Real Estate Appraisers & Consultants
Real Estate Appraisers & Consultants
- Mortgages
- Foreclosures
- Updates
- Employee Relocation
- FHA
- Estate Planning
- REO
- PMI Removal
- Reviews - Field & Desktop
- Partial Release
- Desktops
- Servicing
- Single Family
- 2-4 Multi-Family
- Land
- Condos
- Townhomes
- Manufactured
- Modular Homes
- Delivery 2 - 5 business days from your order date
- Quality Appraisal Reports
- On-line Status Reports
- Electronic Ordering and Delivery
- Competitive Fees
Appraisal Info
A home purchase is the largest, single investment most people will ever make. Whether it’s a primary residence, a second vacation home or an investment, the purchase of real property is a complex financial transaction that requires multiple parties to pull it all off.
Most of the people involved are very familiar. The Realtor is the most common face of the transaction. The mortgage company provides the financial capital necessary to fund the transaction. The title company ensures that all aspects of the transaction are completed and that a clear title passes from the seller to the buyer.
So who makes sure the value of the property is in line with the amount being paid? There are too many people exposed in the real estate process to let such a transaction proceed without ensuring that the value of the property is commensurate with the amount being paid.
This is where the appraisal comes in. An appraisal is an unbiased estimate of what a buyer might expect to pay – or a seller receives – for a parcel of real estate, where both buyer and seller are informed parties. To be an informed party, most people turn to a licensed, certified, professional appraiser to provide them with the most accurate estimate of the true value of their property.
So what goes into a real estate appraisal? It all starts with the inspection. An appraiser’s duty is to inspect the property being appraised to ascertain the true status of that property. He or she must actually see features, such as the number of bedrooms, bathrooms, the location, and so on, to ensure that they really exist and are in the condition a reasonable buyer would expect them to be. The inspection often includes a sketch of the property, ensuring the proper square footage and conveying the layout of the property. Most importantly, the appraiser looks for any obvious features – or defects – that would affect the value of the house.
Once the site has been inspected, an appraiser uses two or three approaches to determining the value of real property: a cost approach, a sales comparison and, in the case of a rental property, an income approach.
The cost approach is the easiest to understand. The appraiser uses information on local building costs, labor rates and other factors to determine how much it would cost to construct a property similar to the one being appraised. This value often sets the upper limit on what a property would sell for. Why would you pay more for an existing property if you could spend less and build a brand new home instead? While there may be mitigating factors, such as location and amenities, these are usually not reflected in the cost approach.
Instead, appraisers rely on the sales comparison approach to value these types of items. Appraisers get to know the neighborhoods in which they work. They understand the value of certain features to the residents of that area. They know the traffic patterns, the school zones, the busy throughways; and they use this information to determine which attributes of a property will make a difference in the value. Then, the appraiser researches recent sales in the vicinity and finds properties which are ”comparable” to the subject being appraised. The sales prices of these properties are used as a basis to begin the sales comparison approach.
Using knowledge of the value of certain items such as square footage, extra bathrooms, hardwood floors, fireplaces or view lots (just to name a few), the appraiser adjusts the comparable properties to more accurately portray the subject property. For example, if the subject property has an extra half-bathroom and the comparable does not, the appraiser might add a certain amount to the comparable property.
In the case of income producing properties – rental houses for example – the appraiser may use a third approach to valuing the property. In this case, the amount of income the property produces is used to arrive at the current value of those revenues over the foreseeable future.
Reasons to Get an Appraisal
Every year, countless people in the United States buy, sell or refinance their own slice of the American Dream. Most, if not all, of these transactions include a simple line item for an appraisal. It has become an understood and accepted part of a real estate transaction. “Let’s bring in the expert and make sure we’re not spending too much on this property.”
But is this the only reason to get an appraisal? Are there other times when the services of a certified, licensed, independent real estate professional might come in handy? You bet.
Private Mortgage Insurance or PMI is the supplemental insurance that many lenders ask home buyers to purchase when the amount being loaned is more than 80% of the value of the home. Very often, this additional payment is folded into the monthly mortgage payment and is quickly forgotten. This is unfortunate because PMI becomes unnecessary when the remaining balance of the loan – whether through market appreciation or principal paydown – dips below this 80% level. In fact, the 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.
Many appraisers offer a specific service for home owners that believe they have met the 80% loan-to-value metric. As a home owner, a request can be made of the lender to remove PMI. Upon an agreement between the home owner and lender and appraisal will be ordered by the lender. The costs of these services are very often recovered in just a few months of not paying the PMI.
