The real estate appraisal is one of the key steps in the process of getting into a new home. By getting a true value of a home and a property, the appraisal will be able to come up with a fair price along with market value that puts the home in the context of the neighborhood. If you are new to the process, it can be help you to find out how the appraisal works, so you know your role and how the appraisal works as part of the home-buying experience.



Getting an Appraiser

If you are a home buyer, you won’t be the one to set up the appraiser inspection. Usually the mortgage lender has this responsibility. The mortgage company will get an appraiser to help determine the value of a home so the lender can create the best contract based on value. If you want to get your own independent appraiser to check on the values, you can do so, though not very many people do. Appraisers can be found both as stand-alone businesses and through appraisal companies.

About the Length of the Appraisal Process

The appraiser inspection process will not take long, considering how important it is to process. It will probably only take five or fifteen minutes depending on the property, while the appraiser is at the home. Then the appraiser will go to their office and check on the prices and values of other homes in nearby area. They will look for homes that have recently sold and what those prices were. All of this information will go into a report. The report will be about 10 pages and take about four hours to put together. This report goes to the lending institution.

The Difference with an Inspection

The real estate appraisal is only about the value of the home, based on its square footage as measured from outside the home. The systems inside the house aren’t inspected. Rooms can looked at to see how big it is and what may or may not impact the value of the home. An inspection is different, with a different appointment that looks at the safety of the property and the home instead of the value.

What’s the Consumer’s Role?

As a consumer, you don’t have to do much about the appraisal of the home, unless you want to point out the appraiser parts of the home that may not be otherwise apparent. Many of the physical changes should be noticed by the appraiser, but you can point them out just to be sure (especially if you are selling the home).

The entire appraisal process is easy and nothing to fear. Use it as a time to find out the true value of a property and get going on the home purchase road.