Why You Should Consider Getting An Appraisal Before Selling Your House
Posted on: 28 October 2019
There are often a lot of steps people will take before they contact a real estate agent to list a home for sale, and one of the steps some people take is getting the house appraised. You do not have to get your house appraised prior to listing it, but getting it appraised can be a great idea.
What an appraisal is
An appraisal is a tool, in a sense, that allows you to find out the value of a property. The amount the appraiser determines as the value of the house is just an average, though, and it does not mean that this is necessarily the amount you will get when you sell the house. To determine how much your house is worth, an experienced appraiser will take a close look at your home. He or she will likely measure your house and investigate details about the house and the area where it is located. Next, he or she will look at similar homes in the same area to see the prices that they sold for. The appraiser will compare these homes to yours and will determine a price based on this information.
The benefits of getting an appraisal before listing it
Getting an appraisal before you sell is wise as it will help you determine the best price to put on your house as the asking price, and you will have a written appraisal report to back up why you are asking the price you have on the listing. Pricing a home right is always helpful when selling, and if you ask the right price, you will likely find a buyer faster.
It is extremely beneficial in a declining market
One last thing to know is that appraisals are based on recent sales, and this typically means going back six months to a year to find homes that are similar to yours. If the market is declining at this time, getting the house appraised right now may result in a higher appraisal amount, as the amount would be based on recent sales and not on current sales. You can talk to your agent to learn more about this.
If you decide that you would like to find out how much your house is worth before you list it, you should contact a local real estate appraiser in your area to discuss the details of getting an appraisal completed.
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