Get Control Over Your Home Appraisal Cost
Before you can qualify for a mortgage on a particular house, your lender will want to know that the house will be a good investment. As part of that, the lender will require you to have an appraisal conducted by a certified professional. Things included in the home appraisal cost include an examination of the home’s value based on its overall condition, the land it sits on, its location, and other criteria. You may be surprised to find you are the one who pays the home appraisal cost, but it is a standard part of the procedure.
Depending on a number of factors, a home appraisal can be as low as $200 or much higher. The condition of the house will affect the cost, as will its location. The type of home appraisal will also cause the price to go up or down. There are several different types, some very simple and others very complex. The type of appraisal will depend on the requirements of the lender.
Ask Before You Pay
You do not have to be caught off-guard when you learn what the home appraisal will cost. In fact, during the mortgage pre-qualification process, you can ask the lender to give you an estimate of what the appraisal will be. Often, they will have a fee schedule and they will work with certain qualified appraisal professionals whose rates they are familiar with. This way, you can start to budget for what the appraisal will cost rather than waiting until the last minute. An appraisal for a single-family home will be less than one for a multi-family home.
Depending on the lender, you may be able to request that the cost of the home appraisal be rolled into the overall loan amount. Although that means you will be paying interest on the appraisal, if it is part of the loan it also means that you will not have to pay it up front. This is especially helpful if you don’t have the cash on-hand to cover several hundred dollars in appraisal fees. Talk to your lender to see what they offer in terms of payment options for a home appraisal.
The Lender Chooses the Appraiser
It may be tempting to ask if you can find your own home appraisal professional, but lenders will not consider it. You may feel you could find someone to do the job for a better price, but lenders have specific professionals they partner with and the lender gets to choose which appraiser you must use. This is why it is important to find a lender you are comfortable with, one that has a reputation for being honest and fair. A good lender will not gouge you with the cost of the appraisal.
No matter the price they choose to charge in fees, by law a lender must partner with appraisers who are certified to do the job correctly, so you shouldn’t have to worry that you’re paying for a poorly done appraisal. Getting control of home appraisal costs means understanding your payment options and knowing the types of appraisals that will be conducted on your home, as the costs will reflect what the lender decides is needed.
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