Property Appraisals of Importance to Buyers

The asking price is a little more than you want to spend, but it seems you found that dream home you always wanted. You have already been pre qualified for a mortgage and this home is within your budget. It appears just right, close to schools, convenient to your place of business or job. The wife is all excited and pressuring you "let's buy it!!".

Before you sign on the dotted line, ask the owner or your agent if there is a recent property appraisal you may look over. Failing that, ask that they supply you with a comparable market analysis from the past six months. You should do this to get an idea of what similar homes in the neighborhood are selling for. Remember, just because your lender has qualified you for a certain amount of money, that does not mean that the property you are considering is worth the asking price.

At this point you may well consider hiring an independent property appraiser for an impartial appraisal. However, in most states property appraisals can only be ordered by the home owner or lender involved in a transaction.

In that case, if you can not get a straight answer from your agent and they can not produce either a recent appraisal or a current market analysis, you may want to make an offer subject to the property appraisal report meeting or exceeding your offering price. If the seller accepts the offer and your contingency is met, you can be assured that you are purchasing your dream home at or below current market value.