REASONS TO GET AN APPRAISAL But is this the only reason to get an appraisal? Are there other times when the services of a certified, licensed, independent real estate professional might come in handy? You bet. PURCHASE OF A HOME REFINANCE OR GET A HOME EQUITY LOAN PMI REMOVAL Many appraisers offer a specific service for home owners that believe they have met the 80% loan-to-value metric. For a nominal fee, the appraiser can provide you with a statement regarding the home value. Some will even take the next step and help you file a challenge with your mortgage company. The costs of these services are very often recovered in just a few months of not paying the PMI. DIVORCE SETTLEMENT If the parties want to sell the home, they’ll have a better idea of what price to set. And on the flipside, if a “buyout” is the chosen option, both parties will feel like they’ve gotten a fair assessment. ESTATE LIQUIDATION Unlike many wealthy individuals, the majority of Americans do not have dedicated estate planners or executors to handle these issues. Also, in most cases, a home or other real property makes up a disproportionate share of the total estate value. Here too, an appraiser can help. Often the first step in fairly disposing of an estate is to understand its true value. Where property is involved, the appraiser can help determine the true value. At this point, equitable arrangements can more easily be arrived at among disputing parties. Everyone walks away knowing they’ve received a fair deal. RELOCATION HOME IMPROVEMENTS TO ADD VALUE SELLING A HOME Unlike a real estate agent, an appraiser has no vested interest in what amount the house sells for. It’s easy for them to step in and give you the information to help you make your decision. Appraiser fees are based on efforts to complete the report and not a percentage of the sales price. So seeking a professional appraisal can often help homeowners make the best decisions on investing in their homes and setting a fair sales price. “What is my house worth?” These real estate appraisers can answer that and much more all over Rockdale County. Whether it is appraising your home for a property tax appeal if your property taxes are too high, valuing your home for estate work or a divorce or helping you secure a HELOC, a local appraiser is best. They obviously also appraise new construction homes as well as existing homes, and can do it for a home listing, before or after a sale. They use the local MLS (Multiple Listing Service) to gather data on sales and listings and use them to professionally tell you what the price per square foot should be for your home and others in your area. They also can determine if there’s any effect on the value of your home from pending foreclosures, REOs, and other “short sales” in Rockdale County. A licensed and certified appraiser’s estimates of value on residential single family homes, condos, townhouses and more are much better than what you’ll find when using an AVM (automated valuation model) or a BPO (Broker Price Opinion). They can do an appraisal for VA, FHA, conventional, jumbo, and Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac purposes, and routinely provide those reports on URAR, drive-by, and 1004 MC (1004 Market Condition) forms as well as others. These appraisers also perform valuations on commercial property ranging from single to multiple tenant office buildings, shopping centers, retail, industrial, malls, hospitals, health care facilities, warehouses, and hotels to multi-family apartment buildings, co-ops, senior housing, condominium developments, and even vacant land, agricultural, and golf courses. Regardless of the property type or local zoning, they’ll determine the highest and best use of the project and assess the value using the actual or projected cash flow from the property’s rent roll and financial statements, using both cap rates for capitalizing year one net operating income (NOI) and discounted cash flow (DCF) of multiple future income streams. If you’re a commercial lender, investor, builder, contractor, architect, or agent, you’ll want to use these appraisers to conduct a feasibility analysis of any income producing real estate project you may be considering. They can also help consult on construction costs and projected absorption rates. They generally produce a commercial narrative appraisal when engaged for any commercial assignment. |