If you need to consolidate bills, have a college tuition to pay, or just want to tap into the equity of your home, you’ll need a new loan, which oftentimes requires a new appraisal of the property.
We understand the stress involved with an employee relocation. We take great care in establishing a convenient appointment time for the appraisal inspection. During our thorough inspection, we encourage relocating employees to provide input on the positive attributes of their property along with information about any recent sales or listings in their neighborhood that they want considered.
The loss of a loved one is a difficult time in life and settling an estate from a death, or probate, often requires an appraisal to establish Fair Market Value for the residential property involved. The ethics provision within the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) binds us with confidentiality, ensuring the fullest degree of discretion.
Unlike many wealthy individuals, the majority of Americans do not have dedicated estate planners or executors to handle these issues. Also, in most cases, a home or other real property makes up a disproportionate share of the total estate value.
Here too, an appraiser can help. Often the first step in fairly disposing of an estate is to understand its true value. Where property is involved, the appraiser can help determine the true value. At this point, equitable arrangements can more easily be arrived at among disputing parties. Everyone walks away knowing they’ve received a fair deal.
Other Information
Our company is on the FHA Roster of approved residential appraisers. We’re qualified and approved to do appraisals for FHA insured loans. We’re trained and understand the rules and procedures in FHA’s guidance and policy documents.
If you’re in need of an appraisal for an FHA loan, please contact us and we’ll be able to help you right away.
An FHA loan is insured by the Federal Housing Administration, a federal agency within the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The FHA does not loan money to borrowers, rather, it provides lenders protection through mortgage insurance (MIP) in case the borrower defaults on his or her loan obligations. Available to all buyers, FHA loan programs are designed to help creditworthy low-income and moderate-income families who do not meet requirements for conventional loans. Remember, the FHA is different from the VA appraiser panel in that the lender can choose the appraiser.
FHA loan programs are particularly beneficial to those buyers with less available cash. The rates on FHA loans are generally market rates, while down payment requirements are lower than for conventional loans.
Homes in foreclosure and homes that have reverted to your institution’s ownership present special appraisal challenges. At R & C Associates, LLC, we’re more than ready and able to help.
For a property in foreclosure, you may need to know the difference between fair market value and “quick disposition” value, to know your potential charge-off liability. At R & C Associates, LLC, we have experience in both providing snapshots of fair market value for our mortgage lending and servicing clients as well as “quick sale” forecasts that understand your timeline.
Owners of property in foreclosure, of course, present special challenges. They may be unwilling to allow an inspection of the property. If they have abandoned the property already, they may have neglected care of the home for some time — or worse, caused damage. We have the experience and training to deal with the special dynamics of a foreclosure appraisal, and you should not hesitate to rely on us.
For a property that has already reverted to Real Estate Owned, you likewise will be interested in a quick disposition. But you may want to know and compare three values: As-is, as repaired, and “quick sale.” These represent the value of the property without any work done to it, with the work required to make the property marketable to full market value commensurate with competing properties in the area, and, somewhere in-between, with minimal investment in repairs — selling the property quickly, probably as a “fixer-upper.” Again, we understand your timeline and the unique circumstances of an REO property, as well as the special information you’ll need — competing listings, market trends, and the like.
Please browse our website to learn more about our qualifications, expertise and services offered.
Time is money. This is never more true than when you or your company need an appraisal of your “old” home when you’re relocating to a new area for work.
When you put your “old” home on the market and take advantage of your employer’s relocation assistance, you’re interested not in the “fair market value” of the home, but its anticipated sales price, typically as soon as possible — usually not to exceed 120-180 days.But the need for speed doesn’t mean the relocation appraisal is a more simple matter than your average lending/mortgage appraisal. Quite to the contrary. It entails special expertise, training and skills on the part of the appraiser or appraisal firm you select.
When we perform a relocation appraisal, we consider recent closed sales but also competing listings in the area as well as pending sales. We offer a forecast of the likely sales price you can rely on, considering the dynamics of the neighborhood at the time of the relocation. All relocation appraisals are reported on the standard ERC Residential Appraisal Report form, the industry’s accepted relocation appraisal format.
If you’re a relocation services company in need of a local appraiser, look no further.Our professional relocation appraisal service is backed by our superior service, turn time, and knowledge of the market. Whether you’re an employee or a service company seeking a relocation appraisal professional, please browse our website to learn more about our qualifications, expertise and services offered.
Rodney Lloyd
Real Estate AppraiserSan Antonio, TX 78259