One of the first steps and an important one on way to home buying is the real estate appraisal. Getting the value of a home through an appraisal is important in getting to a reasonable price as well as helping all involved know the market value in relation to the rest of the neighborhood. If you are new to the process, you need to know about the appraisal process and how you fit it and what happens when the appraiser shows up on the property.



Who Hires the Appraiser and From Where?

A home buyer is not responsible for calling the home appraiser and getting them to come out and perform an at the home. That responsibility rests with the lending institution that is giving out the mortgage. The appraiser will come out to determine the actual value of the home, which will become the basis of the lending contract. You have the option of calling an independent appraiser to make sure the values are correct, but not many buyers do this. Appraisers can be found both through appraisal companies and independent self-employed businesses.

About the Length of the Appraisal Process

The process will not take long, considering how important it is to process. It will probably only take five or fifteen minutes depending on the property, while the appraiser is at the home. Then the appraiser will go to their office and check on the prices and values of other homes in nearby area. They will look for homes that have recently sold and what those prices were. All of this information will go into a report. The report will be about 10 pages and take about four hours to put together. This report goes to the lending institution.

Inclusion of an Inspection

An inspection and an appraisal are different. The real estate appraisal is the determination of the value of a home based on its square footage. The systems inside the home are not inspected, though the rooms are surveyed to check on how they impact the value. The inspection process, however, is a different appointment and looks at the safety of the property and home instead of the value.

My Role in the Process

When the appraiser comes to your property, you don't have much to do much of anything. If there are some changes in the home that you want to point out to the appraiser (especially if you are the seller) then do so. The will probably notice it on their own, but it will give you piece of mind.

The home appraisal process isn't tough and should be an easy appointment. The time it takes to find out the true value of the home is important and key to you and the home purchase decisions.