Appraisal myths & facts

By law, an appraiser needs to be state-licensed to offer appraisals for federally-related purchases. Also by law, you are allowed to receive a copy of the finished report from your lending agency. Contact Harper & Strickland, Inc. if you have any concerns about the appraisal procedure.

Myth: The value that is ascertained by the appraiser is required to be equivalent to the market value.

Fact: It is possible that Texas, like most states, validates the suggestion that the assessed value is no different from the market value; however, this is not often the case. There are times when interior remodeling has occurred and the assessor is has not investigated the improvement or other houses in the Fairview have not been reassessed for a good length of time, it may vary wildly.

Myth: The appraised value of a property will be different depending upon if the appraisal is provided for the buyer or the seller.

Fact: The price of the property does not affect the pay of the appraiser; because of this, the appraiser has no vested interest in the value of the home. This means that he will render services with impartiality and independence regardless for whom the appraisal is produced.

Myth: Any time market value is established, it should be the same as the replacement cost of the property.

Fact: The way market value is arrived at is based on what a buyer would likely pay a willing seller for a property without being under influence from any external party to buy or sell. Replacement cost is the dollar amount necessary to rebuild a house in-kind.

Myth: Specific formulae, such as the price per square foot, are what appraisers use to come to the worth of a home.

Fact: Appraisers complete a detailed analysis of all factors in consideration to the cost of a home, including its location, condition, size, proximity to facilities and recent opinion of value of comparable houses.

Myth: In a powerful economy - when the sales prices of properties in a given county are found to be rising by a particular percentage - the worth of individual properties in the vicinity can be expected to appreciate by that same percentage.

Fact: Any cost at which an appraiser concludes concerning a certain property is always individualized, based on certain factors found from the information of comparable houses and other considerations within the house itself. This is true in good economic times as well as bad.

Myth: You can commonly find what a home is worth simply by looking at the outside.

Fact: To find an accurate value beyond all doubt, an appraiser must examine the property on a variety of factors based on location, condition, improvements, amenities, and market trends. There's no possible way to get all of this information from simply looking at the property from the exterior.

Myth: Since you're the one coughing up the cash for the appraisal when applying for your loan to buy or refinance your house, you own the ordered appraisal report.

Fact: Unless a lender releases its vestment in the appraisal report, it is legally owned by the lending agency that ordered the appraisal. However, consumers have to be given a copy of the document upon written request, under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act.

Myth: There's no need for home buyers to even worry about what the appraisal report contains so long as their lender is satisfied.

Fact: A home buyer should definitely look through their appraisal report; there will probably be some questions or some worries with the accuracy of the appraisal that should be addressed. Remember, this is probably the most expensive and important investment a consumer will ever make. There is an incredible amount of information stored in an report that can be useful to the home buyer in the future, such as the legal and physical description of the property, square footage measurements, list of comparable properties in the neighborhood, neighborhood description and a narrative of current real-estate activity and/or market trends in the region.