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Una Una is offline
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Default Putting and Offer on Townhome in Booming Area

Don't use asking price as a benchmark for anything! If you want
to compare, use selling price. If selling price is not public
data in Colorado, you will have to resort to an appraiser. You
already made an offer, yes? Is it contingent on an appraisal?
Your mortgage will be. The appraisal will give you a benchmark,
but again the difference between a good deal and a bad deal is
in how you feel about it, after the deal is done.

I got 3 appraisals on my first house. #1 the appraisal that the
seller ordered before putting the house on the market. I simply
asked for it and the seller simply gave it to me. #2 was my own
order, as the market was in flux. #3 was ordered by the mortgage
holder; I asked the loan officer for a copy and received it for
free. I was *not* entitled to #1 and I got a copy of #3 in
part because "I" paid for it rather than the seller paying for
it. That's a technicality, sort of. The selling price on my
house was significantly below market value, per all 3 appraisals,
so I (the buyer) got a great deal. Right? It's not that simple.
I required the seller to do absolutely nothing to the property
and I paid all closing costs and put up with all the associated
PITA factors. I suspect the seller would gladly have sold the
house to me for even less. On that point I could feel I got a
bad deal, if I wanted to, but I don't.

Probably the only people who aren't happy are other sellers who
got my house as a comp on appraisals of their houses, and buyers
who got it on an appraisal only *after* entering into a contract.

Una