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Preparing for Appraisals - Contracts and Comps

 

Title: Preparing for Appraisals - Contracts and Comps

Author: Raynor James

Article:
You've sold your home and are getting ready for the appraisal.
Here's how contracts and comparable home sales impact the
appraisal.

Your Contract

One of the indications of value an appraiser takes into
consideration is the contract that exists between unrelated
parties for the sale and purchase of the home. As odd as this
may sound, sales between relatives often downgrade an appraisal
amount. So if you're not selling your home to a relative, make a
nice clean copy of your contract, and give it to the appraiser
who appraises your home.

Comparable Sales

In general, when you are selling your primary residence, the
person buying it is going to make it his primary residence, too.
An appraisal done in that situation usually gives the most value
to what similar houses have sold for in the same neighborhood
(or nearby) recently, and doesn't pay much attention to the
ability of the property to generate rental income or to what it
would cost to replace it.

Therefore, the appraiser is going to be looking for homes which
have sold in your area in the past few months. If you know of a
sale of a similar home at a good price, tell the appraiser about
it. Make sure your information is accurate first, however. Don't
just share neighborhood gossip. Check the sales price at the
courthouse.

Be careful how you handle these last two suggestions. You want
to come across as quietly helpful and factual. You do not want
to convey to the appraiser that you question his ability to do
his job well.

About the author:
Raynor James is with the FSBO site - http://www.fsboamerica.org- FSBO homes for sale by owner. Visit our "sell my home" page -http://www.fsboamerica.org/seller.cfm- to sell your house yourself with a free 1 month listing.

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