How to Buy a House Appraisal

A house appraisal is used to determine the market value of a home. Homeowners and home buyers often use a house appraisal when they sell or buy a home, insure their home, dispute their property taxes or plan home renovations. Appraisers are trained to evaluate real estate data to come up with an accurate opinion of a home's market value.

Things You'll Need

• Computer with Internet access

Instructions

1. Know the different types of house appraisals. The type of appraisal you choose to buy will depend mostly on how detailed you want the appraisal report to be. There are three different types of house appraisals: the full, the drive-by and the electronic appraisal. A full appraisal report will consider the home's interior and exterior features and compare this information to three other recently sold homes in the area (comps). With a drive-by appraisal, the appraiser will only look at the exterior of the house and will rely mostly on real estate data from tax records, the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and the comps to determine the market value of the home. The electronic appraisal is mostly used by lenders and relies solely on the data collected from the MLS, tax records and other databases to determine the market value of a house.

2. Ask an experienced real estate agent or your lender to recommend an appraiser. An experienced real estate agent regularly works with other real estate professionals and can recommend an appraiser who has knowledge of the homes in your area. Some mortgage companies also hire independent appraisers to conduct appraisals. Contact your mortgage company and ask them to provide you with a list of independent appraisers working in your area

3. Look up state licensing information. A qualified appraiser will be licensed by the state appraisal board. The appraisal board only approves license applications for appraisers who have met the education, experience and assessment guidelines established by the state. You will need to go online to your state's appraisal board or real estate commission website and type in the appraiser's first and last name or contact information to search for information in your state's licensee database.

4. Contact the Better Business Bureau (BBB). Since most appraisers are hired as independent contractors, it is important to get a background report from the BBB to get an idea of how reliable the appraiser is. A BBB reliability report will include background information and details about any consumer complaints that may have been filed against the appraiser. You can look up this information by going online to the BBB website and entering the business name or contact information. If the BBB does not have information about the appraiser, you can request that the BBB develop a report for you.

5. Set up an appointment. Contact the appraiser you have chosen and set up an appointment. With a full appraisal, the appraiser will do a walk-through of your house and look at the outside as well. He will take notes on any damages he sees or renovations that may affect the market value of the house. The appraiser will then use real estate data and information on other homes sold in the area to put together an appraisal report. You can agree beforehand to pay the appraiser when he visits your home or turns in his appraisal report. Appraisers typically charge more than $200 for an appraisal.

References

• How do we find out what the house is worth?
• Purpose of a Real Estate Appraisal

Resources

• Better Business Bureau: Check Out a Business