What is a Home Appraisal? | Real Estate Appraisal Alert

If you have never had a home appraisal done before, or if it has been some time since you have; you may be wondering just what to expect and how to prepare to have your home appraised.

What is an Appraisal?

What exactly is an appraisal and what does an appraiser do?

A real estate appraisal is a market valuation of a property. The appraisal report is most typically used by lenders to calculate the loan-to-value ratio.

After receiving the assignment, the appraiser will pull all relevant county and MLS (Multiple Listing Service) data for the subject property. The appraiser will then inspect the property, usually both inside and out, taking measurements and photos of each area. Some appraisers will look in areas such as closets, garden sheds, attics and crawl spaces. Most lenders require interior photos. After the inspection, the appraiser will review comparable sales for the subject property in order to find a true market value.

My schedule is complicated. Will that be a problem?

The appraiser will work with you to set a convenient time to inspect your home. You will want to keep in mind that in most cases the lender has a strict timeline to maintain and you will need to coordinate the time with your appraiser as soon as possible (after they have contacted you). Long delays in scheduling can hamper the process with your lender.

If roadblocks in your schedule may postpone the appraisal you will want to communicate that to your appraiser and lender right away so that those can be accommodated. Expect to be available for approximately 30 minutes to 1 hour at your property. The appraiser could need more or less time depending on the size and complexity of your home ie: amount of rooms, square footage, additional buildings on your property, extensive home improvement, unique characteristics, etc.

Do I need to do anything before the appraiser arrives?

The appraiser will need to photograph your home but will respect your privacy. Photos taken will only be used for the purpose of evaluating your home. If you have any personal items that you do not want in the photographs it would be a good idea to put these away before the appraiser arrives. Also if you have any pets that may be upset by strangers in the home; you may wish to make arrangements for them during the appraisal. If there are large dogs outside, gate codes, or anything that would impede your appraiser from accessing your property; please communicate these to your appraiser and make arrangements accordingly.

I?ve spent a lot of money on home improvements. Will this make a difference in my appraisal?

The appraiser will need to see all areas of the home inside and out, and around the property. If you have done improvements to your home or property you will want to be prepared to discuss these with your appraiser. Have all relevant information handy to relay to them in order to obtain the most accurate profile of your home. You will also want to be prepared that not all improvement makes a large difference in value. This is sometimes hard to accept when we?ve put our own hard work into a project, but the appraiser has to look at it from the point of true market value regardless of the actual dollar amount or amount of time spent on home improvements. Some updates can increase the condition of the home and may impact the appraisal. If a comparable sale has similar upgrades, there will be no adjustment made. Please note that sales may have had different upgrades completed, but the overall affect may match that of your property. The total cost to remodel the home may not be reflected dollar for dollar; it is based off of a market reaction?how much extra a buyer would be willing to pay for these features.

I don?t understand my bathroom/room count on my appraisal. Why does it say I have 3.2 bathrooms?

Once you receive a copy of your appraisal, you may have a few questions; such as: ?Why does my appraisal say my home has less beds/baths, or square footage than it actually has?? Due to Fannie Mae (FNMA) guidelines and the Uniform Appraisal Dataset (UAD) requirements, areas of your home have to be reported in a specific manner.? For example a typical 2 and a half bath home will not be reported as 2.5 bathrooms as you would expect, but rather as 2.1; half baths are counted beyond the decimal. For instance; if you had 3 full bathrooms and 2 half bathrooms, it would read 3.2. ? bathrooms are now counted as full bathrooms; so if you have 1 full bath and a ? bath it would read as 2 bathrooms.

In regard to square footage; if any space is considered below grade, it will be reported separately from the above grade areas. Also for a space to be considered in the square footage count it must have a ceiling height of at least 7 feet. If a room?s ceiling is sloped, no portion of the finished area that has a height of less than 5 feet can be included. You will also want to note that in order for a space to qualify as a bedroom it must have a heat source, a window, a closet, and it cannot be accessed through an unfinished space.

Throughout the appraisal process your appraiser will work to make the experience as quick and convenient for you as possible. Most homeowners find the appraisal process to be one of the easier steps in refinancing or purchasing a home. We at WCCI strive to make sure this continues to be the case. We monitor all of our appraisals very closely. We also encourage honest feedback and send out review forms to our customers asking them to rate the quality of their experience with our company. This way we can be sure we are always providing the best service possible to all of our customers!

If you ever need more information on reading your appraisal; please contact us and request a copy of our Homeowner FAQs Brochure.

WCCI

1-800-998-7680

Source: http://realestateappraisalalert.com/what-is-a-home-appraisal/

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