What is a Home Appraisal? And How is it Used?
Apr/24/2020 528 What do home appraisers do? And why do you need one?
If you have purchased a home before, you know what a home appraisal is, but for first-time home buyers you might be wondering why you need one. The home appraisal is a critical step whether you are buying or selling a home. It can make or break the sale.
Here are some frequently asked questions about the home appraisal process. Find a home appraiser near you now.
What is a home appraisal?A home appraisal is an estimate of the fair market value of a home. Lenders will order a home appraisal during the mortgage loan process to assess the home’s market value and ensure that the amount of money requested by the borrower makes sense. You may also need an appraisal if you are looking to refinance your mortgage loan. To get the appraisal amount, the appraiser may use recent sales information from properties in the area of similar size, the condition the property is in, the location of the property and more.
What is a home appraiser?Home appraisals are conducted by trained professionals who are licensed or certified. They must appraise the home fairly, without bias. Appraisers go through rigorous training, take numerous tests and are required to continue their education. They also must substantiate every finding in their reports. Appraisers and appraisal companies are heavily regulated. The consequences for issuing misleading reports is severe.
What do appraisers look for?
Appraisers are looking into the condition of permanent parts of the home and attachments. They are not evaluating your home décor or furnishings. They are interested in physical characteristics like the age of your home, square footage, number of bedrooms, bathrooms, lot size, location and view.
How can I boost my home appraisal?
- There are some inexpensive things you can do to improve your home’s appraised value:
- Patch walls and do touch up work to fix things like plaster cracks and water-stained walls.
- If there’s a repair over $500 that can or should be fixed, do it. That includes leaky faucets, broken windows or cracked ceilings.
- Boost your curb appeal by cutting overgrown landscaping. Fix broken garage doors. Make the outside your home look welcoming.
- Write down all the improvements you have made to the home to share with the appraiser.
- Let your appraiser know of any positive changes in your neighborhood like new roads or schools.
- Make any updates to your home that are reasonable to make it look newer.
Is there anything I can do if I don’t agree with the appraisal?
You have the opportunity to read your appraisal report. You can challenge the report if you believe it’s inaccurate or is missing important information you forget to share with the appraiser or he didn’t write down. Lenders review appraisals through a strict system and compare it to other appraisals that have been done in the neighborhood recently.
Find an appraiser near you now at HomeContractors101.com.