If you are planning to sell your home, looking to buy a new home, trying to determine highest and best use of your home, drop your PMI, determine investment value or equity, resale ideas or more; it might be a wise decision to make a small investment in a professional appraisal. A professional appraiser studies real esate values on a daily basis and is trained to valuing your property accurately, independently, and without bias. Thereby, providing you with the true value of your home. Peak Appraisals can help you determine the true market value of your home, which could really help you save or make money in the long run!
SELLING YOUR HOME "FOR SALE BY OWNER" (FSBO)
More and more homeowners today are choosing to sell their homes FSBO (For Sale By Owner) and foregoing the help of a real estate agent. This will help them save thousands in REALTOR fees. BUT, if you list your home at the wrong price or without minor updates you could be costing yourself thousands of dollars. Plus many FSBO sellers feel that they have more control in the process of selling their home since they’re in essence making all the rules. One piece of advice that is consistently given by the experts in selling your home FSBO....Do NOT "Overprice" Your Home! It's very hard to be objective about your own home because of your emotional attachment to it. A professional appraiser is objective and will tell you what you need to know, not just what you want to hear.
PRE-LISTING APPRAISAL
If you’re working with a real estate agent to list your property, more than likely they’ll provide you with a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) that lists selected sales in your area as one of the first steps in determining what to set as the “Listing Price". This step is vital if you're going to maximize your profit and minimize the home’s time on the market.
But even if you're working with the most experienced real estate agent, it's probably in your best interest to have an "objective" third-party's opinion of value prior to signing a Listing Agreement. And that’s where we come in. We can provide you with a pre-listing appraisal so both you and your agent have an accurate description of your home's features and a detailed analysis of the most recent and similar "comparable sales" or as they're commonly called, "Comps". In addition to helping you set a realistic selling price so your home will attract buyers, a professional appraisal can:
- Be a very valuable negotiating tool once you have a potential buyer
- Impress buyer’s with written proof of your home’s condition inside and out
- Make you aware of problems and eliminate last-minute repair hassles that might delay a closing
- Decrease the chances of unknown problems that cause sales to fall through
- Help you decide areas of your home to update to sell quickly and with the highest value
Many people are surprised when they find out that the market value of their home is much more than they thought, so investing in a professional appraisal actually allowed these people to receive several thousand more dollars than they thought they would when their home was sold.
PMI Removal
Private Mortgage Insurance or PMI is the supplemental insurance that many lenders have to purchase when the amount being loaned is more than 80% of the value of the home (LTV loan to value). This additional payment is often folded into the monthly mortgage payment and is quickly forgotten. After a rise in values and/or payment to principal goes below this 80% level PMI is no longer required. United States Congress passed a law in 1998 (the Homeowners Protection Act of 1998) that requires lenders to remove the PMI payments when the loan-to-value ratio conditions have been met. An appraisal is required to determine the property's value. The costs of these services are recovered in just a few months of not paying the PMI.
Property Tax Assessments
Challenging the tax assessment has become a necessity in many parts of the country. Unfortunately, most people go into these challenges unarmed. They may pull some information from the Internet to support their claims, but have no real basis for their claims.
A real estate appraiser can provide the accurate answers to the question of value. While it may not be economical to commission a full appraisal to save a few hundred off your tax bill, often an appraiser can do a limited appraisal for much less, yet with the same conclusions and integrity. An appraisal from a qualified appraiser would be a step in the right direction in any dispute with your local tax assessor.
Highest and best use of land as though vacant:
Because many appraisals include an allocation of property value between land and improvements, a highest and best use analysis of the land as though vacant is performed.
The questions to be answered in this analysis are:
- If the land is, or were, vacant what use should be made of it?
- What type of improvement, if any, should be put on the land and when?
Land value can be based on potential, rather than actual, use. This is the basis for the cost approach.
In the analysis of highest and best use, appraisers must consider not only the suitability of the site for existing or proposed use but also its suitability for alternative uses. They must determine the use that will produce the highest present worth of the site. This determination is used later in the appraisal analysis to ascertain what contribution the improvements are making to the value of the total property
Highest and best use of property as improved
The highest and best use of property as improved is analyzed for two reasons. The first is to identify the property use that can be expected to produce the highest overall return for each dollar of capital invested. The second reason to estimate the highest and best use of property as improved is to help identify comparable properties. Both the highest and best use of land as though vacant and property as improved should be the same or similar for each comparable property as for the subject property.
Highest and best use of the property always takes into consideration existing improvements. When there are existing improvements, the highest and best use of the site may be different from that of the improved property. For property valuation purposes, the applicable highest and best use is that of the improved property, which always includes retention and use of existing improvements.
CONSULTATION
Maybe you feel like you don't need an "appraisal" but you'd still like some help gathering local property and sales data. Our reports help you to make an informed buying decision. We understand the complexities of buying a home and know what you are going through and will do our best to make it easier for you by giving you a high quality, professional appraisal that you can depend on!
When you order an appraisal report from us, you can expect. . . .
- Prompt response to your initial inquiry: We will give you personalized information for your particular appraisal need. Just tell us your situation and we will make suggestions. Do you want to sell your home quickly or for the highest value Quick turnaround time: Typically 2-3 days from the date the request is received. If you've chosen to receive a copy of your appraisal or consulting report via the Internet (EDI), you'll receive it within MINUTES of its completion.
- Appraisal and consulting reports formats to suit YOUR needs: When it comes to appraisal and consulting, "One size does NOT fit all!" We offer a variety of report types and delivery methods.We can deliver your report attached to a standard email, or notify you of an Internet site to download your report, the MINUTE it's completed!
- Quick response to follow-up questions: Our reports are clearly written, understandable, and meet or exceed the Uniform Standards of Professional Practice that governs the appraisal practice. If you have any questions regarding your appraisal, after you've read the report, we encourage you to email or call us!