A home appraisal is a key component of a mortgage process.<\/p>\n
It’s a professional judgment of a home’s value, employed whenever a mortgage is used in the purchase, refinance, or sale of a real estate property.<\/p>\n
To determine the house\u2019s value, the appraiser conducts an on-site inspection, evaluates the external and internal features, and makes a comparison to recent and comparable sales, within the neighborhood where this property is located.<\/p>\n
Since the property acts as collateral in the event that the borrower defaults, the lender wants to ensure that the loan isn’t too large in comparison to the property’s worth. \u00a0Comps are used as a baseline for property value and must be as near to identical as possible to the home being bought or sold, to ensure an accurate appraisal.<\/p>\n
Real estate appraisers consider many details to determine a home’s value. The appraiser will do market research and usually visit the home to examine the property<\/p>\n
Any positive or negative site influences must be observed and documented by an appraiser. The checklist of an appraiser includes things like lot shape, topography, positive views like water, mountains, or valleys, and negative views like powerlines, industrial facilities, or a cemetery, as well as traffic noise, also known as traffic pollution.<\/p>\n
Aside from the immediate exterior, the appraiser considers the location<\/a> of the house, whether it is in an urban, suburban, or rural setting, and the type of neighborhood.<\/p>\n