Hire a home appraiser to find out your home’s value
When it comes time to buy or sell a home, an appraisal to determine the home’s value is an important part of the process. A licensed, objective home appraiser can appraise your home, determine its value, and produce documents that your lender or insurer may require. Learn why you should hire a home appraiser for a qualified, unbiased report of your home’s value.
A local home appraiser is the right professional to hire when you need an appraisal. These professionals are trained, licensed, and qualified to determine your home’s value.
Every state has different licensing requirements for home appraisers, but appraisers must be properly licensed and certified in their state to submit appraisals. Appraisers must be impartial, neutral third parties with no stake in the outcome of an appraisal.
Appraisers may specialize in certain types of properties, so if you’re buying or selling a house, look for one who focuses on residential properties. An experienced appraiser knows what to look for and uses local property value data for comparison, so you’ll get a fair and accurate appraisal.
Most lenders require buyers to pay for an appraisal as part of the lending process. An appraisal confirms the home appraisal value against the market value to ensure the lender is approving the buyer for the right amount of money. A licensed appraiser’s report is required by lenders, as it provides an unbiased assessment of the home’s value.
While home inspectors can identify issues that affect your home’s value, they are not qualified to perform an appraisal. Home inspectors know what can hurt a home appraisal or improve your appraisal value, so you may be able to make improvements after an inspection to raise your home’s value. However, you’ll still need a licensed appraiser to conduct the appraisal itself.
"If the appraisal comes in under the contract price, the buyer can cover the difference, the seller can reduce the price to the appraised value, or they can meet somewhere in the middle. If the buyer is using FHA or VA financing, the only way to proceed is by dropping the purchase price to the appraised value. Buyers may also appeal the appraised value and provide their own sales comps to the appraiser."
— Robert Washington, Founder at Savvy Buyers Realty
Not sure how an appraiser determines the value of a house? An appraisal includes the following steps:
Visual assessment: The appraiser will look at your house and property and note their findings.
Comparable analysis: During this stage, the appraiser compares your house to similar houses in your area that have recently sold.
Neighborhood analysis: The appraiser will also note details about the neighborhood that can affect home value.
An appraisal takes anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours with the appraiser on your property. It may take days or weeks to receive the final appraisal report since the appraiser needs to compile all of the information collected to determine a home’s value.
A home appraisal costs an average of $350, though you may pay more for a large home or one in an area without many comparable properties. In most cases, a buyer will pay for an appraisal on a house they’re looking to purchase, but current homeowners can also get an appraisal for an accurate idea of how much their home is worth.
A home appraisal must be performed by a licensed home appraiser. Determining a home’s value isn’t a DIY task, and homeowners don’t have the experience or necessary certification to conduct an appraisal. You can take steps before an appraisal to improve your appraisal value—DIYing home improvement projects can save you money and add to your home’s value.
