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 [...]
Appraisal Information and Tutorials
FHA Approved Lenders and FHA Approved Homes in Texas?
Where is the list of FHA approved homes? How can you find a home that will qualify for an FHA loan? Read our list on how to buy a home with an FHA loan.
Fence Value and the Running Joke
by 5 Comments
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 [...]
Real Estate Valuation Impact: Does Neat and Clean Count?
by 5 Comments
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 [...]
Vanishing Texas | A Drive off 95 in Bastrop
by 16 Comments
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 [...]
Home Appraisal Video Tutorial
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
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 [...]
Who Can Order an Appraisal?
Can Anyone Order an Appraisal Or Is Appraisal Ordering Restricted? In short, no. In reality, sometimes. Depending on what you need the appraisal for, you may be able to order an appraisal for your property. Lenders Order Appraisals For Loans, But You Can, Too The basic rules of appraisal ordering: Anyone can order an appraisal [...]
Measuring Stairs for an Appraisal
by 3 Comments
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 [...]
What is Included in the Square Footage of a House?
by 1 Comment
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 [...]
A Property Tax Assessment is not the same as a Property Appraisal
by 2 Comments
All About Your Property Tax Assessment Your tax bill arrives and you have a heart attack. If your property is worth the property tax assessment the taxing district thinks it is worth, it’s time to SELL and retire to Aruba! If only. Tax Assessment and Market Value Differences Property tax assessments fall into three categories: [...]
Determining the Value of Texas Waterfront Property
by 1 Comment
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 [...]
Appraisal Tools for Property Appraisals
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 [...]
Original Video Line-up