Home appraisal tips, process, cost : Bad Credit Advisor

Home appraisal tips, process, cost

It won't be an overstatement to say that home appraisal is more important in today's market than ever before. If you are looking to refinance, buy or sell a home, appraisal process is one you need to understand. What to expect, why it is so important today, what sorts of home appraisal tips can help you, etc. Just a couple of years ago with housing booming, appraisal seemed little more than a necessary cost of doing business, just another silly procedure lenders required. Today however, appraisal process is incredibly important because it is so tough to determine the real value of a home and with banks tightening credit, appraisal emerged as a key variable of whether your deal will get through.

There are many appraisal tips you can find, but the most important one is staying realistic. How much has the value of your house changed in the last 6 months is the 20 million dollar question and one that is hard to answer. Here comes the expert with the state license and his or her unbiased and completely independent opinion. Appraiser has a very straight forward task, to determine if the asking price or the home value stated on your refinance application is lower, higher or just about right vs. with the actual value.

If you are trying to refinance, getting realistic when it comes to your home value is often tough but necessary as it will save you time, money and aggravation. The tip for the home buyers is quite simple, the right appraisal will protect you from paying too much. If you are selling your property, it may be wise to swallow the cost of appraisal that should not exceed $400 for a single family residence before putting it on the market. It is even more important if you are selling yourself.

During the housing boom, many lenders cared little about appraisals. More often than not, mortgage brokers would shop among appraisal companies looking for the highest value. What, you are having problems with Dana? Call Steve, he always gives me the value I need was the constant talk in any mortgage company. Moreover, some lenders and banks simply waived appraisal process altogether, doing instead something called neighborhood price review. Others went even further, pressuring appraisal companies to inflate home values to make loans easier to obtain for more people.

Today, every lender sees any potential real estate transaction or a refinance deal with deep suspicion. And more than ever, banks are relying on independent appraisal companies for clean, unbiased appraisals. And from May 2009, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac barred mortgage broker companies from selecting and assigning appraisals. Only banks have been doing it since.

Appraisal cost ranges from $300 to $400 for a single residential property. Certain markets demand a bit higher prices. Multi family properties cost more. Appraisal is valid for 90 days. Important tip - each bank orders its own appraisal and if you have to go through more than one lender, you must have appraisal with each and every one of them. And the fees are not refundable whether or not you close on your purchase or refinance. You, the borrower pay for the appraisal, and once the job is done it is yours to keep, but you will not get your money back.

How long is the appraisal process? Normally it takes no more than 20 minutes for someone to come to your house and measure it inside and out. To process and to put it in the proper format with comparable sales in your area should not take more than 3 business days, and that if the appraiser is quite busy.

Fri Dec 11, 2009 04:12PM by Tony | More in Mortgage | Comments (0)

Helpful Links

Syndicate

Subscribe in a reader