How Much Does It Cost To Have a General Appraisal?
The time to secure an accurate and complete appraisal is often when you are in the planning stages of buying a home. There are a number of valid reasons to go forward with a professional general appraisal in addition to the required home inspection. While an inspection will show you a variety of technical problems that may be of concern with the home you intend to purchase, you're not going to see the entire picture.
What you learn in a general appraisal that isn't part of a home inspection:
- First and foremost, you learn what the appraisal specialist believes the home is worth in its current condition.
- A detailed comparison is given between the appraised home and three similar properties in the area.
- The appraiser will make an estimate as to how long you should expect the home to remain on the market, prior to selling.
- Most appraisals will also give a high-level overview of the home's neighborhood, accentuating some benefits and disadvantages.
A home appraisal can also be massively helpful as a negotiation tool. It is important that you don't let the minor cost for a general appraisal stand between you and the extremely valuable information one provides.
If the general appraisal comes back showing the home to be worth $10,000 less than the seller's asking price and it details a number of reasons why this is the case, you'll be armed with excellent ammunition for justifying a price discount. The small price you pay to have the appraisal done has just been made back 20 or 30 times over.
How Much Will It Cost For A General Appraisal?
You should expect to spend between $300 and $600 for an appraisal from a qualified professional. You also want to make sure that the appraisal expert that you hire has a certification from the Code of Professional Appraisal Practice from the Appraisal Institute. In an average scenario, the cost for a general home appraisal will be $400 which you should consider a fair price based on how much you're going to learn about the home by the end of receiving and reading the report.
Appraisals Are A Flippers Best Friend
Another excellent reason to invest in a general appraisal for any house you purchase is because it will give you a great sense of how much you've added to the value of the dwelling between purchase and re-sell, given any modifications you make.
A home appraisal is an indispensable tool for those attempting to "flip homes." You'll want to get two separate appraisals in this case. One will be done prior to purchasing a property, to ensure there's nothing about the structure, area, or comparables that you had missed.
The second appraisal is done before selling and after your modifications have been made. This will give you a reasonable means of demonstrating the added value to the next homebuyer or to just understand how best to price the modified property before it goes back on the market.
How To Get a Free Estimate for the Cost of a General Home Appraisal
Once you conclude that a general appraisal is an important part of your home-buying process, you'll want to get a local professional to give you a more accurate cost estimates.
Simply enter your home zip code into the form on this page and local appraisers will reach out to provide you with no-obligation,100% FREE estimate from general home appraisal experts in your area.
