Here’s the number one mistake home owners make when it comes to establishing their home values;

Not having the appraisal done BEFORE they seek financing.

Why is that bad you ask?

Simple. Your home appraisal is all about ownership.

What I mean is this. Take a typical home refinance. Most borrowers approach the loan officer, mortgage broker or lender and let THEM order the appraisal to establish the home value.

What happens is, even though you paid for the appraisal with a check or credit card at the door (when the appraiser arrived) - you DON’T own the appraisal. The person placing the order such as the lender or loan officer NOW owns your appraisal.

Normally, it goes un-noticed however what happens when you realize the deal you were getting on your refinance can be done better elsewhere?

Well, good luck in getting the former owner of your appraisal to “release” it to the new lender. You can’t blame them, they own it and they want (sometimes need) your business so why not make it difficult or even costly for you to go with another lender. By law the certainly can and will, however not if you had the appraisal done before seeking financing.

Yes, there can be an additional cost if you want to transfer appraisal ownership once you find a lender (which is required), but not usually more than $50 or so.

Another problem you could run into is that some lenders require appraisers to have certain “designations” such as group certications or being in a certain approved club, however that chances of that are slim.

In conclusion, getting your OWN appraisal can save you some headaches down the road and it also saves from being mis quoted when a lender under or over estimates the value of your home.

To order your own appraisal, no matter where you live you can visit our “Resources” section in the right hand menu to accomplish that task easily.