Pre-Listing
Appraisal Services
If you’re working with a real estate
agent to
list your property, more than
likely they’ll provide you
with a
Comparative Market Analysis (CMA)
that lists selected sales in your area
as one of the first steps in determining
what to set as the “Listing Price". This
step is vital if you're going to
maximize your profit and minimize the
home’s time on the market.
But even if you're working with the most
experienced real estate agent, it's
probably in your best interest to have
an "objective" third-party's opinion of
value prior to signing a Listing
Agreement. And that’s where we come
in. We can provide you with a
pre-listing appraisal so both you and
your agent have an accurate description
of your home's features and a detailed
analysis of the most recent and similar
"comparable sales" or as they're
commonly called, "Comps". In addition to
helping you set a realistic selling
price so your home will attract buyers,
a professional appraisal can:
-
Be a very
valuable negotiating tool once you
have a potential buyer
-
Impress
buyer’s with written proof of your
home’s condition inside and out
-
Make yourself
aware of problems and eliminate
last-minute repair hassles that
might delay a closing
-
Decrease the
chances of unknown problems that
cause sales to fall through
-
Eliminate the
wait for the buyer or their mortgage
company to get the appraisal done on
their own
Many people are
surprised when they find out that the
market value of their home is much more
than they thought, so investing in a
professional appraisal actually allowed
these people to receive several thousand
more dollars than they thought they
would when their home was sold. Others
have an inflated opinion of their home's
value and an appraisal helped them to
realistically price their home in order
for it to sell. An overpriced home will
not attract buyers, which means no
offers and no closing and that you have
wasted valuable time, money, and
efforts.
Improvements to add value
In addition to “how much?”, there may be
other important questions to ask
yourself before listing your home.
Questions like ''Would it be better to
paint the entire house before we sell
it?”, ''Should I put in that third
bathroom?'', ''Should I complete my
kitchen remodel?'' Many things which we
do to our houses have an effect on their
value. Unfortunately, not all of them
have an equal effect. While a kitchen
remodel may improve the appeal of a
home, it may not add nearly enough to
the value, to justify the expense.
We can step in and help make these
decisions. Unlike a real estate agent,
an appraiser has no vested interest in
what amount the house sells for. Our
appraisal fees are based on efforts to
complete the report and not a percentage
of the sales price. So a professional
appraisal can often help homeowners make
the best decisions on investing in their
homes and setting a fair sales price.