the Price of Home Appraisals

The price is for a single residence appraisal

Single residence appraisals cost $350-400, depending on difficulty. The company also does land appraisals for $350 for less than 5 acres, exterior-only appraisals for $275, multiple-unit inspections for about $150 per additional unit, final inspections of new construction for $75, and recertification of value (for tax purposes) for $150.

With house prices falling, we thought we'd get an appraisal done to lower our property tax burden. We live in a fairly expensive neighborhood in what we feel is an over-valued home. Unfortunately the city doesn't agree and assesses us a rather large property tax burden, particularly over the housing boom of the last few years.

The inspection itself was very thorough and involved testing electrical circuits and utilities (even water pressure!) as well as the structure and land value itself. For us, as we planned on staying in our home for a few more years (decades, really), that our house's value dropped by almost $100,000 since the last tax period made us quite happy, and saved us a bundle in taxes.

Clean your house and make sure all areas are accessible before the appraiser comes. Not because it'll affect the value, but more because of common courtesy. It's good fix minor things like wonky hinges and leaky faucets because they're a bit of a distraction to appraisers (and they can also report you to your lender as not making proper upkeep of their investment). You will need a variety of documents, if you can get your hands on them. Architect's drawings and land surveys are good, recent tax bills are also good, various home inspection reports (e.g. for insect damage), lists of associated property (out buildings, sheds, and such) and service contracts (shared driveway maintenance or HOA membership, for example) are also good.

You don't really need to get an appraisal done, though it's a good idea to get one done on a home you're seriously considering buying. But sometimes you don't want to get one done, as an increased value has to be reported to the city, which can raise your tax burden.