Pre-Listing Appraisal Services

If you’re working with a real estate agent to list your property, more than likelythey’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 unexpected appraisal problems that cause sales to fall through.

We see many examples of people being surprised when they find out the market value of their home is much more than they, or their realtor, thought. In many cases this results in the seller being able to capture a higher net profit, sometimes many thousands of dollars more than anticipated. Others may have an inflated opinion of their home's value and an appraisal can help 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. All this, in addition to the fact that starting "high" and reducing the price multiple times can create a stigma surrounding the home and cause potential buyers to wonder what might be wrong with the property that it has been reduced so many times without being sold. As you can see, a professiponal appraisal by a well trained appraiser, competent in the area you live, is an investment in the home buying/selling process that will almost always pay for itself, and usually many times over.

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. It is important to remember that 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 or any other factor. So a professional appraisal can often help homeowners make the best decisions on investing in their homes and setting a fair sales price.

If you are a seller or an agent, please feel free to call or write us anytime. We welcome your questions and genuinely want to help. There is no fee to call and run a few questions by us.