If you plan on selling a home in Seattle, you need to know how much your property is worth. A Seattle Home Appraisal will give you the reassurance you need to know you're getting the right price for your home.
A real estate appraisal helps to establish a property's market value, or the likely sales price it would get if offered in an open and competitive real estate market. During an appraisal, a licensed appraiser comes to your house and notes the number and size of the rooms and any extras, such as a fireplace, porch, pool or garage. The appraiser then compares your home and property to other homes that have sold recently with similar features. Using that information, the appraiser estimates your home's value. Appraisals are very detailed reports that include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Details about the subject property, along with side-by-side comparisons of three similar properties.
- An evaluation of the overall real estate market in the area.
- Statements about issues the appraiser feels are harmful to the property's value, such as poor access to the property.
- Notations about seriously flawed characteristics, such as a crumbling foundation.
- An estimate of the average sales time for the property.
- What type of area the home is in.
Home appraisals are necessary when selling a home in order to determine the asking price. However, your lender will also require an appraisal when you ask to use a home or other real estate as security for a loan, to ensure that the property will sell for at least the amount of money it is lending. An appraiser's report is the only valuation report a bank will consider when deciding whether or not to lend the money. In addition, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), a part of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), requires lenders to obtain appraisals of properties securing FHA-insured loans.
Please note: An appraisal is not a home inspection. Appraisers make notations about obvious problems they see, but they do not test appliances, look at the roof, check the chimney or do any other typical home inspection tasks. Never count on an appraisal to help you determine if the home is in good condition. A qualified home inspector must conduct a home inspection.
For more information about appraisers and the work they do, the Bureau of Labor Statistics' (BLS) website contains an Appraisers and Assessors of Real Estate page.
Information on becoming an FHA appraiser is also available. Lenders underwriting FHA loans may only accept appraisals from appraisers on the FHA roster.
Courtesty of USA.gov.