Changing market presents problems.

The real estate market is changing . . .

Many homes have been sold for very low prices, but what are the problems we face in this changing market?

With the change in the market, typical "arm's length" sales are having occasional problems with low appraisals. Another problem in this market is a change in the interest rate before closing.

When accepting the offer for sale, the seller and Realtor should do their best to make sure that the buyer is going through a local lender for financing.

Internet and out-of-town lenders have sometimes offered enticing interest rates that may or may not remain the same at closing. This dramatically affects the buyer, who was counting on a lower rate.

To complicate matters, most out-of-town lenders work with out-of-town appraisers while local lenders will order an appraisal from a local company.

An out-of-town appraiser might lack local knowledge and could submit an appraisal that doesn't take into account local factors.

Therein lies the problem -- the contract price and the appraised value can be thousands of dollars apart.

One solution might be to start over with a local lender. The appraisal would be reordered in hopes of a value in line with the contract price agreed by both buyer and seller.

In the event the appraisal cannot be changed by moving to a local lender, valuable time is lost and in some cases, both buyer and seller end up making concessions on interest rate and price in order to close this sale.

Sellers should have a specific list of upgrades on their property and should give this list to the appraiser.

Buyers in today's market, typically, do not overpay.

Today's buyers are educated and have access to all current listings and all recent sales via the Internet. There should not be a problem with homes appraising for their contracted sale price.

This trend of low appraisals may also indicate a change in the market to slight market appreciation which appraisers have not taken into account.

Still I contend that you can sell low and buy low in Brevard County.