This is the second post in a blog series on getting a home appraisal before you sell. You can read Part 1 here. In this article, we’ll discuss your options after you get your appraisal.
Getting a Home Appraisal – Knowledge is Power
If your home appraisal comes back at a high value that you’re happy with, that’s great news! If you plan on listing your property at a price that equals the appraised value, you can use the appraisal as ammunition when selling your home. Have your real estate agent drop a copy of the appraisal report on the kitchen counter next to the property brochures! It adds instant credibility for purposes of validating your advertised list price.
Some homebuyers feel like they have good understanding of comparable sales in a community because they’ve looked at a list of “similar” sales on certain home search websites. In reality, the automated search function for many of these sites doesn’t do a good job of selecting recent “comparable” sales, so getting a home appraisal helps educate these buyers.
If Your Home Appraisal Gives You Bad News…
If your appraisal is lower than you thought it would be, this is disappointing, but again, it’s better to know that up front than be let down later. At least you might be saved from committing the costly error of overpricing your home.
After getting a home appraisal, perhaps you’ll decide to postpone selling your home, which would be a better move than overpricing it and shooting yourself in the foot as you go up on the market. If you still decide to try for a higher price, you’ll at least have realistic expectations of what a buyer will be interested in paying for the property.
If you’re considering selling in the next few months, you should look into getting a home appraisal before you list. It’s important to accumulate as much knowledge about the market as possible before selling, and this is an important part of that process.
Are you thinking of selling your Northern Virginia home in the next six months? Email me at DarrenRobertsonHomes@gmail.com – mention this article, and I’ll pay for your home appraisal if we decide to work together on the sale of your property!