How to Get a Free Real Estate Appraisal

Even though a real estate appraisal is inexpensive compared to buying property, it can cost an average of $300 per inspection. For those individuals who are more frugal, however, there are ways to get around the cost and get a real estate appraisal for free.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

1. Ask a real estate agent for a marketing analysis. Real estate agents will provide free real estate appraisals for potential buyers wishing to know the market values of their homes, which may spur the asker to sell his property. However, do not continually ask for a market analysis unless the property will actually be sold in the near future.
2. Contact a bank or credit union to see if they are offering any bargains. Many banks provide free real estate appraisals for people. Anyone not wishing to actually take out a mortgage on her property should read the agreement first and make sure that she is not locked into a mortgage regardless of the appraiser's findings.
3. Place a conservation deed on your property by contacting a local land trust or conservancy (see Resources below). Most conservation deeds are maintained through independent not for profit organizations, who also keep a real estate appraiser on hand as an employee, contractor or volunteer. When you decide to place a conservation easement on your property, the appraiser will perform a real estate appraisal to determine the actual value of the property and the subsequent decline in value due to the placement of the conservation deed.
4. Offer to buy a home from a seller. Someone selling her home must have a real estate appraisal performed on it, and making an offer to buy allows the buyer to see the real estate appraisal for free, since the appraisal plays such a large role in determining the selling price.
5. Look for online real estate appraisers. Websites such as Zillow or Homegain contain the data needed to perform a real estate analysis (see Resources below). Many of these websites are free to use, and can provide a good starting point for appraising the value of your home.
6. Become a real estate appraiser. As a licensed appraiser of property, you can set the rates you will charge for an appraisal, and all that needs to be charged to yourself is the time spent.

Tips & Warnings

• When getting a free real estate appraisal, keep in mind that sometimes you get what you pay for. Treat any free real estate you get with some suspicion, especially if the free appraisal is from an online service. Computers cannot factor in improvements made to the house, nor recent changes to the surrounding property. Computers are also dependent on sales of the house being digitally online, which can be a problem in more rural areas.