If you are looking to have a property appraised, be it residential or commercial, you need to make sure that you know how and where you are looking. I had a friend tell me about a local company last year that could appraise a property which my business owned, that I was looking to sell. I was lucky that my buddy turned my onto NovaStar appraisals who did a fantastic job and provided great customer service and attention to detail. If you don’t have the luck that I did, here is how to go about getting yourself a great expert in appraising property.
What Do You Need?
The first step in finding an appraiser is to know whether or not you need one. Very often estimators and apprisers are considered the same, but they are actually very different. An estimator will look at the right value of the home based on the market, depreciation and other factors to give you a general idea of cost whereas an appraiser will look in fine detail to give you an accurate valuation of the property.
Licensed and Certified
Next up get online and start looking for appraisers here, it can be difficult to tell a good firm from a bad one so the idea here is to create list of licensed or certified appraisers, you can find this information out with your local government website. If needed, don’t be afraid to email some appraisers and ask for a copy of their license.
Setting Up a Meeting
Arrange an interview with 3 or 4 different appraisers, in order to push for more information about them. Here you should make sure that they carry professional designations such as a Senior Real Property Appraiser (SRPA) and a Member Appraisal Institute (MAI). You should also enquire about their experience and ask to see some evidence of work that they have carried out in the past.
Asking Around For References
Once you have spoken with you selected group of appraisers, you should ask around for references. The best way to do this is to crowd source professionals, make some cold calls and ask around to see if these outfits have used any of the appraisers in the past, and if so what they thought about the experience.
Finally, once you have decided on a particular appraiser, you should look to see what you are getting for you money, and understand all of the contract which you will sign with them. As long as you feel comfortable with the professional and that all of the documentation is in order, all you will need to do is sign on the dotted line, and then let them go ahead and do their thing. Make sure that you put plenty of time into finding the right appraiser, in order to get the job done right first time.