Appraisal Costs Info

What Do You Know About – Appraisal Fee Refunds

There are cases where the process of buying a home falls apart, and the first question home buyers ask is: Can I get the home appraisal fee back? Is it refundable? In this short review we will try and cover the main issues concerning appraisal fee refunds.

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Tips How To Increase Your House Appraisal

Avoid A Low House Appraisal Legally

The appraisal process is usually requested by the lender as part of the mortgage approval procedure. This appraisal value will determine the current market value of the home, and the amount of mortgage the buyer will be given. Appraisal problems and low appraisals are the seller greatest worry. Here you can read some professional tips and information how to increase your house appraisal.

How to Legally Increase Your Home Value

There are several things you should not do, increasing your house appraisal needs to be done legally. there are specific laws in each state about which actions are forbidden. In general you should know that trying to ‘inflate’ the house value by influencing the appraiser or by misleading the appraiser is against the law.

The appraiser may file a complaint against you for trying to interfere with their work, and trying to inflate the home value beyond their real market value. For this reason an appraiser may not be given any commission (direct or indirect) from the lender, buyer or the seller in any stage of the deal.

Still there are many ways you can influence the appraisal of your home legally, in most cases it would be ‘helping’ the appraiser and making their life more easy when they are at the reach stage and comparing the current closing with other real estate closed  deals.

In order to find a good appraiser, ask them about the data sources they use to evaluate homes, ask about their appraisal process and before you ask them about their appraisal fees and costs be sure they are certified appraisers.

Understanding The Appraisers Work

How appraisers ‘know’ or evaluate the real market value? They need information so they could compare “apples to apples”. The appraisers are professionals for collecting information and doing property valuations.

The appraiser report will help the lender know how much the house is worth NOW if it is sold on the current market. This is the only way the lender can know they are not giving too much money to the buyer, and by that lowering their risk. In case the buyer fails to be current on their mortgage, and will reach foreclosure, how much the house will be worth if it is was sold promptly.

The appraiser collects data from any source they have to find and compare (comp) three other similar real estate deals within one mile from the home they evaluate, in the last six month. So there are three main parameters to know they will be searching and you can be using to increase your house appraised value:

1. Similar property closed deals.
2. Within one mile.
3. At the last six month.

The appraisers have many public data sources to find out more about the property, such as Data Quick and NDC data, and MLS  (Multiple Listing Services) which real estate agents sometime use. The appraiser needs to evaluate the neighborhood and the community too, as they have influence on the house and the probability to sell it at the current market value. At last there is the house appraisal, when the appraiser takes a look at the house, windows, flooring, roof, heating and sweage..

The Most Important Tip For Increasing Home Appraisal

The most important tip about increasing your house appraisal is to remember the appraiser is a human person like you! They are not an ‘excel sheet’ people which just fills the figures and spits out the total sum. Appraisers are people, they have families, they want free time to spend with them too, they want their job to be easier (searching for information can be frustrating) they will be glad to work with ‘nice’ people, they will be happy to please, they like to be appreciated – they have an ego too.

So instead of focusing on how to increase your house appraised value by manipulating the figures (which may send you to jail) focus on helping the appraiser! Assisting them with new data, with new sources for information, with new insights of the property, neighborhood and community.

How To Increase Your House Value With Markets Insights

The real estate appraiser needs a ‘Comp’ they need at least three similar deals they can compare your house to, the deals needs to be at the close surrounding (1 mile) and they need to be current (last 6 month). Since you live in your neighborhood you can increase your house appraisal by beginning to collect comparable deals. They need to compare ‘apples to apples’, and your job is to help them do exactly that.

How are you going to do it, simply by either finding more ‘apples’ which are similar closed deals to your house value, or learning why similar deals (‘apples’) are actually ‘bananas’ because they where sold lower for reasons which are incomparable to yours.

The best way is to reach all local real estate agents, real estate lawyers, lenders and mortgage brokers. Each of these professionals are experts for the local real estate markets from different aspects.

• The real estate agents can share with you on sales they know that taken place in the last 6 month. You might be doing a better job than the appraiser who is overloaded with work, and find high value closed deals the appraiser might have missed.
• The real estate can share insights about closed deals which may be low. If a person was stressed to sell for a financial reason or needed a surgery, they might accept a lower price for their house. The appraiser might see a house sold for 15% lower than it should, and may want to compare it with your house. The real estate information might make that deal non-comparable  -’apples to bananas’.

