the Kettering, Beavercreek, Bellbrook and surrounding areas starting about 2019. In a strong Seller’s Market we often see multiple offers on a single property. Going over asking price has certainly been a popular tactic lately to try to win the property. Problem is it has become so basic it often takes more than that to prevail in a bidding war. Sometimes you need an even bigger advantage. One thing the seller gets worried about when the price goes over asking is if the property will appraise or not. If it does not appraise for at least the contract price then everything stops. Either the seller comes down to meet the appraised value, the buyer throws in some extra money or a combination of the two. So that large amount over asking that seemed so awesome at the time, doesn’t help a bit if the appraisal is short. Offering Appraisal Gap Coverage might be the answer to put the seller's mind at ease and help your offer get picked. This means that if the property does not appraise for the contract price the buyer agrees upfront to make up the difference or a certain amount of the difference with cash! The seller loves this because it insulates them from a low appraisal. Some buyers get nervous with this option feeling like they are paying more this way. Remember, the price is the same as you agreed to. You are just putting more money down. Not everyone that can do this is willing to do it. Just know it is an option and I can explain in more detail the ins and outs of it. Happy to share other best Realtor practices with you as well when it comes to making your offer stand out.
HERS Energy Index Explained: Boost Your Home's Energy Efficiency
Dayton OH is not known for really extreme swings in temperature from season to season but it gets cold and hot enough here that an efficient house can save you significantly on energy bills. This is where a HERS test can provide valuable energy efficiency info. It stands for Home Energy Rating System and it is a nationally accepted standard used to measure the efficiency of a house. It is based upon a scale where a score of 100 is the baseline reference point of a home built to code in 2006. If you score a 90 then your home is 10% MORE efficient than the standard. If you score a 115 your home is 15 percent LESS efficient than the rating standard. You are using 15% more energy and some work could save a lot of money in the long run. A well built modern home is likely to have a HERS score in the 60s range. This home will feel more comfortable and consistent than the ‘standard’ home and the bonus is you’ll save money on utilities at the same time! Having a HERS test done involves two primary tests. One is a smoke test to see if the ductwork is leaking. A fog machine is often enlisted to provide visual results from this as well as taking airflow measurements. A blower door test is used to determine how much air infiltration the shell of the home may have. A lot of newer homes in the Dayton OH area tend to fall in the 65-85 range. When we sell a home in Dayton this is not a typical test to perform during inspections but you can do it anytime to see where your home measures up. A typical test may run between 400 and 1000 dollars.
Dayton Ohio Homes Stats Oct 24 vs Oct 23
How did real estate sales shape up in Dayton, Ohio in October? Single-family and condominium sales reported by Dayton REALTORS®’ Multiple Listing Service reached a sales volume of $347.7 million in October, an increase of 5% compared to the sales volume that occurred during the same month in 2023. Also increased in October were the average and median prices.The median price of $245,000 was 4% higher than last year and the average price of $278,667 posted an almost 5% gain over last October. The number of sales remained flat, with the 1,248 sales for the month besting October 2023’s number by 4 transactions. Year-to-date through October, there were 12,248 sales, up 6.8% compared to the same period in 2023 when 11,460 properties closed. The year-to-date average sale price and median sale price continued to rise as they have all year long. The average price totaled $278,447 – up over 9% – while the median price came in at $239,900, a gain of 6.6%. Single-family and condominium listing entries totaled 1,573 in October, down just 1% from October 2023. The overall MLS inventory at month’s end showed 2,169 active properties available for sale, which translated to a supply of 1.7 months based on October’s resale rate. The pace of sales was fairly even from last October, when a 1.8 month supply (2,241 listings) was available. If you’d like to see the stats for your home and neighborhood, just reach out!
Categories
Recent Posts
