About Me
I have been a residential appraiser since 2000 with a background in real estate law and banking. I am geographically competent to appraise land and/or residential improvements in Forsyth, Dawson, Hall, Lumpkin, Banks, Jackson, Habersham, Stephens, White, Pickens, Cherokee, Lake Sidney Lanier and Lake Hartwell.
I've completed engagements for banks, individuals, insurance companies and attorneys regarding sales, refinances, REO foreclosures, HUD properties, removal of PMI (private mortgage insurance) and conventional products;
single family residential attached and detached, investment properties, manufactured homes, small farms.
Your Home's Value
So what goes into a real estate appraisal? It all starts with the inspection. An appraiser's duty is to inspect the property being appraised to ascertain the true status of that property. He or she must actually see features, such as the number of bedrooms, bathrooms, the location, and so on, to ensure that they really exist and are in the condition a reasonable buyer would expect them to be. The inspection often includes a sketch of the property, ensuring the proper square footage and conveying the layout of the property. Most importantly, the appraiser looks for any obvious features - or defects - that would affect the value of the house.
Once the site has been inspected, an appraiser uses two or three approaches to determining the value of real property: a cost approach, a sales comparison and, in the case of a rental property, an income approach.
Combining information from all approaches, the sales comparison, cost and income approaches, the appraiser is then ready to stipulate an estimated market value for the subject property. It is important to note that while this amount is probably the best indication of what a property is worth, it may not be the final sales price. There are always mitigating factors such as seller motivation, urgency or ''bidding wars'' that may adjust the final price up or down. But the appraised value is often used as a guideline for lenders who don't want to loan a buyer more money than the property is actually worth. The bottom line is: an appraiser will help you get the most accurate property value, so you can make the most informed real estate decisions.
The Appraisal Process
The appraisal process is an orderly process by which the task of estimating the market value of a property as at a specific date is established, the work necessary to solve the problem is planned, and the data involved is acquired, classified, analyzed, and interpreted into an estimate of value.
The appraisal process consists of the following eight steps:
- Step 1: Define the Problem
- Step 2: Preliminary Inspection and Plan the Work
- Step 3: Data Collection and Analysis
- Step 4: Apply the Cost Approach
- Step 5: Apply the Sales Comparison Approach
- Step 6: Apply the Income Approach
- Step 7: Reconciliation and Final Estimate
- Step 8: Write the Appraisal Report
Typically, the client requests an appraisal, defines the type of value required, renders a written request and sets a date and time for field work.
The day of the field work the appraiser will measure the exterior of the subject, take photos of the interior and exterior, sketch the exterior of the improvement.
Questions will follow about the subject. Depending on the complexity of the subject the estimated date of the completion of the engagement is determined.