Gerardo Lopez | RE/MAX Properties
Most buyers who lose money on a house in Southern Utah did not lose it at the closing table. They lost it the night they wrote the offer and skipped the homework.
Here is the seven-item checklist I run before I let a buyer of mine submit anything. Save yourself the call to a real estate attorney later.
1. Run the comps yourself, not the listing agent’s
The CMA on the listing flyer is built to justify the price. Pull the last 90 days of closed sales within a half-mile, same bed and bath count, same construction type. In Cedar City right now, well-priced stick-built under $500K is moving inside 30 to 45 days. Anything aspirational sits. If your target listing is 8% above the comps and has been on market 60 days, that is not a hot home. That is a price problem the seller has not accepted yet.
2. Confirm short-term rental eligibility before you fall in love
This kills more Sand Hollow and Hurricane deals than any other single thing. The HOA at Sand Hollow Resort allows nightly rentals. Parts of Coral Canyon do not. Dixie Springs is mixed by phase. La Verkin city ordinance changed in 2023. If your numbers depend on STR income, you need written verification from the HOA AND a city or county check before you sign — not a verbal from the listing agent. I have walked clients off three deals this year where the HOA would have killed the math.
3. Read the seller’s disclosure twice
Then read it again. The first read is for the obvious stuff — roof, foundation, water. The second read is for the language that is NOT there. If a 25-year-old roof gets one sentence and the rest of the disclosure is two pages of detail, that is a flag. Sellers who give you 80% are usually hiding the other 20%.
Pro Tip: The Disclosure Read
Read the seller's disclosure twice. First for what's there. Second for what's missing. One-sentence answers on major systems (roof, HVAC, plumbing) are a red flag — sellers who are thorough everywhere else but vague on one item are usually hiding something.
Pro Tip: The Disclosure Read
Read the seller disclosure twice. First for what is there. Second for what is missing. One-sentence answers on major systems like roof, HVAC, and plumbing are a red flag. Sellers thorough everywhere but vague on one item are usually hiding something.
4. Verify lot lines and easements
Especially on rural acreage in Iron County or anything with shared driveways. Pull the plat. If there is an easement for irrigation, utilities, or access, know who has rights and what those rights restrict. I have had buyers find out post-close that their dream view lot has a 30-foot utility easement running right where they wanted to build a shop.
5. Pull a real flood and wildfire risk read
Not the listing’s “flood zone X” line. Open the FEMA map yourself, then check wildfire risk for the area. Cedar Highlands and parts of New Harmony have real wildfire exposure that affects insurance pricing. Hurricane and parts of Washington City have flood concerns nobody markets but every adjuster knows about.
6. Get the lender’s read on appraisal risk before you go in firm
If you are financing, your lender already has an opinion on whether the home will appraise. Ask them. If they hesitate, structure the offer with an appraisal contingency at minimum, or build in an appraisal gap clause with a cap that you can actually fund. The number of deals that fall apart at appraisal in Southern Utah right now is real. Buyers who plan for it close. Buyers who do not lose earnest money over inspection negotiations and never get to the appraisal fight.
7. Decide your walk-away number BEFORE you write the offer
Not your max. Your walk-away. The number where you slide back from the table and do not blink. Buyers who set this number in advance negotiate cleaner. Buyers who try to find it mid-negotiation overpay every time. Write it down. Tell your spouse. Tell me. Then hold the line.
Set Your Walk-Away Number First
The best negotiators in Southern Utah real estate are not the ones who push hardest. They are the ones who decided their limit before they sat down. Write it down before you write the offer.
The bottom line
These seven take maybe two hours total to run. They have saved my buyers more in walk-away decisions than any inspection ever has.
If you are house-shopping anywhere from Cedar City to Hurricane and want a second set of eyes before you submit, that is free work I do for clients. Send me the listing and I will run the comps, check the HOA, and tell you straight whether the offer makes sense.
What Happens After Your Offer Gets Accepted?
The offer is just the starting line. Inspections, appraisal, title work, and closing timelines all need to go right. Read the full breakdown of what happens next in a Utah real estate transaction.
If you are house-shopping anywhere from Cedar City to Hurricane and want a second set of eyes before you submit, I can help.
Contact Gerardo Lopez | RE/MAX Properties | 435-708-1937
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