Is there a way to self appraise my home that will be accepted by a lender, and avoid the cost of an appraiser?

Question

also i am wanting to know how to appraise my home

Answer 1

If you don't know how, how can you expect to do the appraisal yourself. Don't be so cheap. There are plenty of ways to save money and be thrifty. This is not one of them.

To learn how to appraise, find out the legal requirements in your state and go get the necessary education. Of course it will be a lot cheaper to pay an appraiser.

Answer 2

The simple answer is no. Otherwise, a borrower could drastically over-inflate the value of their own property and steal from a lender. That is why Buyers, Sellers, Realtors, Brokers, and Lawyers are not allowed to complete appraisals for their own transactions. The phrase you probably already know is called "conflict of interest". Appraisers certify in the appraisal that they have no interest; therefore, the value opinion is unbiased, disinterested, unmotivated, etc. Also, appraisers cannot appraise their own properties for mortgage purposes for the same reason.

There are many ways to avoid paying the appraisal "out of pocket". By the way, you should realize that no appraiser works for free. Usually, the fee is "hidden" in the loan charges. Some lenders advertise "no appraisal fee, etc.". The rest of the story is that the fee is indirectly charged to you with a higher interest rate. Here are some other ways to make the appraisal fee "disappear":
-Pay the appraiser now, but have the appraiser reimburse you when they are paid from the closing
-Pay for the appraisal with a credit card, then have the appraiser credit the acccount when they are paid from the closing

The reason a good lender will insist you pay for the appraisal is two-fold:
-Payent of the fee indicates your committment to the deal.
-If for a million reasons you decide not to close, the lender is not stuck with the fee.


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Answer 3

no. the person appraising your home must be a trained, licensed, & qualified professional. in addition, the appraiser is the *only* neutral party in the real estate transaction. the other parties are typically going to be pro-buyer or pro-seller. even though appraisers are hired by the lender (usually), they still act independently when determining the value of a property. they aren't a party to the transaction other than to provide a professional guestimate of value. this is why they do not work on commission. in fact, it's illegal. it would be a conflict of interest. even if you were an appraiser yourself, the mere fact that you own the subject property would disqualify you. to learn more about becoming an appraiser, go here: http://www.appraisalfoundation.org/

Answer 4

No. Generally if you are going for a loan the lender will use their own appraisers to value the home.

Answer 5

No. An appraiser is trained to look at many things that would not occur to you, and also does much research on "comps". Furthermore, a lender will want a disinterested opinion. But you can get at least a sanity check by looking at zillow.com.

Answer 6

You have to have a license. If you take a few classes you could get your house appraised but its obviously not worth the $350.

Answer 7

Many reputable companies will pay the cost of the appraisal themselves. They will then either roll it into the cost of the loan, or eat it if you decide not to go with them. Others will pay for it, and not roll it into the cost of the home. http://www.newprimehomeloans.com paid for mine and it wasn't in the loan. I'm not sure if they do business in all 50 states though, but I think they do it in most. Worth a shot I guess.