Small Community Lake Disappears After Dam Fails - Who Pays?

Written by Posted On Thursday, 20 August 2015 11:43

What calamities await a home owner that they may not see coming? A lake disappearing when a dam breaks? Calamity. A shared driveway washed away to the point that it is not passable? Calamity. A neighbor insisting that a garage less than a foot on to their property be moved? A tree crushing the garage? Calamity, calamity. Yet and still, things like this happen all too frequently because of a lack of attention to detail during the home purchase process. The devil is in the details and responsibility for dealing with the devil falls on the buyer’s agent - and if the buyer's didn't know how to properly choose a real estate agent, it falls to them.

The importance of the "due diligence" period during a transaction cannot be overstated. Everyone knows to do inspections but few - agents included - do a survey. Few - agents included - review HOA documents, budgets, liens, title issues, encroachments and easements and the myriad of other potential disasters. Many states do not require surveys for closings; title searches are not perfect and deed reviews can and do miss issues.

It's wise to fully understand the possible pitfalls that are not completely obvious on a home - and the best first step is by getting a survey. For a few hundred dollars, this simple document will alert you to potential issues. Many agents fail to impress upon their clients the importance of a survey, it is money well spent.

Hank Miller recaps issues faced by residents when forced to rebuild a collapsed dam in "Lake Disappears After a Heavy Rain, Who Pays"? and issues resulting from tree damage in "Who's Paying for That Tree Damage"?  Be an educated home buyer - remember, the devil is in the details!

 

The Hank Miller Team counsels home buyers and sellers in the Atlanta area with over 25 years of sales and appraisal experience.

 

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Hank Miller, SRA

Hank Miller is an Associate Broker & Certified Appraiser in the north metro Atlanta area. Since 1989, real estate has been his full time profession. Hank´s clients benefit from his appraisal and sales experience; they act upon data, not baseless opinions. He is an outspoken critic of the lax standards in the agent community.

Hank remains an active certified appraiser and completes specialty work for FNMA, lenders and attorneys. He is a well-known blogger and continues to guest write for multiple industry publications as well as national outlets like the WSJ, NYT, RE Magazine, USA Today and others. He is a regular on public Q&A sites on Zillow, Trulia and many others.

Hank consistently ranks in the top 1% of all agents in the metro Atlanta area. He runs the Hank Miller Team and is known as much for his ability as he is for his opinions. He is especially outspoken about the lack of professional standards and expectations in the real estate industry.

www.hmtatlanta.com

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