Myth: Assessed value is the same as market value.
Reality: Never go by your assessed value! There are tons of reasons. Your assessor may not be aware of interior improvements or remodeling that can substantially affect your home’s market value. While many county assessments are thorough and involve a detailed inspection, most do not – they involve only cursory inspections of the exterior of your home only.

Myth: An appraisal conducted for the buyer will be lower than and appraisal conducted for the seller, all other things being equal.
Reality: Professional, ethical Pittsburgh area appraisers, like Precision Network Services, appraise property objectively and with no vested interest in how high or low the value is. Appraisers are impartial auditors of the mortgage and real estate process.

Myth: Replacement cost is the same as market value.
Reality: An appraisal might consider the replacement cost of a property, but will consider much more. Ultimately the market value of your home is what a willing buyer would pay a willing seller in an arm’s length transaction. Much more than replacement cost goes into that calculation.

Myth: Appraisers use a formula to work out the value of a home, like price per square foot.
Reality: So much more goes into calculating the market value of a property – its location, size, proximity to facilities, condition, amenities and recent sale prices of comparable properties.

Myth: When values are rising overall in the Pittsburgh or greater Western Pennsylvania market, an individual property can be expected to have appreciated at about the same rate.
Reality: In the same way value trends in Cleveland are irrelevant to value trends in Monroeville, value trends over a whole region or market are really irrelevant to an individual property. Among the factors a professional Pittsburgh area appraiser will use to estimate market value is sales of comparable properties. If those sales represent appreciation roughly the same as the whole market’s, then there might be a correlation. But no neighborhood necessarily tracks the value trend of a whole metropolitan area.

Myth: You can tell what a property is worth just by looking at the outside.
Reality: A experienced, professional Pittsburgh area appraiser will thoroughly inspect your home inside and out.

Myth: Home owners, or buyers, own the appraisal.
Reality: In mortgage situations, the appraiser works for the lender. Our job is to objectively estimate the market value of the home to help the lender make a wise underwriting decision. Laws exist that require lenders to give mortgage borrowers a copy of the appraisal of the house they’re buying on request. Ask your loan officer or broker how to get a copy for your files. It’s a smart idea.

Myth: Appraisers are only hired to do mortgage appraisals.
Reality: Appraisers estimate the market value of homes for a number of reasons, including to support FSBO sellers, help with property tax disputes, calculate the value of an estate or net worth, to eliminate Private Mortgage Insurance, and other reasons. Precision Network Services has done all this and more, and is well qualified to appraise your property any time you need a professional opinion of its market value.