How To Increase Your Appraisal With Maintenance Records

The appraiser will check the house to see that it is in a good condition. If the appraiser is an FHA appraiser the house appraisal will be much more thorough and there will be many aspects checked to see the place is safe and secure for proper living. Read here further on what FHA appraisal inspects.

The appraiser need to know the house was maintained and well kept. You can help them by keeping and showing maintenance proof of projects you have done. Find the handy people who have done the projects for you, search for the invoices as evidence for how much you have invested. Keep the names of the companies you hired for the roof repair, the window changing.

If you have done some of the maintenance jobs by yourself, show what you have bought and from where. If you have prepare ‘before’ and ’after’ photos of changes.

What To Do Before The Appraiser Shows Up

There are plenty of ideas what to do and how to prepare your house for appraisal. The funny thing about these tips, is that they never really ‘raise the appraisal’, but if you do not prepare your home for appraisal, they might lower the value.

As mentioned above the appraiser is a person, they evaluate with their eyes. The look & feel is very important. Any normal person seeing a dirty house, full dusty furniture, with broken door knobs and torn curtains, will have a difficult time not to ‘punish’ the property by a lower estimated value.

So before the appraiser comes:

1. Clean the drive way – first impression!
2. Plant fresh flowers. Or at least water the garden.
3. Send your dog (cats and even kids) somewhere else. Let the appraiser be free.
4. Get rid of furniture. It will make any room feel ‘larger’ than it is.
5. Open windows/curtains for fresh air and natural light.
6. Close windows if there are noise hazards close by.
7. Fix all small knobs, handles, bulbs, lights.
8. Repaint cracked walls, clean carpets.
9. Clean the kitchen! Dust the living room.
10. Place nice scents at the bathrooms and toilets.
11. Clear passages to attics, rooftops, basements.
12. Repair any heating, cooling, electricity, sewage, damp walls etc…

What To Do While The Appraiser Is Evaluating

When the appraiser comes to evaluate the property, it is best that you are there to show around, explain and answer their questions. The appraisers time is valuable like anyone Else’s, so make sure they can reach any thing they need to check easily.

Have the keys to any locked doors, have a clear passage to the attic and basements, make sure you know where the electricity main box is, and main water installations.

Do not follow the appraiser like a puppy from room to room, leave them some ‘space’ to feel they can look freely. Be around, they might want to ask you something, so you need to be close by answer.

Have all the invoices, proof and evidence you have prepared to show what had been replaced, when and how much was invested. Prepare a file with all the information you have collected, give it to the appraiser once they have finished their inspection. Tell them what’s inside, so they will know if it saves them some of the work.

Make sure the files contain contact information of people you have talked with, so the appraiser will have an easy task finding them. Write in short (and accurate) what they have found or shared with you. The appraiser now knows that he can not give an appraisal report which is too low, without having to confront the information you have gathered.

 Increasing Your Appraisal Conclusion

As you have seen there are plenty of legal ways to raise your house appraisal report. It takes some homework and investigations, but the outcome may be worth the efforts. Begin collecting data as soon as you can so you will have enough time to build a solid appraisal assistance report for your home.

Related Articles You Might Be Interested To Read:

1. How To Find A Good Appraiser
2. What FHA Appraiser Property Inspection Includes
3. Home Appraisal Costs & Fees Examples

How To Find A Good Appraiser

Finding The Best Home Appraiser

When you come to think of it, finding a good appraiser can have a huge impact on your financial position. For most people owning a home or buying a home is their life’s biggest investment. In order for you to proceed in the mortgage process the lender or the bank will ask for an appraisal offer to evaluate the market worth of the residential real estate. Even though you will be paying appraiser fees and costs the bank is the customer and they get the report.

Appraisal Basic Guidelines

Before you find an appraiser, lets find out what an appraiser needs to do, and then it will be easier to understand how to find a good appraiser.

The appraiser will need to evaluate the residential real estate for its market value. For the mortgage appraiser to be able to do that, he will need to compare the residential real estate to three other homes, which have similar parameters (rooms, garage, size etc…), and the comparison need to be in the close local area, usually 1 mile away.

The appraiser may look at more public records and documentations to evaluate the real estate, tax info, county info, courts publications and more.

What Makes An Appraiser a Good One

State Licensed or Certified

As the customer you can request to know whether the appraiser visiting your place is state licensed or certified appraiser. This may sound similar to you but there are differences, especially when the whole appraisal evaluation is based on experience and knowledge to locate similar property deals and compare them.

