When the Appraiser leaves the "heavy lifting" begins! Many people think wow that was easy but they only see a fraction of what occurs. Before they even arrive the Appraiser has done plenty of research on the home they will appraise, the neighborhood and comparable sales they may use in the appraisal report. After they leave they drive the neighborhood to see what it has to offer and the general appearance of the other properties, so they can accurately describe the neighborhood in the report. They drive by the comparable sales and take photos of them while seeing how they compare to your home.
After they get back into to the office, they use a computer software program to place and sketch out the dimensions of your home they took while there. They input all the photos taken as well as considerable data about your home, its amenities and the lot that the home sits upon. In the case of Lakefront property that is a large part of the analysis.
Then the serious number crunching begins! They must research the market to determine first the value of the site. Then they research what the proper adjustments should be for any variances between your home and the comparable sales, because no 2 homes are exactly alike (
most of the time
). They implement statistical approaches to value, including what we call extraction, matched pair analysis, regression analysis, substitution, etc.
They usually provide both a Cost Approach (replacement value) and the all important Market Approach to value in the report. They make all their adjustments, reconcile them (
no easy task
) and produce their opinion of market value for your home.
Unless an Appraiser is dealing with a "cookie cutter" where there are several homes like it in the area, the process on the computer alone can take several hours. When you add drive time back and forth to the home, the evaluation process at your home, including measurements and photos, drive time to review the comps and take more photos and finally the input of all of that data they collect (which comes from online sources such as FMLS, Courthouse Records and calling Real Estate Agents) into the final report, the time they spend at your home should now be seen as the
EASIEST
and shortest part of the Appraiser's job.
It is not unusual from start to finish for an appraisal to take 6-8 hours to complete. Sometimes more if you are dealing with a large or complex property.
So whenever a homeowner might think WOW that Appraiser makes alot of money based upon what they saw of them at the house, remember this: They only get a brief look at the totality of what they must do to produce a report.
Thanks for stopping by and please feel free to
share with your Sellers
because they deserve to know what goes on behind the scenes.
