Appraisal Tips Archives – Boston Appraisal News

Appraisal Boston – Experience Is A Must In This New Real Estate Environment

August 6, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

Back in the good old days, before our current recession, getting a fair and equitable real estate appraisal in Boston was much easier. The market was red hot, prices were soaring, and there were hordes of great comparable properties to research, making a fairly accurate real estate appraisal within the reach of even the greenest appraiser.

How Do You Know What Your Property Is Worth?

Nowadays, it’s a whole new ballgame. Foreclosures and short sales are the name of the game and many would be sellers on sitting on the side lines, which could mean no good comparable properties sold within 6 to 18 months of a property’s listing date. Pricing properties in this environment can become a murky prospect.

That’s why hiring an experienced Boston appraiser who’s seen up and down markets is essential.

Hiring someone with their finger on the pulse of the Boston market will mean the difference between a fair and a skewed appraisal. And, an appraisal figure that is not accurate can kill deals, cheat people out of fair outcomes, and endanger the entire real estate transaction process.

Look for someone who’s been around the block, someone who has been in Boston for a good number of years, someone professional, someone who will provide a very detailed report and who stands behind their assessment. Not all the appraisers in our marketplace have these credentials, not by a long shot.

Go the extra mile, ask a few questions, and kick the tires before moving forward and you could very well save the day.
A sound, fair appraisal in the Boston area, requires local expertise and experience. Don’t balk on price or hire someone based solely on hearsay, or you could very well regret it.

Filed Under: Appraisal Tips Tagged With: home appraisal boston

Real Estate Appraiser In Boston – A Critical But Often Overlooked Player In The Process

August 6, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

When looking to hire a real estate appraiser in Boston the first thing to remember is that appraisers are not a commodity.

We Know The Real Value In Real Estate

There are good appraisers and there are not so good appraisers, never assume that they all know what they’re doing. That mentality could very well cost you a loan, a home refinancement, or thousands on the sale of a property.

Don’t cut corners in this area of the real estate process. A mediocre appraiser will not know the local market and will not know how to select the right comparable properties when assessing the value of a property. A professional, local appraiser needs experience in the Boston market and more especially experience in appraising a wide variety of property types, such as foreclosures, vacant land, investment properties, condos, single family homes, or townhomes.

A sub-par appraiser will often overlook critical details like the exact square footage of a property, high end amenities in a condo building, fireplaces, decks, exact location (on a busy street, or within a certain desirable neighborhood), parking, upgrades and finishes on the kitchens and bathrooms and so on.

All of these factors can sway the final appraisal figure by tens of thousands of dollars in either direction; costing a buyer a loan, a home owner refinancement, and a seller a fair price for their property.

Look for experienced appraisal services local to Massachusetts and the greater Boston area.
Remember hiring the right real estate appraiser in Boston is a critical step in the real estate transaction, one that is sadly and often overlooked.

Filed Under: Appraisal Tips Tagged With: appraisal services

What Does A Lending Institution Look For In An Appraisal?

June 18, 2010 By admin 1 Comment

An appraisal includes a thorough examination of the exterior of the property.

After spending many years building up equity in your home, you may want to put some of that equity to work for you to increase the value of your home or simply to expand the livable space for a growing family. Or, you may be interested in entering the market and selling your home. Whichever the motivation, you will be required to have a professional property appraisal done to determine the value of your home.

Lending institutions will require a professional appraisal so they can determine how much money they can lend you for your home improvement project, or if you are selling, you will need an appraisal to make sure you get the fiar market value for your home when you list it.

When an appraiser performs the appraisal, they will inspect several many different aspects of your property. You may think that tidying up the interior and adding some fresh paint or general cleaning, this may not affect the value they place on your property in the appraisers eyes.

Among the many things the appraiser wil be interested in is the exact location, we all know the first three rules of real estate are location, location location. So, location is crucial to the value. Other considerations are number of bathrooms and bedrooms, the total square footage of the house, what the outsude was constructed with, and other amenities like central air, fireplaces or a fenced in yard.

Major remodeling work done in the interior of your house will have a positive effect as they become major features in the selling process, such as renovated bathrooms or kitchen. As mentioned earlier, minor updates will probably not effect the value.

The appraiser if looking for features of your house that will increase the value of your property. The lending insitutions need to feel confident that if the borrower defaults on their loan, they know exactly how much they can sell the house for so they are protected in their investment.

Filed Under: Appraisal Tips Tagged With: property appraisal

How Do I Find A Real Estate Appraiser?

June 18, 2010 By admin 1 Comment

Locating the best appraiser for you and your property often depends on the type of service you are looking for. If you are a professional that wants to develop a relationship with an appraiser for future work, make sure you determine that they have experience with the types of appraisals you will be needing, such as estate appraisals, FHA appraisals, divorce appriasals, or commercoal appraisals. Each of these appraisal types requires different knowledge and you want to make sure they have the experience needed for each type.

A great way to find a competent, skilled appraiser for your area is to check social media sites like Yelp or Angie’s list. Also, go to Google and type in your town and the word Appraiser (for example ,Boston Appraiser), look over the local listings that appear from your search and review their listings. A good appraiser will have reviews from satisfied customers. A good appraiser will also be highly ranked in the search results in many instances due to multiple reviews and other sites recommending them. Make sure you call and speak to the appraisal company and askany question you have to determine thay are in fact experts in your local market.

Another great resource is of course friends and family. Ask friends and family who have recently been involved in a real estate transaction, see if they had a gret experience with the appraiser and can offer you a recommendation.

Filed Under: Appraisal Tips