Common myths about appraising

By law, an appraiser is enforced to be state-licensed to produce appraisals for federally-backed purchases. You also have the right to request a copy of the finished appraisal report from your lending agency. Contact Levison Appraisal Company if you have any questions about the appraisal procedure.

Myth: Assessed value generally will be equal to market value.

Fact: It could be that Missouri, like most states, supports the idea that the assessed value is no different from the market value; however, this is not often the case. Usually when interior remodeling has been done and the assessor is unaware of the improvement or properties in the Chesterfield have not been reassessed for years or more, it may vary wildly.

Myth: The buyer or the seller often will have some pull in the value of the property depending upon for whom the appraiser is working.

Fact: The appraiser has no vested interest in the result of the appraisal and should render his task with independence, objectivity and impartiality - no matter for whom the appraisal is written.

Myth: Market value should approximate replacement cost.

Fact: Market value is found by what a willing buyer would be interested in paying a willing seller for a particular property, with neither being under duress to buy or sell. If the property were reconstructed, the dollar amount needed to do so would form the replacement cost.

Myth: There are specific methods that appraisers use to find the cost of a home, such as the price per square foot.

Fact: An appraisal is an assertion of data concluded from the property's size, location, proximity to undesirable facilities, the condition of the house and the value of recent comparable sales. You can count on Levison Appraisal Company's staff to be forthright in assessing this data.

Myth: When the economy is robust and the worth of houses are reported to be appreciating by a certain percentage, the other properties in the vicinity can be expected to increase based on that same percentage.

Fact: All increase of price is on an individual basis, concluded by data on relevant considerations and the data of comparable homes. It doesn't matter if the economy is on the rise or declining.

Myth: You can usually tell what a house is worth simply by looking at the exterior.

Fact: House worth is concluded by a multitude of variables, including location, condition, improvements, amenities, and market trends. Obviously, none of these variables can be found just by examining the house from the exterior.

Myth: Since you're the one funding for the appraisal report when applying for your loan to buy or refinance real estate, you own the ordered appraisal.

Fact: The document is, in fact, legally owned by the lending agency - unless the lender "relinquishes its interest" in the appraisal. Under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, any consumer demanding a copy of the report must be given it by their lender.

Myth: There's no point for home buyers to even care about what the appraisal report contains so long as their lender is fine with the contents therein.

Fact: It is very important for consumers to peruse a copy of their report so that they can verify the accuracy of the document, in case they need to question its veracity. Remember, this is probably the most expensive and important investment a consumer will ever make. An appraisal report can serve as a record for the future, containing an exorbitant amount of data - including, but certainly not limited to the legal and physical description of the property, square footage measurements, list of comparable properties in the neighborhood, neighborhood description and a narrative of current real-estate activity and/or market trends in the vicinity.