Select Page

Home Real Estate Appraisal Services

Real estate appraisers  tell you how much similar homes in the area were sold for, the actual  square footage, the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, amenities that  increase the home’s value and even problems that may reduce the price.

You also know how much you have to pay in real estate taxes. Both  buyers and sellers should have a home appraisal to ensure a fair price. A  house appraiser charges a flat or hourly rate, and not a percentage of the home’s value.

Financial institutions also need an appraisal before approving your  mortgage. While private lenders may not need one, appraisals do reduce  loan associated risks.

Various factors affecting a house’s price:

1. Location

Properties located near schools and metropolitan areas cost more.

2. Square footage and home layout

Houses with more square footage are more expensive. Open designs make  a home look more spacious, and add value. While the number of bedrooms  is important, houses with 2 large bedrooms are more valuable than houses  with 3 small ones.

3. Age

New homes fetch higher values than older ones because they don’t have  much maintenance or as many problems. However, very old homes are  valuable for their antiquity.

4. Upgrades and renovations

They add value to the house but too many overpowering upgrades can bring the price down.

House appraiser costs and who pays

Appraisals generally cost between $311 and $404. It depends on the  amount of work involved, which is why a larger house costs more to  appraise. There’s no fixed rule about who pays the house appraiser. It may be the buyer at times or the seller at other times.

Are home appraisal and home inspection similar? 

While both are important, they are not the same. Home inspections  protect the buyer by informing him about structural defects while home  appraisal protects the financial institutions from lending more money  than the house is valued. Buyers generally hire home inspectors while  lending institutions hire appraisers.

Major segments of a home appraisal

An appraisal has four important parts affecting the property value. They are:

1. Property description 

This identifies the property size in acres, and boundaries using landmarks and streets.

2. Market information

This includes location, the property’s proximity to schools and the surrounding area’s demographics.

3. Best use of the property.

While property used for residential purposes has the highest value,  appraisers may assign a higher value to lands with redevelopment  potential.

4. Property valuation 

This is most important where the house appraiser values the property based on its analysis. It can be done using any one of these three methods.

  • The comparison approach that compares the selling price of nearby  similar properties and makes necessary adjustments based on differences  in the comparable properties.
  • Cost replace method, which estimates the cost of rebuilding the property.
  • Income capitalization where the property is valued based on its  income generation potential and is generally used for investment  properties.

How to maximize an appraisal

There are some things to do to maximize the property’s value like:

  • Avoiding mistakes by hiring a house appraiser who knows your neighborhood.
  • Providing them with a list of comparable properties to ensure they compare your property with similar properties.
  • Making impactful renovations like kitchen upgrade, wood flooring or a garage.
  • Taking before and after pictures of changes made and documenting everything done to improve the property.
  • De-cluttering the property by removing debris, trimming trees and painting the house so that it looks larger and cleaner.

Questions to ask real estate appraisers

Some questions to ask the appraiser are:

1. What are your qualifications?

The appraiser should be educated, experienced and have passed a state  licensing or certification examination. They should also be updated  with the latest education requirements.

2. How much experience do you have in appraising my type of property?

This is necessary because investment property appraisers may not qualify to conduct a residential property appraisal.

3. How much will the appraisal cost?

You should know how much you have to pay before the appraisal is  conducted. It could be an hourly rate or a fixed dollar amount but not a  percentage of the appraised value.