Home Appraisals
What is a House Worth?
A home ultimately is worth what
a buyer is willing pay for it. Everything else is an estimate of value. To determine a
property's value before writing an offer on it, we do a Comparative Market Analysis. After the house is under contract, the lender will order an Appraisal to further determine the value of the house.
An Appraisal will generally be ordered by the lending institution that will finance your home purchase after you have a contract on the house. If you are buying with cash, the appraisal is not required, however, we will advise you to get an appraisal using an appraiser who has record of working in the area.
An Appraisal is a certified appraiser's estimate of the value
of a home at a given point in time. Appraisers consider square footage,
construction quality, design, floor plan, neighborhood and availability of
transportation, shopping and schools. Appraisers also take lot size, topography,
view and landscaping into account. Most appraisals cost about $350.
A Comparative Market Analysis is a real estate broker's or agent's informal
estimate of a home's market value, based on sales of comparable homes in the neighborhood. We will always do a Comparative Market Analysis and provide you the raw data used to arrive at our estimate of value right after finding a house we want to make an offer on. We can provide you with the tax records of for the house and neighborhood also.
What Standards do Appraisers use to Estimate Value?
Appraisers use several factors when estimating a home's value,
including the home's size and square footage, the condition of the home and
neighborhood, comparable local sales, any pertinent historical information,
sales performance and indices that forecast future value. For detailed
information on appraisal standards, contact the Appraisal Institute at 200 W. Madison, Suite 1500, Chicago, IL 60606, 7 a.m. - 5 p.m. CT; 888-7JOINAI (756-4624).
Can
I find out the Value of my Home through the Internet?
You can get some
idea of your home's value by searching the Internet. A number of Web sites and
services crunch the numbers from historic public records of home sales to
produce the statistics. Some services offer an actual estimate of value based on
acceptable software appraisal standards. They also depend on historic home sales
records to calculate the estimate. Neither of these services produce official
appraisals. We have found that Trulia, Zillow and the other online real estate listing websites do not have very accurate estimators for a home's current market value, though.
What is the difference between List price, Sales price and Appraised value?
The list price is a seller's advertised price, a figure
that usually is only a rough estimate of what the seller wants to get. Sellers
can price high, low or close to what they hope to get. To judge whether the list
price is a fair one, be sure to consult comparable sales prices in the area. The
sales price is the amount of money you as a buyer would pay for a property. The
appraisal value is a certified appraiser's estimate of the worth of a property,
and is based on comparable sales, the condition of the property and numerous
other factors.
What are the Standard Ways of finding out How Much a Home is Worth?
A comparative market analysis and an appraisal are the
standard methods for determining a home's value. We will be happy to provide a comparative market analysis, an informal estimate of value
based on comparable sales in the neighborhood, as well as the raw data that our estimate is based on. We will give you the listing prices of
current homes on the market as well as those that have sold.
How do you Determine the Value of a Troubled Property?
Nowadays, almost all foreclosure properties are listed on the MLS by the Banks who own the properties in hopes of getting the highest possible price for the home. After touring the home you and I will discuss its shortcomings and positive features of the home as well as developing a comparative market analysis of the neighborhood. We will also discuss the probable range of bids on the house and the probable cost to repair. We have a special calculator program to determine the best price for a foreclosure as well as its top price.
