So, the home you are selling is under contract. The property contingencies were just released and the buyer is moving forward with the real estate appraisal of the home to satisfy a major portion of the loan contingency. You just got off the phone with the real estate appraiser and the real estate appraisal inspection appointment for the property you are selling is set, now what?
Here are 5 tips that will help the real estate appraisal portion of any property sale go more smoothly:
1. Apprasiers always appreciate any “local knowledge” specific to any of the comparable sales found on the MLS or off-MLS because as a realtors you go into most of the homes that sell in a local neighborhood. If you would like to share some of that local knowledge with an appraiser, send an email to the appraiser, prior to the inspection, with the most relevant sales data you have for supporting the sales price of your client’s home. The appraiser needs only the address and/or the MLS number and any relevant comments, so when he/she is doing his/her research on MLS Listings he/she can review and incorporate the sales provided into his/her analysis and be ready when he/she does the appraisal inspection.
2. Share with the appraiser, any unique property specific details, prior to the inspection. Does the subject property have an in-law unit? Finished Basement? Finished attic? Non-permitted improvements? Anything else relevant to the value of the home? Appraisers research and pull their comparable sales prior to the inspection. “Surprises” end up taking the appraiser more time and delaying delivery of the appraisal report to lender.
3. If you have a Supra lockbox or a combo lockbox leave it on. AppraisalsOnly Appraisers are licensed and fingerprinted and have their own Suprakey. This speeds up scheduling for the real estate appraiser, especially on “go direct” and “call first” properties and improves report delivery times.
4. Don’t pull staging before the appraisal inspection and leave the utilities on. Appraisers are required to take photos of all the rooms within the home. Why not show the home in its best light? The loan underwriters are looking at the photos and want to make sure what the bank is lending money on is a solid investment.
5. Get the statutory requirements, double strapped water heater, smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors etc. out of the way before scheduling the appraisal appointment. Avoid loan delays and save the buyer some money.
If you work with your appraisers and give them what they want you are more likely to get what you want. A quality & complete appraisal in the shortest amount of time that helps facilitate the close of your real estate transaction.
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Regards,
Anthony (Tony) Moses, Certified Residential Appraiser
408-229-1169
Appraisals Only, Residential Real Estate Appraisers
Certified Appraisers Serving the counties of Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and San Mateo since 2001
Specializing Real Estate Appraisals for Divorce, Date of Death, Estate Purposes, Mortgages, FSBO’s, Securing Bail Bond, FHA,Retrospective etc.