Appraisal Ace Blog

Appraisers Need Your Help in Verifying Sales Data

Have you gotten an email or a phone call lately from an appraiser about a recent sale?

Usually it goes something like this:

“I’m appraising a home near your recent sale at 1000 Main Street and I'm considering using your sale as a comparable. Will you tell me if there were any concessions and what was the amount? How much or what were the seller or builder incentives, if any? What was the condition of the home? Were there any unusual seller or buyer motivations involved in the sale? Based on your knowledge of the market would the same property sell for more or less if you were to market it today?”

Certainly it will take some of your valuable time to answer these questions but the information you provide is of great importance to the appraiser, the client and will ultimately affect the whole market. Knowing a concession, seller or builder incentive is critical in properly adjusting the comparable’s selling price. The condition of the comparable is often not apparent from the MLS or when viewing the outside during the drive by of the comparables. Seller and buyer motivations are rarely discovered except by talking with the REALTOR. And your knowledge of the local market is invaluable to the appraiser who may cover all of the Greater Sacramento area, but not be aware of the subtleties of your neighborhood.

So if you get one of these emails or phone calls, please give the appraiser the benefit of your knowledge and help us provide the best product we can for our clients. The resulting accurate opinion of value in the report will ultimately benefit the whole market.