FAQs

1. What is an appraisal?

A real estate appraisal is an unbiased, professional estimate of the fair market value of a particular property at a particular time, as made by an appraiser. The appraisal represents the fair market price a potential buyer would pay for the property in a competitive open market.

2. What is involved in an appraisal?

Appraisers follow federally accepted guidelines, which govern the ethical and legal aspects of the appraisal reporting process. These guidelines are known as USPAP (Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice). Several items considered are: location of property, age, quality of construction, type of construction (wood, brick, etc.) as well as obvious items such as privacy and views. Then the appraiser determines the “highest and best use” of the property.
· A couple mortgage guidelines for a home appraisal are:
· Locating sales within six months of the “as of date” of the inspection (if available) and
· Locating sales within one mile of the subject property (if available)
· The sales information used is data collected and made available by two primary sources:
· County registrar of deeds ( city hall) and
· Realtors (multi-list services)
Using this sales approach (or market data approach) for establishing the appraiser’s opinion of value, for the property, is the most typical and most recognized approach today in our local real estate residential market.

3. What is your average turn-around-time?

Although there are often exceptions to the rule, if the appraiser does not experience any difficulties, (for example, limited sales in your area, resource information unavailable) our appraisers average a 3-5-business day turn-around-time after the date of inspection, for standard appraisal reports. For faster service, we have the option of servicing a 2-day turnaround for an additional $100.00 fee in most areas.

4. How do I pay for my appraisal?

There are a variety of different methods in which we receive payments.
· Option 1: C.O.D.
With a C.O.D payment the appraiser will collect the fee at the time of inspection from the homeowner.
· Option 2: Pay by credit card
For your convenience we accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover cards with an additional $10 processing fee.
· Option 3: Bill payment method
All invoices are due within 30 days from invoice date.

5. When the appraisal is completed who has ownership of the report?

According to the statement within the USPAP, (Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice) on Appraisal Standards No. 9 (SMT-9), the person who engages the appraiser’s services are the client. The determining factor is not who pays for the appraisal, or how it is paid, but who contacted the appraiser in the first place and placed the appraisal order. This person is the client. In many, if not most cases, the homeowner pays for the appraisal either directly to the appraiser or indirectly through the lender, thus payment for services is not a determining factor. For example, an appraiser is contacted by a lender and asked to appraise a property for loan purposes and the homeowner pays the appraisal fee directly to the appraiser at the door on the date of inspection, it is the lender who is the client, not the homeowner and the appraiser cannot give a copy of the report to anyone without the lenders consent.

Lenders are required by Federal Law (the Equal Credit Opportunity Act) to furnish a copy of the appraisal to the borrower, if the borrower requests a copy in writing. In the above example, if the homeowner wants a copy of the appraisal, they need to contact the lender directly. The use of the appraisal is for only the use of the client, and no other third party involved.

6. What is an FHA appraisal?

An FHA appraisal is a government loan, which has specific guidelines that must be met per HUD. Because of stricter guidelines repairs may be required.

7. How will my appraisal report be delivered to me?

There are several options for receiving your appraisal:

· Option 1: Electronically
We are fully able to email your report to you for the speediest delivery. The appraisal report will be sent to you via PDF format. Your company must have the ADOBE reader in order to read the appraisal. You may download the ADOBE software, free of charge, from our website if you do not all ready have this option in your system. Just click on the web link, located on this website under company info, and follow the instructions. All you need is an e-mail address, ADOBE reader and a color printer and you have the original appraisal in your hands. It’s that easy.

· Option 2: Overnight delivery.

If you provide us with your overnight account number, we will make sure you receive your appraisal by the following day of completion of the report. If you do not have an overnight account number, we charge an additional $25 fee.

· Option 3: Regular mail.

8) Does your company provide pre-comps?

Per USPAP (Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice) guidelines, we are unable to provide pre-comps. If we did, that would be considered an appraisal. Without inspecting the condition of the subject involved, we are unable to determine if the estimated value that may be provided is fair and true to the market.

9) Are your signatures on the appraisal report originals from the appraiser?

Yes. All appraisal reports are electronically signed, and are considered the original signature of the appraiser.

10) How much are your appraisal fees?

The appraisal fees vary by county. Some areas have very limited resources, and comparable sales; therefore, the prices vary due to difficulty of the appraisal.

Our fee schedule is available on this website, for each county we cover.