Getting a Home
The real estate appraisal is one of the key steps in the process of getting into a new home. By getting a true value of a home and a property, the appraisal will be able to come up with a fair price along with market value that puts the home in the context of the neighborhood. If you are new to the process, it can be help you to find out how the appraisal works, so you know your role and how the appraisal works as part of the home-buying experience.
Who Hires the Appraiser and From Where?
A home buyer is not responsible for calling the home appraiser and getting them to come out and appraise the home. That responsibility rests with the lending institution that is giving out the mortgage. The appraiser will come out to determine the actual value of the home, which will become the basis of the lending contract. You have the option of calling an independent appraiser to make sure the values are correct, but not many buyers do this. Appraisers can be found both through appraisal companies and independent self-employed businesses.
Length of the Appraisal
Considering its important to the home buying process, the doesn't really take long, just about five or fifteen minutes, depending on how large the home or property is. But the appraiser also does a lot of work at their office. When they leave the home, the appraiser will start working on a packet of information, which will include the values of the other properties in the area. The appraiser will check to see which homes in the area had been sold and for how much. This information gets added to a report which usually takes four hours to put together and is about 10 pages long. This is given to the lender.
The Difference with an Inspection
The real estate appraisal is only about the value of the home, based on its square footage as measured from outside the home. The systems inside the house aren't inspected. Rooms can looked at to see how big it is and what may or may not impact the value of the home. An inspection is different, with a different appointment, that looks at the safety of the property and the home instead of the value.
What's the Consumer's Role?
As a consumer, you don't have to do much about the appraisal of the home, unless you want to point out the appraiser parts of the home that may not be otherwise apparent. Many of the physical changes should be noticed by the appraiser, but you can point them out just to be sure (especially if you are selling the home).
The entire appraisal process is easy and nothing to fear. Use it as a time to find out the true value of a property and get going on the home purchase road.
