Attention homeowners in Austin and Travis County: Need an appraisal?

Check out the top seven reasons why TX homeowners use Edwards Appraisals:

  1. Pre-listing appraisals (whether you're using an agent or selling the home on your own)
  2. To challenge a TX property tax assessment
  3. To reduce your mortgage payments by removing PMI
  4. Reinstate your Home Equity Line of Credit (or HELOC)
  5. Review a different appraiser's report for verification
  6. In the case of a TX divorce, where real estate needs to be divided
  7. Settle an estate in TX by determining the true market value of real estate in question

Own a house in or near Austin, TX and need help deciding the value of it?
Contact Edwards Appraisals.

At Edwards Appraisals, we understand the individual needs of a homeowner looking for appraisal services. Our usual business clients understand the appraisal process and the usual "products" we deliver to them. Being a person not in the real estate industry that probably doesn't see an appraisal on a regular basis,you can expect extra guidance and explanations through the appraisal process to better understand what we do and how we document our conclusions.

For Sale By Owner (FSBO)/Pre-Listing Services

It's very hard to be objective about your own house because you probably have an emotional attachment to it. A professional appraiser is objective and will tell you what you need to know, not just what you want to hear. In addition to helping you set a realistic price to sell at so your house will attract buyers, a professional appraisal is a very important negotiating tool once you have an attainable buyer. It gives you something tangible to show your buyer. The appraisal is an independent third party's opinion of your home's value, not just you saying how much your house is worth. Interested buyers assume that you have an emotional attachment to your house and will be far more likely to give credibility to a qualified appraiser's value opinion than yours.

Need to cancel PMI?

A popular way to cut costs for homeowners is getting the PMI removed from their mortgage loan, thus saving them money on their monthly payments. PMI stands for "Private Mortgage Insurance". Once your mortgage loan is down below 80% of the value of your house, in most cases you can apply to your lender to have the PMI canceled from your loan, which will make your monthly payments go down. Edwards Appraisals is experts in helping clients just like you abolish undesirable PMI insurance.

Challenging a property tax assessment

Your local tax assessor may have your house overvalued if you live in an area that's going down. This only means you are most likely paying higher taxes than you should be paying. Since your property assessment may likely go up again in the next period, the faster you take care of things like this, the better off you'll be. Getting a professional appraisal from Edwards Appraisals is your number one weapon when contesting your property tax assessment.

HELOC recently frozen?

Even if your specific property has not declined in value, your lender just might make the decision to automatically freeze your home equity line of credit (HELOC) if your house is close to a declining area. Not only can this be inopportune from a cash flow viewpoint, but it can be unfavorable to your credit score since it may appear as though that credit line is maxed out. Edwards Appraisals can provide you with efficient appraisal that will help you reinstate your home equity line of credit.

Field and Desktop Appraisal Review Services

Would you wish a second opinion without the added cost and delay of waiting for a whole new appraisal? Or do you desire a seasoned professional to double-check your appraisal for accuracy? In a field review we'll go out and check the subject and comparables in question. Or, if you're in a hurry, we can provide you with a desk review and verify as many facts as we can using online data sources as well as our own files.

Need a retrospective review of an appraisal report? We can help you with that While typically requested by banks, you may want to exercise this service if you suspect mortgage fraud related to your property.