Residential real estate is cookie cutter!

I was out with a good friend the other day. He's a bright guy and usually a nice guy. When he said to me that "residential real estate is cookie cutter" I was a little surprised.

For those of you who know me, I wasn't going to intimidate my old 6'4 pal with my built.

Best rebuttal would be a challenge. By the way I sold this guy a house last year. And it was a pretty complicated deal so I'm not sure where he got the idea it was easy.

Here's the scenario I gave him;

A buyer locates a house they love. There's an offer date on the property.

After viewing the house they need to devise some strategy for the offer date.
-How much will they offer?
-How many offers will they compete with?
-What have comps sold for? If comps are plentiful, you use the best available and make all your adjustments-time; size; lot size; mechanics; parking situation; basement; # washrooms; ensuite; bedroom sizes; location on street; street itself, etc.

The inspection reveals that some work needs to be done;
-new roof
-new furnace
-grading issues
-knob and tube wiring exists. Not sure how much at the time of inspection. They have some work cut out around insurance issues.

The survey reveals that there is an easement at the back of the property. It's a substantial easement. The easement no doubt affects the use and enjoyment of the property.

A family room addition was completed in 1999. There's been 2 owners since so permits aren't available. It's being sold "as is" The survey does not show the family room addition. It's an existing survey.

The parking is a mutual drive with a pad park infront of the house. Though there is no legal permit for the pad. The owners claim it has been grandfathered and can be used as is. There may be some considerations here that affect enjoyment, use, resale value.

The mechanics are updated though it's known that these homes all contained oil tanks some 70 years ago. There's some investigating necessary around the oil tank.

It's an estate sale. Closing may be complicated while awaiting a certificate of appointment. The closing may also be pushed back week after week so make sure you have a contingency plan if you have a house to sell.

On the finance side, you may have some work and costs involved in the event that you close on your purchase prior to getting the equity out of the sale of your current address.

At this point my big buddy conceded that there's a few issues that he may have overlooked.

I've always been okay with the fact that I'm not doing rocket science for a living but I do have specialized knowledge and the more transactions I see, the more I can say no two are the same.

Cheers--

Michael Gruenstein MBA CSC
http://www.TheSmithsBuyAHouse.com
http://www.PropertiesinTheGTA.ca
mgruenstein@trebnet.com