A licensed appraiser means the person have a 6 month of experience, that he passed state exams. Certification requires an additional classroom hours, plus an additional experience.

Do Your Homework

Google search the appraiser name, search his resume, you need to be sure he has enough experience in the area you live in, and with residential real estate like yours.

Go to the local banks and mortgage lenders, ask them about appraisers. The banks work with so many appraisers they can recommend those who are honest and have fair reports without flaws. This tip goes to mortgage and loan brokers, they too, know and work daily with appraisers.

The best source for information for you to find a good appraiser, is asking the real estate brokers! They have local experience, and know which appraiser is new, and which has accurate reports. They are the ones who can even help you gather comparable information, to give the appraiser to help avoid a low appraisal.

Be Involved In The Appraisal Process

You will see the good appraiser walking around the house, taking pictures, checking attics and basements (FHA appraisal check safety parameters too). Walk with him (her) ask him questions, evaluate for your self how experienced he is.

If the lender has sent the appraiser, (even if the appraiser costs are later paid by you) than they are the clients and unless you request a copy, the appraiser will not provide one for you. Check the home appraisal report – You may be surprised that the appraiser missed crucial elements that can affect the report.

No Logic Appraisal Comparison

Unless there is something unique concerning your property, the appraisal report should be give or take $5000 higher or lower than the tax assessor. As the appraiser are evaluating with their eyes, experience and knowledge, there can be some span for personal evaluation errors. If the ‘span’ is $20’000 far than the tax assessor estimation, than this is worth a more thorough investigation.

Psychology Of A Good Appraiser

The good appraiser need to have some communication skills and personal ability to follow  all the leads and pieces of information into one clear picture. Because no real estate deal is ever similar to another (the place, the buyer, the seller, the timing) a lot of information needs to be processed by the appraiser.

A good appraiser needs to be a very good interviewer, able to get people to talk, mingle around to collect all the information which can not be found in the books. You can expect a good appraiser to be curious and wants to find out the real story. When a home is sold for less or more than the comps value price, there is usually a story behind it.

To avoid a low appraisal, a good appraiser asks questions, everyone and all the time. As the appraiser is just visiting the neighborhood, he needs to be looking beyond the comps, to analyzes and consider a wider angle to what the figures tell.

What FHA Appraiser Property Inspection Includes

Specific FHA Appraiser Inspection Guidelines

Many people who need FHA appraisal evaluation do not know what to expect and what do the FHA approved appraisers really check in their FHA property inspection.

There are many myth and absent information on the FHA appraisers inspection requirements, in this short review you can follow some of the current FHA appraisal 2011 guidelines.

Who Needs a FHA Appraisal Inspection

It is usually the buyer that applies for a FHA home loan, that find that the first FHA loan requirement is to have the property the mortgage loan is asked for have an appraisal check. Not any appraiser can do this kind of check up, only those approved by the FHA can submit the appraisal evaluation for the home they have inspected.

They seller has also an interest to undergo such an inspection, because if their property passes and gets high evaluation appraisal, then their price can be rock solid and they know the property can sold to many other FHA loan prospects, which makes it a ‘buyers market’ for their real estate!

What Does a FHA Appraisal Check?

As you can already see the FHA Appraisal Guidelines are strict and made for the best interest of the borrower and for the lender. Here you can get some insights what are the FHA appraiser and inspectors are going to look for in your property working under the 2011 FHA appraisal guidelines:

