Getting a pre-listing appraisal offers more advantages than would a traditional CMA. When you suggest getting a pre-listing appraisal to your seller while making your listing presentation you will explain the following benefits:
1.When the pre-listing appraisal is done you will get the correct square footage of the home. Do you understand how an incorrect square footage measurement would affect the list price? If the measurement is off by just 100 square feet, and the homes in the area are going for $100 a square foot, then the list price will be off by perhaps $10,000. Does this justify paying for an appraisal?
2.By obtaining a pre-listing appraisal you dramatically decrease the likelihood of your deal collapsing. The comps used for your pre-listing appraisal are likely to be the same ones used by the lender for the mortgage appraisal. This means the value of your appraisal and the lender’s should be very similar, which makes the entire transaction go more quickly and far smoother.
3.A third party’s unbiased appraisal offers support for an agent’s list price. Think back and try to remember if you ever went over to draw up a listing agreement and found that the owner thought their house was worth a lot more than you did? If you have a pre-listing appraisal to support your list price it can add a lot of credibility to your number and alleviate some of the pressure. The seller will come to realize that if they expect to sell their home in a reasonable period of time, they will have to let go of what they’d hoped to sell it for and price their home at fair market value.
4.When you have a pre-listing appraisal it will make the home you’re listing more competitive with others in the neighborhood. Rather than agents avoiding your listing because it’s overpriced, your home will get more showings because agents and buyers will see that you’ve listed it for a reasonable price.
5.A pre-listing appraisal will give you an accurate list price and clear up any confusion there might be regarding inaccuracies over price per square foot. This figure can be used in certain situations but for the most part it isn’t appropriate for estimating a list price. If the homes in the neighborhood are all track homes that look alike, like one-story homes built on a concrete slab, then the price per square foot might be useful because these houses are all cookie cutter in style with very similar, if not the same square footage, so you’re likely to get a narrow range of prices per square foot, and thus more accurate. What usually happens is that an agent or seller will look at a couple of recent sales just to get the price per square foot and not pay any attention to the differences between the houses. When that figure is applied to the square footage of the seller’s house, it won’t be accurate, which means the list price based on this won’t be either.
By letting sellers know how much they can benefit by obtaining a pre-listing appraisal while making your listing presentation, you are communicating that you are committed to selling their home as quickly as possible while getting them the best price.
I invite you to pick up the phone and call me at Brandlin Appraisals for help with your pre-listing appraisal.
Please contact our office with any questions you may have or to schedule your appraisal appointment at 760-741-7699, brandlinappraisal@yahoo.com or use our contact page on our website.
Brandlin Appraisals Inc. specialize in helping people who need appraisals for estate purposes, divorce, date of death, bankruptcy, FSBO’s and more throughout San Diego county. For more information please contact us at (760)741-7699, or visit our website at Brandlinappraisals.com, or email us at admin@brandlinappraisals.com
Mike Brandlin
San Diego, CA // Real Estate Appraiser
www.brandlinappraisals.com
(760) 741-7699
San Diego Real Estate Appraisal Services For:
* Divorce Appraisals / Marriage Dissolution
* Bankruptcy Appraisals
* Bail Bonds Appraisals
* Estate / Date of Death / Retrospective Appraisals
* Financial Planning & Trusts
* PMI Removal Appraisals
* Pre-Foreclosure & Short Sales
* Tax Assessment Appeals
* Pre-Listing, Pre-Purchase, FSBO’s
* Probate Appraisals
