Welcome to the first Watch-It Wednesday of 2011! With a lot of people looking to refinance their mortgage in the new year, we’ve been getting questions about a crucial aspect of the mortgage process: the appraisal. People want to know how their home’s appraisal value is calculated. Clint Bonkowski explains:
If you can’t see the embedded video, watch our Home Appraisal Value video here.
Got something to say? We’d love to hear from you! Email us at content@quickenloans.com and we just might feature your question or comments in an upcoming blog post!
Video Transcription:
Hello, my name is Clint Bonkowski from Quicken Loans. I’m the Divisional Vice President of Underwriting and today I want to talk real quick about one of the questions we get asked most often, and that is: How is my appraisal value calculated?
A lot of people feel that their house should be worth what they paid for it or what improvements they’ve put into it. Really, the value of your home is determined by the market. Like all markets, values can go up and down, as we’ve seen in the most recent past. So, how do you figure out what your home is currently worth?
What you want to do is look at your local market and how your local market is acting. So, look at comparables in your neighborhood. Look for homes that are similar in size, style and location. And what we mean by style is, make sure you’re comparing your home to other homes that are similar. Do you have a ranch? Then look for comparable ranches. Do you have a colonial? Then look for comparable colonials. Size- make sure you’re comparing your home to homes that are similar in size and square footage. A thousand square-foot ranch be compared to a thousand square-foot ranch. Lastly, location. Make sure in location, you’re looking at homes that have sold or are currently listed in your market that are no more than a mile away. If you check off on all three of these things, you can get a pretty good idea on what your home is currently worth and therefore, give you a good starting point on getting a new mortgage.
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