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Your lender may have told you that they don’t need an appraisal. This doesn’t mean that you don’t need an appraisal. The mortgage industry has repeatedly attempted to eliminate the requirement for a home appraisal in the lending process. Lenders have introduced programs with little success. Most attempts to remove the appraisal requirement have included […]

Many are familiar with the use of comparable sales, or “comps” in residential real estate appraisals. In this blog entry, I will explain how this technique is used. A discussion of comparable sales begins with an explanation of why this approach is used in the valuation of real estate. Comparable sales reflect actual market reaction […]

I am often asked which home improvements “count” towards the appraised value of a house. This is never an easy question. Many people envision a list of improved items with predetermined relevancy, along with a specific dollar value assigned to each of those items. I will explain in this blog entry why that is not […]

  Imagine you are in the process of purchasing a home. The real estate agent you are working with tells you the house is 2,200 square feet. The local tax assessor indicates that it’s 2,350 square feet. The appraisal report was just delivered and it says the home is 1,925 square feet. Who’s right? Maybe they’re […]

  Philadelphia and the surrounding area offers a wide variety of housing options. Condominiums and townhomes served by a homeowners’ association (HOA) are becoming increasingly popular. Residences that are part of an HOA typically require payment of monthly dues however, these dues often cover maintenance costs that would otherwise fall directly on the homeowner. Sometimes […]