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The purchase of real property is a complex and expensive financial transaction and buying a home is the largest, single investment most people will ever make.

So who makes sure the value of the property is in line with the amount being paid?

This is where the G & C Appraisals comes in.  By law, an appraisal is an unbiased estimate of what a buyer might expect to pay - or a seller might expect to receive - for a parcel of real estate. 

And how will G & C Appraisals determine the market value of your home? 

The Inspection
It all starts with the inspection.  G & C Appraisals will inspect the property being appraised to determine features and condition of that property.  Yes, the appraiser must enter the home and actually see features, such as the number of bedrooms, bathrooms, the layout or floorplan, and to verify the condition. 

How to prepare for the inspection.  Before G & C Appraisals arrives, make a list for the appraiser of any upgrades or renovations you have made and what year you made the upgrades. (ie: New roof in 2005, New dishwasher in 2006).  Remove any clutter that may hamper the appraiser from inspecting the property or measuring the outside of your house.  Most lending institutions now require pictures of the inside of your home so prepare accordingly and understand that the appraiser will be looking behind closet doors and under counters.

After the property has been inspected, the real work begins.  After leaving the property, G & C Appraisals researches the tax records, County records, various Multiple listing services, environmental impact studies, Fema flood zones or anything in the area that may affect that particular market area.  After the data has been collected and verified, three different approaches to determining the value of your property are considered: a cost approach, a sales comparison approach and, in the case of a rental property, an income approach.

Cost Approach
The cost approach is the easiest to understand. G & C Appraisals uses information on local building costs, labor rates and other factors to determine how much it would cost to construct a property similar to the one being appraised.  Once the cost to build the home has been determined, wear and tear, usually based on the observed condition (remember that inspection) of the home, is subtracted (depreciated) from the property for homes that are not new.  The older a home is the less accurate the cost approach becomes - usually due to changes in construction techniques and materials- so based on the age of your home, the cost approach may or may not be an appropriate means of determining your value.

Sales Comparison
The Sales Comparison Approach is usually the most accurate approach to indicate market value for a particular property.  G & C Appraisals knows the neighborhoods in which we work. G & C Appraisals understands the value of certain features to the residents of that area. We know the traffic patterns, the school zones, the busy throughways; and we use this information to determine which attributes of a property will make a difference in the value. Then, G & C Appraisals researches recent sales in the vicinity and finds properties which are comparable (similar) to the subject being appraised. The sales prices of these properties are used as a basis to begin the sales comparison approach.

Using knowledge of the market value of certain items such as square footage, extra bathrooms, hardwood floors, fireplaces or view (just to name a few), G & C Appraisals adjusts the comparable properties to more accurately portray the subject property. For example, if the comparable property has a fireplace and the subject does not, the appraiser may deduct the value of a fireplace from the sales price of the comparable home to make it more like the subject.  If the subject property has an extra half-bathroom and the comparable does not, the appraiser might add a certain amount to the comparable property to make it more like the subject.