Paul's Appraisal Blog

    In this market of declining values, REO's, Short-Sales and Home Auctions, you may find yourself in a position where you've made an offer on a property, but then wonder if you really got a good deal?  Unfortunately, your real estate agent won't always be honest with you about this- it's in his or her best interest to "make the deal work", so that they can get their commission. And actually, the more you pay, the more they make, so it behooves them to get you to pay the highest price possible.

    This where your friendly local appraiser comes in. You, as the borrower and purchaser, can ask for any appraiser you want. The lender may him and haw, but if you say you want such and such to appraiser you house, they won't argue. (As long as the appraiser is approved by the lender making the loan)  By getting your own appraiser, you can tell him or her that you are concerned about the value and want a totally honest opinion about the value, whether it comes in at the purchase price or not.

    The fact of the matter is that the value of a home is usually a range of values, and many times an appraiser will "bring it in" at the purchase price, provided the purchase price is within the range of values arrived at in the analysis.  If you choose your own appraiser, you can express your concern about the value so the he or she does a more careful job of arriving at a single value conclusion.

    So, if you find yourself in this situation, give me a call. I will take the time to do a thorough analysis and let you know if you are over-paying for you house.