Appraisals are used by lending institutions to make a decision of whether to lend on that particular property. The appraisal report will outline any apparent problems or hazards with a home.

An appraiser is a professional that specializes in developing opinions of property value for their clients.

An appraisal will generally use the comparable approach for determining it's final opinion of value on a property. The other approaches can weigh in or factor into the final value decision but usually it will be the comparable approach that is most important. Keep in mind also that an appraisal is only an estimate of value and is not guaranteed to be the exact value of what you can get for your home if you were to sell the home. You could have your home appraised by 10 different appraisers and they could possibly all come up with a different final number. They should be fairly close and consistent with each other but they could easily all be slightly different in final value.

If an appraisal is found to be insufficient, inflated or no good by the lender's standards the lender has the right to refuse to accept the appraisal. Many lenders will either cut the value or simply request a new appraisal to be completed if they are not satisfied with the original appraisal.

The accuracy or lack of accuracy in a residential appraisal has just about everything to do with the comparable sales or comps as they are known. The more similar to the subject and recent the comps are, the more likely the lenders underwriter will accept the value stated on the appraisal report without question.

A home appraisal is the process to estimate the value of the property. The appraised value is merely the opinion of the certified appraiser, based on the appraiser's experience, knowledge of the neighborhood the property is located, and knowledge of similar properties recently sold.

How To Get The Best Appraisal - Clean up, shampoo the carpets, paint, touch up, mow, trim and do all those things that make it look its best.

Although there is very little that will "change" the value of your house, it is important to give an amazing impression. An appraiser who is looking at a house filled with garbage will not get a warm fuzzy feeling. If you take the time to make sure everything is immaculate and welcoming it will not change the value, but it could sway the value a little in your favor.

Make sure you are there to answer any questions the appraiser may have. If you have done any work on your house since you bought it or refinanced last, make sure you let the appraiser know.

It is important to ensure that your appraiser understands the markets and trends in your specific area. In a county like Los Angeles County, for instance, an appraiser that is familiar with homes in Stockton would not necessarily be up to speed with homes in Beverly Hills. Therefore, it is wise to make sure your appraiser has done recent work in your neighborhood in order to give the most accurate assessment of your home appraisal. This might not come as any surprise to you, but you would be surprised how often an appraiser tries to specialize in multi markets, becoming a “jack of all trades”, so to speak, but a specialist to none but where they personally reside.

To ensure the best appraised value of your home, make sure that everything is in good working order. The home should be well maintained. Also, if any homes in your area were sold without the assistance of a realtor, the appraiser may be able to use those as "comps".