What Happens During a Home Appraisal?

Chances are if you are buying or selling a home you will be required to go through a home appraisal. The bank or financial institute that is loaning the money to the house wants to make sure that they are loaning the money for an item that is worth that much money. So what exactly happens during a home appraisal and how is the value figured out?

Here is what to expect during a home appraisal.

Documentation. The appraiser will walk around the house and take pictures of the surrounding structure. This is to figure out how many land there is, the state of the house and other conditions that can go into figuring out the true value of the house.

A Walk Through. The appraiser will do a walkthrough of the house. They will look at the various condition of the rooms and look for other types of conditions that could prevent the price from being higher than it is. The appraiser will also measure the rooms of the house, count bedrooms, closets and other features of the house.

Comparisons. The appraiser will take all the information that they get from the home appraisal and compare your house to the various homes in the area that are similar. Since no two houses are alike this can be difficult but it gives them a guideline on what to price the house at.

Since appraisers are all different you could end up with various appraisals on one house. It is a good idea if you disagree with one appraisal to hire another one or ask the bank or financial institute to send out another one because you disagree with it. Remember the price of your house will rest on what the appraiser will find the true value of your home to be.