What is an appraisal and when is it performed

It is quite a common question for both buyers and sellers to ask, when is an appraisal performed and who’s responsibility is it.

An appraisal is a formal process to determine a property’s current market value given all the features, upgrades and benefits that is has as compared to other similar homes that have sold in the same area within the same timeframe. An appraisal is most typically performed and ordered by a buyer’s lender when the buyer is obtaining a loan, and is typically completed within the first 1-2 weeks of opening an escrow.

There are two parts to an appraisal, however most people are only familiar with the first one, which is related to determining the value. There is a second portion which relates to property condition and potential repairs. When an appraiser comes to perform the appraisal they also perform a “lite” home inspection, and depending on the loan program it will go into a more thorough or less thorough investigation. They are only checking for health and safety items in these cases; does the HVAC work?, are there broken windows?, are there smoke and carbon monoxide detectors present?, etc.

If you have questions about the potential value of your property or the property you are looking to purchase you can use our home value tool to get a rough estimate of what the property would be worth by CLICKING HERE. Obviously the best option would be to have me come out and tour the property so I can give you the most accurate assessment possible.