Pre-Listing Appraisal Services
If you’re working with a real estate agent to list your property, more than likely they’ll provide you with a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA). It has the sales in your area to help determine your "Listing Price".
This step is vital if you're going to maximize your profit and minimize the home’s time on the market.
A Pre-Listing Appraisal Is Better Than Your Realtor's CMA
Even if you're working with the most experienced real estate agent that knows the right neighborhood statistics and can put together a great CMA, it's still in your best interest to have an objective opinion of value.
That’s where a pre-listing appraisal comes in.
We provide a pre-listing appraisal so both you and your agent have an accurate measurement of square footage, an updated description of your home's features, and a detailed analysis of the most recent and similar "comparable sales".
Benefits Of A Pre-Listing Appraisal
In addition to helping you maximize and set a realistic selling price so your home will attract buyers, a professional prelisting appraisal can:
- Be a very valuable negotiating tool once you have a potential buyer
- Impress buyer’s with written proof of your home’s condition inside and out
- Make yourself aware of problems and eliminate last-minute repair hassles that might delay a closing
- Decrease the chances of unknown problems that cause sales to fall through
- Eliminate the wait for the buyer or their mortgage company to get the appraisal done on their own
Many people are surprised when they find out that the market value of their home is much more than they thought, so investing in a professional appraisal actually allowed these people to receive several thousand more dollars than they thought they would when their home was sold.
Others have an inflated opinion of their home's value and an appraisal helped them to realistically price their home in order for it to sell. An overpriced home will not attract buyers, which means no offers and no closing and that you have wasted valuable time, money, and efforts.
How Far In Advance Should A Pre-Listing Appraisal Be Done?
A home appraisal is only good for that snapshot in time. If the home is appreciating or depreciating rapidly - for example a hot market might have rapid appreciation and the value may change in two weeks - it's best to have a pre-listing appraisal done right before listing the home for sale.
Improvements to Add Value
In addition to 'How much?', there may be other important questions to ask yourself before listing your home:
- Would it be better to paint the entire house before we sell it?
- Should I put in that third bathroom?'
- Should I complete my kitchen remodel?'
Many things which we do to our houses have an effect on their value. Unfortunately, not all of them have an equal effect. While a kitchen remodel may improve the appeal of a home, it may not add nearly enough to the value to justify the expense.
We can step in and help make these decisions. Unlike a real estate agent, an appraiser has no vested interest in what amount the house sells for. Our appraisal fees are based on efforts to complete the report and not a percentage of the sales price. So a professional appraisal can often help homeowners make the best decisions on investing in their homes and setting a fair sales price.
Schedule A Prelisting Appraisal
We welcome you to look through our website, review appraisal services, join our Facebook community, and learn more about our expert appraisers to see if we are a good fit for your needs.
Give us a call to schedule a prelisting appraisal.