Common myths about appraising

It is enforced by law that an appraiser must be state-licensed to produce appraisal reports for federally-supported property sales in . The law entitles you to get a copy of your finished appraisal report from your lender after it has been provided. Contact us if you have any concerns about the appraisal procedure.

Myth: Assessed value will always equate to market value.

Fact: It might be that , like most states, validates the suggestion that the assessed value equals the market value; however, this certainly varies based on state-to-state. Interior reconstruction that the assessor is not aware of and a lack of reassessment on nearby properties are excellent examples of why there might be a differential in price.

Myth: Depending on whether the appraisal is drawn up for the buyer or the seller, the value of the home will vary.

Fact: The price of the home does not affect the salary of the appraiser; as a result, the appraiser has no vested interest in the cost of the property. This means that he will render services with impartiality and independence regardless for whom the appraisal is produced.

Myth: Any time market value is established, it should be similar to the replacement cost of the home.

Fact: The way market value is found is based on what a buyer would likely pay a willing seller for a home without being under duress from any outside party to purchase or sell. The replacement cost is the dollar amount required to rebuild a home in-kind.

Myth: There are certain methods that appraisers use to show the cost of a home, like the price per square foot.

Fact: An appraisal report is an assertion of data concluded from the house's size, location, proximity to specific facilities, the condition of the property and the worth of recent comparable sales. You can rely on Piscitelli Appraisal Service's appraisers to be honest in assessing this data.

Myth: In a robust economy - when the values of properties in a given neighborhood are found to be rising by a particular percentage - the values of individual homes in the area can be expected to appreciate by that same percentage.

Fact: Any price at which an appraiser concludes concerning a specific property is always individualized, based on certain factors derived from the information of comparable properties and other specifications within the home itself. This is true in strong economic times as well as bad.

Myth: Just looking at what the house looks like on the outside gives an idea of its cost.

Fact: Property value is determined by a number of variables, including - but not limited to - area, condition, improvements, amenities, and market trends. As you can see, none of these variables can be found just by inspecting the property from the outside.

Myth: Since you're the one funding for the appraisal when applying for your loan to purchase or refinance your home, you own the provided appraisal.

Fact: Legally, the report is owned by the lender unless the lender releases their interest in the document. Because of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, any home buyer asking for a copy of the appraisal report must be provided with it by their lending company.

Myth: Home buyers need not care about what is in their report so long as it exceeds the requirements of their lending group.

Fact: A consumer should definitely look through their appraisal; there will probably be some questions or some worries about the accuracy of the appraisal that must be addressed. Remember, this is probably the most expensive and important investment a consumer will ever make. There is a great deal of information stored in an appraisal report that should be useful to the home buyer in the future, such as the legal and physical description of the property, square footage measurements, list of comparable properties in the neighborhood, neighborhood description and a narrative of current real-estate activity and/or market trends in the vicinity.