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Click here for answers to common divorce appraisal
questions. Unfortunately, divorces due occur and spouses often
have a legal need to divide their jointly-owned property up in a fair
manner. The only reasonable way to deal with jointly owned real estate
is to first determine its value. We can provide such an estimate. It's
also important that you choose an appraiser who has experience in court,
if the need should arise. The appraiser who provides you with an
appraisal will need to be able to adequately defend that appraisal in
court.
Time and time again, we have seen homeowners show up in court with a
$300 appraisal as their only evidence for the value of their property.
Many times their appraiser reluctantly shows up only after having been
subpoenaed. The appraisal is typically a rush-job and the appraiser is
not prepared to defend his or her work. We have seen homeowners lose
tens of thousands of dollars in equity simply because they hired the
wrong appraiser who could not convince the judge or jury of the proper
market value of the subject property. Developing an appraisal to be used
for litigation is a skill that the vast majority of appraisers do not
possess.
Some homeowners choose to use a real estate agent or
broker for their market value. This is typically a mistake. Real estate
agents and brokers aren't required to follow any standards when developing
the typical broker's price opinion (or BPO). We have hundreds of pages of
Standards that we have to comply with. Not only that, but we are
required by law to be unbiased. The typical real estate agent trying to
get a listing on your property has different motives. Furthermore, the
typical agent or broker has no comprehensive appraisal training other than
a brief introduction as included as part of their pre-licensure. There are
many complex factors that may affect the value of your property that
require specialized training. Here are some of the
qualifications of our senior appraiser Patrick J. Butler.
Testifying in court is not for the timid. Be sure that any professional
you use to value your house has court experience. You'll need someone who
can also create any required exhibits and present a professional
appearance.
A litigation appraisal starts with a very thorough inspection (not home
inspection) of your house that may last 2-3 hours. We carefully record the
important details that might be needed later. We take dozens of interior
photographs and videotape your entire house on the interior and exterior.
This video is later converted to DVD so that we can replay any appropriate
sections of the DVD in court via our laptop computer and LCD projector.
This photographic evidence can be priceless if there are any disagreements
as to the factual details of the appraisal.
We measure your house using the latest electronic laser measuring tool
called a Disto. Surprisingly, many arguments in court revolve around the
actual amount of living area in the subject property. There are a lot of
sloppy ways to measure a house and we're sure to do it according to the
latest ANSI guidelines. We also acquire lots of public data on your
property from various governmental offices and have all of this
information available in an electronic format to be presented as needed in
court.
For tough assignments, we have access to aerial photographs and complex
surveying techniques. The bottom line is that you will want an appraiser
with the latest tools to appraiser your house properly.
There are some important factors that need to be considered upfront when
you need an appraisal for divorce purposes. Please call our office
for a no-charge consultation before ordering an appraisal from anywhere. We can provide you with some
important information that you'll need to know before starting this
important process.
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