Make No Mistake – Appraisers Only Provide Opinions

So you’re a homeowner who recently refinanced his/her home. The mortgage company sent out an appraiser who put a figure on the value of your property… and you were pleased with how much your home had increased in value since you bought it.

Now you are thinking of selling, and you talk to someone like me – a real estate broker – only to be told that your home is worth less than the appraised value.

What happened? Has your property lost THAT much value?

Probably not.

No, Mr. Seller – it NEVER really was worth THAT much.

When you refinance your home, the lender wants to loan you as much money as possible. That’s their goal. As long as the appraiser can find some justification for their opinion of value – everything is fine. After all, you already live in the home – and already OWN the home – so they are going to loan you as much money as they can.

Remember – an appraisal is only an OPINION of value.

The trouble is that an appraisal is like the sticker price on a new car. The banks respect that price – and will give you a car loan based upon that price. But if you’re like most people, there’s no way you would never pay sticker price for a new car.

Add to that a sluggish real estate market with a combination of serious sellers (sellers who NEED to sell) and volumes of inventory – and your true market value is likely lower than any recent appraisal. Maybe MUCH lower.

I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

So the bright side is that in Atlanta, your home might not be worth much less than a few months – or years – ago.

It just never was worth that much, in the first place.