Common myths about appraising

It is mandated by legal agencies that a real estate appraiser is required to be state-licensed to offer appraisal reports for federally-supported property transactions in Tennessee. The law allows you to receive a copy of your finished report from your lender after it has been provided. Contact our professional staff if you have any concerns about the appraisal process.

Myth: Market value will be similar to the assessed value of the property.

Fact: While most states back the concept that assessed value is equal to estimated market value, this generally is not the case. There are times when interior remodeling has occurred and the assessor is not aware of the improvement or other houses in the Camden have not been reassessed for quite a while, it may vary wildly.

Myth: The buyer or the seller can have leverage in the cost of the property depending upon for whom the appraiser is working.

Fact: There is no personal interest on the part of the appraiser in the result of the analysis, therefore he will complete his work with impartiality and independence, despite for whom the appraisal is conducted.

Myth: The replacement cost of the house will be is on par with the market value.

Fact: Market value is acquired by what a willing buyer would be interested in paying a willing seller for a particular house, with neither being under duress to buy or sell. The dollar amount needed to rebuild a house is what forms the replacement cost.

Myth: There are certain ways that real estate appraisers use to determine the opinion of value of a home, like the price per square foot.

Fact: An appraisal report is an amalgamation of information concluded from the property's size, location, proximity to specific facilities, the condition of the home and the value of recent comparable sales. You can count on Furr Appraisal Service's appraisers to be forthright in assessing this information.

Myth: When the economy is robust and the value of homes are found to be appreciating by a certain percentage, the other properties in the proximity can be expected to rise based on that same percentage.

Fact: Any price at which an appraiser concludes in regards to a specific home is always personalized, based on certain factors derived from the information of comparable homes and other specifications within the property itself. It doesn't matter if the economy is doing well or declining.

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

Fact: To find an accurate worth beyond all doubt, an appraiser must assess the home on a variety of factors based on location, condition, improvements, amenities, and current market trends. There's no real way to get all of this data from just viewing the home from the exterior.

Myth: Considering that the consumer is the party who provides the funding to pay for the appraisal report when applying for a loan for any real estate transaction, by law the appraisal belongs to them.

Fact: Legally, the appraisal report is owned by the lender unless the lender releases their interest in the report. Consumers have to be supplied with a copy of the document upon written request due to the Equal Credit Opportunity Act.

Myth: There's no reason for consumers to even worry about what the appraisal report contains so long as their lender is satisfied.

Fact: A consumer should definitely read through their document; there will probably be some questions or some concerns about the accuracy of the appraisal that need to be addressed. Remember, this is probably the most expensive and important investment a consumer will ever make. Also, the appraisal report makes an excellent record for future reference, comprised of useful and often-revealing data - including, but 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 proximity.