Appraiser for Real Estate in Austin: Travis, Williamson, Bastrop, Hays and Caldwell County
A House Appraisal: Find the Value of a Home How do people find the value of a home? Meaning, what a home (usually their home) is worth? Of the most common ways to find the value of a home, a formal house appraisal is the most accurate. If you REALLY want to know what a [...]
How Much is a $5000 Fence Worth? Yes, you read that right. A $5000 fence is very unlikely to be worth $5000. Fence Cost does not equal Fence Value Most home improvement projects don’t return 100% on the investment. Maybe one would if you did all of the work yourself, and used materials left over [...]
Does the Appraiser Care How Neat Your Home Is? The short answer is: it depends, maybe or yes. Most of us know that when you put your house on the market, it needs to look and be as spiffy as possible. For this reason, many of the resale homes we appraise have been de-cluttered and [...]
When was the last time you took a drive out into the countryside? We did that this past weekend. Although we’re out in the rural areas frequently for appraisals, we don’t often take the time to just LOOK – at the trees! The cows! The fences! The fields! Normally, the articles we write are specifically [...]
Orlando Masis Explains the Basics of Home Appraisal in a Video In this appraisal inspection video, Texas State Certified Residential Real Estate Appraiser Orlando Masis demonstrates how a house is measured with the traditional appraiser tools of a measuring tape and graphing paper to draw the sketch of the home. Take a few minutes while [...]
Rural Appraisers: a Long Drive Home In this post, we discuss, in detail, the appraisal of a fictitious rural property near Austin, Texas. If you know you need the rural property value of a home or acreage you or a client owns, you can read about some of the details involved in this type of [...]
Did You Take Advantage of the Home Buyers Tax Credit? Many Austin homeowners did, and many may end up repaying tax credits on property purchases that didn’t qualify. Others will have to fight the IRS to have their purchase records corrected in the IRS databases. Three Instances of the Home Buyers Tax Credit In 2008 [...]
Is Appraisal Ordering Restricted? In short, no. In reality, sometimes. Lenders Order Appraisals For Loans, But You Can, Too The basic rules of appraisal ordering: Anyone can order an appraisal on their own home for any reason, from any licensed appraiser. If the appraisal is for the purposes of re-financing, or purchasing a home, the [...]
How Are Stairs Measured for an Appraisal? I’ve noticed a bunch of keyword queries leading folks to our site wondering about how the square footage of stairs is calculated for an appraisal. Stairs Are Measured Twice, But Included Once When a house is measured for an appraisal, it is measured from the outside (if at [...]
When Measuring a House, What Counts? Not all of the space under your roof counts as living space from an appraiser’s perspective. Some spaces don’t count towards the measured square footage of a home. What Do Appraisers INCLUDE in the Square Footage of a House? Interior spaces that are conditioned spaces (heated, and cooled, if [...]
All About Tax Assessments Tax bill arrives and you have a heart attack. If your property is worth what the taxing district thinks it is worth, it’s time to SELL and retire to Aruba! If only. Tax Assessment and Market Value Differences Tax assessments fall into three categories: Low Plausible (somewhat close) High If you’re [...]
Waterfront Property: How is Value Determined? At the most basic level, the value of property, including waterfront property, is the price the market will bear. If you are considering purchasing (or selling) waterfront property, you need to read this article. When neither the buyer nor the seller are distressed (facing foreclosure or other undue financial [...]
The Best Appraisal Tools This year we have focused on integrating the newest and the best appraisal software and appraisal tools into our property appraisals business. Before we talk about modern appraisal tools, let’s take a trip down memory lane. Quick Clicks For Article Sections: Appraisal Tools: 1990s Appraisal Tools: 2010 The Appraisal Tools We [...]
