How a REALTOR® in Portland can stop a bad Appraisal.

These days appraisals are at the top of the deal killer list for residential home sales. Demand in the Portland home market is up and often the market itself doesn’t catch up fast enough. This means that appraisers will be looking at old information that is skewing the way the bank is looking at the current sale. Also, the days have long past where a Realtor can choose an appraiser they trust. Appraisers are virtually randomly selected by the lender with no input permitted. Given these facts, what can be done to stop an appraiser from killing your Portland home sale?

1. Have your Portland Realtor meet the appraiser at the property. Not all appraisers are willing to talk with the Realtor, but often someone has to open the door for them. A good Realtor will ask the appraiser if they can point out some of the unique features of the home. If a conversation can happen between the Portland Realtor and the appraiser your chances of success just went up significantly.

2. Make sure your Portland Realtor has a printed out features list to give the appraiser when they meet. If the appraiser won’t talk with the Realtor, and many won’t, they will still always take printed information about the home. A simple rule goes like this: if you give it to them, they must consider it. A full printout of all the positive features of the home should be presented to the appraiser when they visit the Portland home.

3. Be sure your Portland Realtor includes current comparables that relate positively with your current home for sale. Usually, there are many comparable options for any given sale. It won’t hurt to provide the appraiser with some of the “better” options at the meeting.

It should be noted that not every Portland sale is in jeopardy from an appraiser. Appraisers tend to want to make the deal come to pass, but often are stopped because they simply can’t justify the price given the comparables they have to work with and the condition of the home they see. If your Portland Realtor follows these three steps, it will help the process tremendously.