How To Get The Best Appraisal Possible For Your Home

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If you are selling your home, and have never gone through this process before, it is likely that you may not know exactly what to expect when the appraiser comes. The lender may require that an appraisal be completed by a professional to ensure that the home is worth the amount of money that you and the buyer have agreed on. However, there are many times when an appraisal will come in under the asking price, which means that the buyer may not be able to purchase your home. This guide explains three things that you can do to help obtain a higher appraisal for your home.

Ask the Lender to Send a Local Appraiser

Connect with your real estate agent and ask them to instruct the lenders to send an appraiser (such as Appraisal Office Aspen Ltd) who lives locally. The reason this is important is because most appraisals utilize documents called comparables. These documents tell the appraiser how much money other homes in the neighborhood, or the outlying areas of the neighborhood, have sold for.

If an appraiser is not familiar with the area, they may not realize that there is a desire to live in your neighborhood by many of the locals. They also may not realize that many of the homes have recently been upgraded to increase their value, if this is the case in the area.

A local appraiser will be very familiar with the neighborhood, what the inside of area homes look like, and how to properly appraise the property.

Have Your Upgrades Documented

During the course of time that you have lived in your home, you may have completed some upgrades or even completely remodeled one or two rooms, or the entire house. It's important to have these upgrades documented, with receipts if possible. These documents allow the appraiser to see exactly what has been done and how much money you have put into it. Simply put, this documentation can increase the value of your home because you were providing proof of the upgrades.

Have the Best Features of Your Home Ready to Show

As you started the home selling process, you probably heard a lot about staging. Your real estate agent has gone to great lengths to help you prepare your home for buyers. Now that you have found a potential buyer, it is important to keep all of the best selling features of your home looking sharp for the appraiser. He or she will only be in your home for maybe 20 to 30 minutes, so you want them to see the best features of your home as soon as possible.

Walk around with the appraiser, if they will allow you to, and point out your home's best features. Not all appraisers want you with them as they are checking out your home, so make sure you ask them first.

Remember that finding a potential buyer for your home is only half the battle. There are many processes to go through when selling your home, and the appraisal is perhaps one of the most important if you want to get the money that you feel you deserve out of your property. Ask your real estate agent for other idea is to ensure that you can obtain the asking price for your home, or the amount that you and the potential buyer have agreed upon.


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