1. FHA Appraisal Property Inspection - Appliances, the appraiser will want to see that the home is livable, this means that there are minimum house appliances such as a stove in the kitchen, a dishwasher or air ventilation/cooler (at warm weather) – and if there are they must be in proper working condition. Water pressure, proper flushing toilets, sight and temperature check by turning of faucets checking to see if the hot and cold water is working properly.
2. Crawl Space or Attic Space FHA Inspection - When people buy a home, there are places outside the living areas that can not be un-attended, such as crawling space or attics. The appraiser is guided to check for evidence of excessive dampness or water pooling. The same is expected for a check the attic for proper ventilation.
3. FHA Appraiser Will Inspect Propertys’ Roof  -  The FHA appraiser must determine if the property roof has at least two years of same condition left without need for renovation. This is to secure the lender that the place being sold will hold at least two winters. A leaking roof which cause moisture leakage into the house will force the new buyer to undergo expensive renovations which may endanger their ability to continue the proper monthly payments. If the FHA loan for is a condominium, there is no roofing inspection.
4. FHA Inspection Of Electric and Heating- One parameter check the appraiser is going to do, is to find out that each of the habitable rooms in the house have adequate heating (at cold areas) or cooling (in hot areas). This FHA appraisal inspection is meant to make sure summer heat, or winter cold protection are present as each can cause death. Conventional heating systems would be checked to see they maintain a temperature of at least 50 degrees F.
5. Property Inspection of electric wiring in the house. As poor wiring has a higher risk for fire, presence of smoke detectors can be requested too.
6. Appraisal Check Hot Water Heater- In many places the hot water heater is as dangerous as a domestic bomb… the combination of either gas tubes, electric wiring, open flame components needs to be in perfect safety condition. If the domestic water heater is oil heated, then the outside oil tank unit needs to be a safe distance away. 
7. FHA Appraisal Check Lead-based Paint - The appraiser will check when the house was built, in cases that the property was built before 1978 and there is potential that the property paint coat used was lead based paint, the FHA appraiser will search for any peelings, flakes or chipping. In case of peels and paint cracks a cover up paint coat is not enough, and the lead paint needs to be scratched off entirely. In the same matter any environmental problems like asbestos would need to be removed.
8. FHA Appraisal Validate Windows- Expect the appraisal evaluation to inspect the windows and doors, the check is to determine the risk the hold for the new home buyers in case of fire and evacuation. No windows can be left broken, windows should be able to be opened, if burglar bars are placed they should have opening option from the inside in case of a fire.

More things that FHA appraisal guidelineswill inspect while visiting for the home property check: Sewer systems, wells, and water quality; conformity of property to the neighborhood (The property maybe entirely appropriate at another location, but not in its actual location); off site improvements (street surface, curbs, sidewalks, curb cuts, driveways); potential for termite infestation; energy efficiency; basements; flooring and carpets; and more..

FHA Appraisal Property Inspection

When the inspection is done, the appraiser will submit the appraisal report to the FHA and based on this assessment the FHA loan limit will be determined. Only homes that comply with them all will be eligible for FHA home loans.

From here the FHA loan requirements will proceed for the borrower financial check up and income analysis, to make sure they are stable and risk free to obtain the lenders only and pay back the loan regularly.

Home Appraisal Costs & Fees Examples

Real Estate Appraisal Fees

Many people who begin the process of applying for a mortgage loan, face the need for an appraisal inspection to validate the market value of the property. For this they need to have an appraisal service, and like other services people do not know how much does appraisal cost?

There is not flat straight figure how much does  home appraisal cost, but there are some appraisal guidelines that can give you a fairly close assumption how much an appraisal fees are expected. You must know that any measures trying to influence the appraiser or manipulate his appraisal property inspection and evaluation of market worth report is against regulations and can be reported as a complaint against you.

How Much Costs A Home Appraisal

There are some basic parameters that influences the appraisal costs and fees:

• Size of property
• Complexity of property
• Exterior Only (‘Drive by’) or Interior Inspection
• Distance From Appraisal Office

Size of property – For example if its a one family or four family, if its a small home or a ranch… The appraiser will need to find information to compare related closed deals and in a neighborhood town this will be easier than in a suburb location.

Complexity of property – If the place has its own unique features those make the evaluation more complex thus more expensive (pool, ranch, stable,) are just examples to parameters that influence the appraisal fees.

You can see some appraisal fees examples, these examples are general and probably would be differ from state to state, and from province to province. Except from this each appraiser has his/her own set of parameters what is complex and how ‘deep’ does exterior appraisal check up goes.

Appraisal Costs Examples

Single Family Residential & Condominium Appraisal
$400.00 – $475.00

Exterior Only Single Family Residential & Condo Appraisal
$350.00 – $400.00

Manufactured Dwelling Appraisal
$550.00 – $600.00

Two to Four Unit Residential Appraisal
$500.00 plus $50.00/unit – $550.00 plus $50.00/unit

Vacant Residential Land Appraisal
$500.00 and up depending upon complexity.

Other Appraisal Fees Options

There are FHA approved appraisers and their fees maybe a little higher as their FHA appraiser guidelines are more strict and extended to other interior safety and domestic inspections.

The VA have a maximum appraisal limit set, which can be seen in the VA loan website.