Residential Home Appraisals- Three Things To Know

By C.L. Haehl

Most lenders require you to purchase a home appraisal before the mortgage can be closed upon. The appraisal will tell you how much the appraiser believes a piece of property is worth. The appraisal will look at things like the age of the home, the condition of the property, and the condition and values of other pieces of property in the same area.

The appraisal amount is the most important aspect of the appraisal report. Your appraisal amount can make or break your sales agreement and mortgage. If your home comes in valued less than the sales price of your home, the buyer of the home can decide that he won't pay as much for the property and the sales price can be renegotiated. If the home comes in valued at greater than the sales price, the buyer might just be getting a great deal.

In addition, your mortgage lender decides whether to allow you to borrow money based on the appraisal. If the appraisal amount is less than the mortgage amount, the lender might decide that the property is being sold at too high of a price for the worth of the property and not allow the buyer to acquire the loan.

Negative adjustments on the property are things like fewer than a normal number of bathrooms for a house's size or a one-car garage when most homes in the area have a two-car garage. If you look at the negative adjustments on your home, you may decide you want to do some remodeling to increase the home's value.