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30 | JANUARY 22, 2014
FLATHEADBEACON.COM

REAL ESTATE

MONTANA LIFESTYLES
Advantage of Appraisals

By AMY HOAK
and side-by-side comparisons of similar
properties. It will also contain an evalu-
Price your home incorrectly and it ation of the area’s real estate market, no-
could mean a long stay on the market, a tations of major problems with the prop-

inal selling price lower than what the erty that will afect its value and an esti-
house is worth or both. That’s why some mate of the expected time it will take to
homeowners are electing to pay $300 sell the property.
to $400 for an appraisal before putting How an appraisal report is devel-
their homes on the market, said Alan oped: Appraisals are opinions of value,
Hummel, past president of the Appraisal and residential real estate appraisals
Institute.
compare your home with similar homes
Although real estate agents often that have sold. Remember, an appraisal

do their own market analysis to price a is not the same as a home inspection.
property – and many times do a decent Inspections look for physical imper-
job – the appraiser can come in with an fections in the home, making sure it is
independent, unbiased opinion to make structurally sound and so forth.
sure the price is right, Hummel said. In How to get a copy of your apprais-
fact, if a property isn’t getting any se- al: You paid for an appraisal when you
rious lookers, an agent might even en- bought your house. If you didn’t request

courage his or her client to invest in the a copy of the appraisal at the time, you
service for a second pricing opinion, he can request it from your lender – it’s
added. The greater attention to precise your right under federal law.
pricing is a change from years ago, when What to look for in the report be-
a house could be listed at a lofty price fore you sell: Focus on items that had
just to see how much it would fetch.
a negative adjustment – they might be
“Now you’ve got to be competitive a good checklist for elements to update
and you have to know that the ofers or remodel. Examples of issues that

coming in are reasonable,” he said. Also, could cause a negative adjustment: less
if a property spends too much time on than the typical number of baths for
the market, the price it will be able to SHUTTERSTOCK PHOTO
the house’s size, outdated kitchens and
command often decreases, he said, as pointed out.
people are primarily interested in secur- baths, or a one-car garage or no garage in
some buyers will question the reasons Appraisers can also use a cost ap-
ing the home and buying the house. Do- a neighborhood where two- and three-
for the property’s inability to sell.
proach, which will determine the price ing so, however, can remind homeown- car garages are standard.
An appraisal will look at the home tag on a new home built to the same ers of laws found the irst time around, Why an appraisal before your
from a visual standpoint, taking into speciications of the existing home, home hits the market might be wise:
and sellers might want to address cur-
account considerations from the prox- Hummel said. The comparison can be able problems before hitting the market.
The fresh appraisal will help accurately
imity to schools to cracking or laking helpful for newer houses hitting the What should you know about home price the home and ensure it will eventu-
paint, trying to react the way a typical market because it lets sellers know what appraisals? Listed below are ive nug- ally appraise for your asking price at the
purchaser would.
their home is competing with on the gets of appraisal insight, courtesy of the time of the sale. Sellers are sometimes
The appraisal also will analyze the new-construction front.
American Society of Appraisers:
shocked when their house appraises be-
health of the local real estate market, It also might not be a bad idea to dig What the appraisal report in- low the asking price, which could cause a
giving homeowners more personalized through the ile cabinet for the appraisal cludes: Your appraisal – which could deal to fall through or for the seller to be

expectations for selling their home—a report you paid for when you irst bought range in length from two or three pages forced to reduce the home’s price.
feature especially important with the your home.
to more than a hundred, depending on
plethora of national news stories gener- Few spend time reviewing the paper- its scope – will include details about the
alizing the real estate market, Hummel
work at the time it is completed, when
house, a description of the neighborhood
Submitted by the PR Committee of NMAR

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