Why Have an Appraisal Done?

Most homeowners wouldn’t generally consider having an appraisal done on their home unless they were doing a refinance or 2 nd Mortgage with a lender. We have learned that there are additional, very important, reasons to hire an appraiser, and that under the right circumstances the cost of the appraisal will be given back to the homeowner many times over. Here’s a partial list of why an appraisal might be right for you:

Over Taxation:
We know that in many areas of Chicagoland the local assessor has displayed notably unreliable methods in determining the specifics of your home. (Ask most any Chicagoan!) Anyone keeping abreast of the 10:00 news here in our Northern Illinois area is probably aware of this. If the average homeowner were aware of the undisciplined means being employed by many of the local assessor’s to determine the taxable value of their home they’d be astonished. Our appraisals can be used to dispute your tax bill, and the return can be more than you’d think.

Estate/Probate/Pre-Foreclosure/Divorce Disbursement:
On these unfortunate occasions all parties will want a fair, unbiased, account of a property, and with that in mind we write so that no will claim someone is playing favorites, thus eliminating at least one hassle from the process.

Appropriate Pre-Sale Analysis:
Homeowners often rely on the rather simple ‘Market Surveys’ performed by their realtors prior to listing their homes. These surveys are rarely accurate. If the homeowner has no intention of selling a home in a short amount of time, and is willing to see if someone accepts a high offering, that’s one thing. However, if the desire is to sell quickly, at a fair market value, then have the experts tell you what that value ought to be. Having this done prior to a sale will also assure that when you go to close some other appraiser won’t be the person to tell you that the sale price is either too low or too high, sending shivers down the spines of lender and homeowner, respectively.

Insurance Purposes:
Pay what you should to your insurance company, not what their market surveys suggest to you. Quite frankly, we’re the experts in home valuation, and we can tell you within 2-3% of the exact figure you home is worth, no generic survey can possibly claim likewise.

Asset Analysis:
Let’s face it, to an average American a home is the single largest investment they will ever own. Specifically knowing what its worth to the market on a semi-regular basis (every 4 to 6 years) keeps you in touch with what you can truly count on when totaling net worth and overall available capital.