How To Increase The Appraisable Value of Your Home

Can you increase the appraised value of a property?

In general you do not have much control over the appraised value of a property. The appraiser is assumed to be neutral, objective and capable of providing an unbiased valuation of the property. Here are some things you can do in the event you believe the appraised property value is too low:

• Review the comparable sales used by your appraiser:
  Drive by the comparable sales shown in your appraisal and compare them to yours. Contact your Realtor® and get their opinion. You might be able to find sales the appraiser missed. There might be pending sales which will soon close. When pending sales close, they might influence the appraised value of your property.
• Check the measurements of your home:
  Double check the accuracy of the appraisal report regarding square footage, lot size, number of bedroom/bathrooms, etc.
• Find out if any of the comparable sales were sold under distress:
  A foreclosure or distress sale in your neighborhood can effect values. If you have evidence that a comparable sale was a distress sale, you might be able to get the appraiser to ignore that sale, or adjust your appraised value accordingly.
• Get another appraiser:
  Consider getting a second opinion--a new appraisal by a different appraiser. In this event, make sure you get an appraiser who is familiar with the neighborhood.

More recently, property values have been inflated by the process of "seller concessions," and this has not been taken into account by most appraisals. This is where a property appraised value supports a sale where the seller has "given" money to the buyer in the form of concessions for closing costs. 1% to 6% of the sales price might have included such consessions. This artificially supports higher values for homes, especially new construction where builders use these concessions but build them into the actual sales price of the home.

For more information, call Rich Sweum at (425) 297-4242 or go to www.RichSweum.com