The fundamental role of an appraiser is to provide a professional opinion, usually an estimate of market value, to be used in making real estate decisions. Typically, appraisers are employed by lenders to estimate the value of real estate involved in a loan transaction. Appraisers also provide opinions in litigations cases, tax matters and investment decisions.

It's a good idea. Pricing your home too high may mean that it will never sell. Pricing it too low could cost you thousands of dollars.

Realtors offer their own opinion as to the value and are often somewhat reliable. The appraiser, however, does an in-depth analysis and can provide a more reliable estimate or value. Even a small variance in price can mean thousands of dollars to you.

At the home, the inspection takes less than one hour. From here, the work begins. At Cunningham Appraisal we will have the report finished within 48 hours and typically within 24 hours.

The appraiser takes pictures of the front and rear of the home and then measures the exterior to determine the home's square footage. The inspection of the interior is to view the home's condition, layout, features, and to measure any basement finish.

No, however, the more information that the appraiser has pertaining to the home the better. A list of dates of improvements, features, and problem areas is always helpful.

By researching what comparable homes have recently sold for in your area and considering the value of the differences.The appraiser's job is to locate the homes which are the most similar to yours to form an opinion on the value. The factors which are considered in choosing comparable sales include: location, size, number of bedrooms, age, condition, and overall similarities.

After obtaining all of the detailed information about the homes, the appraiser makes either positive or negative adjustments to the sales price of the comparable to account for the differences between the home being appraised, (the subject), and this comparable sale. Typically, this analysis indicates a consistent indication of value.

All of the adjustments are primarily based on what a typical buyer would be willing to pay for these items (market value).

Location, lot size, age, square footage, condition, basement finish, amenities, recent updates, amount of garage space, bedrooms, bathrooms, etc. Basically, anything that a prospective buyer would consider impacts the home's value.