Frequently Asked Questions

What can an appraisal be used for?

A list of the possible intended uses of an appraisal is almost endless. However, most of our clients need an appraisal for mortgage purposes, estate planning/settlement, and divorce settlement.

We also have clients who want to know what price or price range to list their house and/or property. We can provide you with an accurate and reasonable marketing strategy for your property by assessing what other similar properties in your neighborhood/market area have recently sold for and comparing those properties to yours.

Relocation companies also use our services to help efficiently relocate their employees to new areas by accurately assessing the projected market for their employees homes they are leaving. This relocation process creates loyal and stress free employees.

Have you already had an appraisal of your property and do not agree with it? We can either review the prior report for you and give our assessment of the report, or we can perform a second opinion appraisal.

Tired of your county appraisal district raising the value on your home and therefore your taxes due? While as appraisers, we have an obligation and duty to be unbiased in our assessment of your property (we cannot guarantee you any tax savings on your property), we will provide an unbiased appraisal of your property as a check against the government over taxing you.

Who Can Order an Appraisal?

Anyone. But there are restrictions that can be applied. Lenders will need to order it if is for a purchase (buyers lender) or a refinance. If it is for a PMI removal check with your lender but most of the time you can order one on your own. For divorce, probate, listing, or just to figure out your market value you can order directly from a certified appraiser. Go to our order page to order one today.

What areas do you cover?

We cover for in-person inspections the county of Kings and Pierce in Washington State. We do desktops and reviews for Travis, Hays and Williamson County of Texas as well. We are licensed in multiple-states however our current in person coverage area remains in Washington at this time. If you are outside this area, please message us and we will put you in touch with another certified appraiser that can help you!

Are broker price opinions or Agent CMAs the same as an appraisal?

No it is not the same. The experience, the schooling and the education of a licensed or certified appraiser is higher than that of an agent or broker. They are not sales persons, they are qualified to determine accurate market values based on different appraisal approaches that can be relied on by lenders, lawyers and homeowners for various reasons.

What do I do if I don’t like my value of the appraisal?

First step would be to reach out to the appraiser with respect to the hours they have poured into the appraisal. Sometimes things are missed or overlooked. Sometimes they do not bring you market value despite of the cost (EX pools cost $100K+ but only bring $15K-$25K in an appraisal) . If the appraiser states that this is based on the comparables available then perhaps see if you can find a similar recent sale in the same neighborhood that looks like it could bring the value up. Present that to the appraiser for consideration. The appraiser will determine if it is a match or better comparable than the ones in the report and could perhaps reconsider the original appraised value. This is not common, as most appraisers typically do several market searches during the course of the scope of the appraisal to determine the value of the home. However, if it has many inconsistencies that concern you we can do an appraisal review on appraisals to see if we find anything that is could be disputed or would need to be reconsidered. Message us for a quote.

How will I recEive the Appraisal I OrdeR?

If you had an appraisal ordered by your lender through us they will be the ones to receive it and you will need to request it from them. We are unable to share that with you despite it being your home they were the clients in the appraisal. If you ordered it directly from us as a homeowner for another purpose, it will be sent directly to you in an email for you to download it in a PDF format to keep and utilize.

How Long is an appraisal good for?

That really depends on the market, typically for lending purpose 5-6 months is their tipping point. However, in a market that is going up or going down noticeably they may request one within 3 months. It is important to remember the appraisal value is a snapshot of the market on the effective date of the appraisal, which most likely is the day of the inspection unless otherwise specified for divorce or probate needs. That would be a retroactive appraisal.

How do we pay for the appraisal?

If it is from the lender on your behalf they will be paying us directly and you may have paid them or it may be added to your loan costs or paid for by your lender altogether. If you ordered directly from us, then we accept check on the date of the inspection or by venmo before the inspection is completed. We do not send appraisals until payment is received. Please email us if you have any questions about payment. Make Checks payable to Inside Values.

What happens at an appraisal inspection?

The appraiser will come to your house during a window of time. The appraiser will measure the home while making a sketch of the rooms, location of bathrooms etc for the report. The appraiser will take photos of all rooms and bathrooms as well as exterior photos. If it is an FHA or VA loan there will be extra photos required such as attic or crawl space etc. The appraiser will make sure there are no health or safety issues like no heating, empty pool, missing flooring, windows, leaks or mold. They are not home inspectors they assume that most items in your home are working unless there is reason to believe otherwise. The appraiser will ask you of any upgrades or updates you may have completed since you bought the home. The appraiser will take notes and then go back to their office to complete the report, which takes anywhere between 1-3 days after the inspection depending on the complexity.

Is there anything that I can do to help my homes value?

Great question, we get asked this daily. The short answer is possibly. It depends on if you are willing to spend money on improvements, if those improvements are expected in the market and will improve your homes value. Example, if no one has a pool and it isn’t wanted in your market it could hurt your value by putting it in and lose money on your investment. Or, if everyone in your market has upgraded bathrooms and yours doesn’t, putting one in will make it competitive to the other homes and add value that way. It really is a specific market home by home question. Also, important to know that cost does not equal value in most appraisals. Lastly, cleaning your house all day will not effect your value. So go ahead, put down the mop. We are looking at your bones of the home all the clutter unless it is causing damage to the home will not change the value.

Do Solar panels bring value to your home?

Most likely not. Most neighborhoods do not have enough homes with solar panels for it to show an increase in value. Also, most buyers do not want to “pay ahead or extra” for their energy. The appraiser is not to give it value if its not paid off either as it is not owned to the homeowner it is considered leased to the homeowner still. So until majority of homes have solar panels and the technology is cheaper than the costs to just pay for energy it is isn’t economically saving enough money for the potential buyer to be willing to justify a higher sales price with a home on solar panels.