If you are looking to buy or sell a home in the McLean real estate market, there are several factors you will want to take into account. What is the health of the market? Which direction is the real estate heading? Will it be worth your investment?

But one of the key things to look out for is the actual worth of the homes being bought and sold in the McLean real estate market. More often than not in these days of increased foreclosures and tighter markets, buyers and sellers are both dealing with the appraisal question - what are homes actually worth and what are they appraised for at the time of a purchase, a refinance or a home equity loan.

The issue was recently addressed by The Washington Post, which looked around its area, including the Vienna real estate market and saw that prices were fluctuating greatly. That called for a greater need for honest and accurate appraisers to keep buyers and sellers from getting into bad deals.

That's why real estate appraisers must come up with reliable answers when they are looking at a property. And why they also must take the current situation with the market into account when appraising a property.

One way an appraiser in Northern Virginia, and especially in the Vienna real estate market, will be able to know the true value is what is happening to the houses in a particular neighborhood. If there is an increase in foreclosures around a seller's home, than that property is going to be effected. If other sellers are slashing their prices, then the value of an existing property is going to decrease as well.

All of that makes appraisers sit at the head of a process that will eventually involve banks, loan underwriters, real estate agents and home buyers. During the housing boom, some appraisals weren't given as much scrutiny and inflated housing values actually helped home owners in need of a cash infusion by helping give more value to home equity loans.

"There is higher scrutiny because the market is going down," James Loizou, co-owner of Suburban Appraisers & Consultants in Fairfax, Virginia told the Washington Post.

One way a home buyer can keep themselves safe when checking out the whether the value of a home is inflated is to work closely with the loan officer. Since it is the lender who hires the appraiser, make sure that the appraiser has been told to do a thorough job and not just a quick appraisal that may skew its value.

Some lenders may begin the process of a loan with a automated valuation and then add detailed appraisals in order to approve the loan. Ask your lender if that's part of their process in the case of your purchase.

Last week, Virginia Governor Tim Kaine signed a law which makes mortgage settlement statements note any fee charged for an automated valuation or anything else done by someone other than a licensed appraiser. This protection will ensure that you are getting the best deal possible as a home buyer no matter which real estate market in Virginia you are investing in.