Why Both Spouses Should Be Present for a Home Appraisal During a Divorce

If you are in the midst of a divorce, chances are your attorney will request that you and your spouse order a home appraisal a quickly as possible.

For many families, the marital home represents the largest asset acquired during a marriage, which means it is critical to find someone with the skills and expertise necessary for valuing your home as accurately and impartially as possible.

Depending on how thorough an appraisal is, it can either save or cost a divorcing couple many much-needed dollars. That is why during a divorce it is more important than ever to find a certified professional appraiser who understands the critical role a home valuation will play in your proceedings and the life you plan on enjoying afterward.

When counseling any client needing a home appraisal due to an impending divorce, I advise both spouses to be present during my home valuation. For many, particularly those involved in a high-conflict divorce, my advice may seem counter-intuitive, even counter-productive. I won’t lie – I have been privy during my many years as a home appraiser to spats reminiscent of Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito in The War of the Roses, and I have learned how to duck for cover when objects, and insults, come flying.

In all seriousness, having both spouses present during a home appraisal, regardless of how amicable or not their divorce is proving to be, saves a couple time. It also allows me to give a couple the most comprehensive appraisal I can without having to retrace my steps over and over again as I compile the information I need. Once I do, I am then able to create a data-rich report that is appropriate for use in a divorce negotiation, even in court, where sometimes I am asked for my expert testimony and am always prepared to testify.

Without going into a debate about how men are from Mars and women are from Venus, or how men and women (and people in general) prioritize certain aspects of their home as opposed to others, let me say that I have seen my fair share of arguments. For example, which items on my checklist, a Viking stove or cracks in a wall, is more significant to my valuation? It depends on who is asking.

For a husband who seeks to value the home as high as possible because his wife is planning to stay there after buying him out, the Viking stove may be. For a wife who wishes to value the home as low as possible to pay her soon-to-be ex a lesser price, the cracks may be. Regardless of who wants what, that Viking stove and those wall cracks can quickly take center stage, delaying, event preventing, the appraisal if the appraiser is not equipped to handle a couple’s divorce-related concerns.

When I deal with both spouses upfront, I can assure them that I am an impartial actor regardless of which “side” hired me to do the appraisal. I can walk the couple through their disagreements, quelling any suspicions and fears they may have that the report won't represent their concerns. It will. And I am always happy to explain how, as I would for any other dispute that may arise. By determining what the couple's sticking points are from the beginning and working through them, I can expeditiously break the appraisal down to those standard terms each spouse can understand in apples to apples and oranges to oranges terms.

People often say, “If these walls could talk.” The difference is when you are an appraiser specializing in divorce, it sometimes becomes necessary to whisper in a couple’s ears just to get them not to scream.

To read more about real estate divorce appraisals, please just click here Divorce Appraisals.

I don’t take sides, and my one goal is to get you where you want to be. Call Nathan anytime at 503.349.3765 to get started and to get all of your questions answered. We look forward to talking with you and putting your mind at rest. We want to help you get through to the next stage of your life.

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Nathan Bernhardt
Bernhardt Appraisal
Portland, Oregon

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Can You Trust the Real Estate Appraiser Conducting Your Home Divorce Appraisal?

When we talk about trust and relationships, often what comes to mind are romantic relationships or personal friendships. How do we trust a new partner? Or, can we trust a friend enough to confide in them? Like any personal relationship, there must also exist trust in your professional relationships, particularly the one you have with the real estate appraiser conducting your divorce appraisal.

For most divorcing couples, the marital home represents the largest joint asset a couple owns. Most divorce lawyers will, therefore, request a professional divorce appraisal of the home, even if the couple is not selling the home. The question is, how can you trust the person you are hiring? After all, it is likely you never met the divorce appraiser before. More than that, you may have never had a real estate appraisal in the past, making you that much warier about the process.

One of the best ways to relieve initial awkwardness between you and your real estate divorce appraiser is to become familiar with the process beforehand. A real estate divorce appraiser, especially one who works intimately with divorcing couples and understands how much stress there can be during this difficult time, will take the time to apprise a couple of what will happen when he arrives at the divorce appraisal appointment.

Those going through or who have ever gone through a divorce know that stress is most often rooted in feelings that they are no longer in control of their life. One of the most effective strategies for overcoming this sensation is to prepare what you can before your divorce appraisal. That means educating yourself about sales data in your area, much of which is freely available on sites like Zillow and Realtor.com. If you are not Internet savvy, you may want to consider reaching out to a local realtor for a list of recent sales in your area.

It is important to remember; however, your preliminary research will not be as comprehensive as that of the real estate divorce appraiser, who is trained in doing such analyses and has more access to the detailed information necessary for giving you the most accurate divorce appraisal possible. Coupled with his knowledge, training, and experience, a reputable real estate divorce appraiser also utilizes computer models that take into consideration nuances not readily available to the general public. Nonetheless, it is still in your best interest to educate yourself from the outset, so you are better able to understand your appraisal and how the appraiser calculated your home’s value when you receive it.

On his end, a reputable real estate appraiser will ease any feelings of insecurity homeowners may have by showing up for the scheduled appointment on time. He will also dress professionally. He will arrive at the home with an open mind, gathering information from around the home and any the homeowners offer to him. Most importantly, he will communicate openly and honestly with the homeowners about why he is there, how he can help them, and what they can do to help him.

One of the best ways homeowners can ensure the accuracy of their home divorce appraisal is by compiling a list of improvements they made to the home, including the dates of the improvements, what those improvements entailed, and how much they cost. It is equally as important for the homeowner to let the appraiser know if the home has any defects that he may not readily see. A home appraisal is no time to keep secrets because once any defect becomes apparent, the home divorce appraisal will lose its accuracy, which will inevitably cost the homeowners more time and money in the long run.

Think of having a home divorce appraisal much as you would say if you were flying on an airplane for the first time. Even though you are not the one sitting in the cockpit, you still place your trust in the pilot to get you where you need to be. Rest assured, an experienced and skilled real estate divorce appraiser will do the same.

To read more about real estate divorce appraisals, please just click here Divorce Appraisals.

I don’t take sides, and my one goal is to get you where you want to be. Call Nathan anytime at 503.349.3765 to get started and to get all of your questions answered. We look forward to talking with you and putting your mind at rest. We want to help you get through to the next stage of your life.

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Nathan Bernhardt
Bernhardt Appraisal
Portland, Oregon

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Are You Nervous About Your Home Divorce Appraisal?

If you are nervous about your upcoming real estate divorce appraisal, you are not alone. After all, you have a lot at stake, especially if you are like most divorcing couples whose home is the largest asset they own together. There is, however, a surefire way to ease your mind, and that is to get involved in the divorce home appraisal process. Even though a home divorce appraisal might be a new experience for you and your spouse, your efforts can go a long way toward not only making you feel less nervous but also ensuring that you get the most accurate report possible.

A residential divorce appraisal has three distinct parts. The first part entails identifying and describing the property. That may sound easy but, for a divorce home appraiser who has never visited your house before, he or she will have their work cut out for them. That is where the homeowner comes in and can offer some much-needed guidance to the home divorce appraiser. After all, you know your home best. By putting together in advance a general description of your house, you can ensure that the research conducted by your home divorce appraiser will represent the most accurate and up to date information in existence.

Your description should include the following:

• The location of the house
• The year the house was built
• The style of the home
• How many square feet it has (if you know)
• How many bedrooms and bathrooms there are
• What the general condition of the house is
• Any unusual features the house has

The next step is for an interested homeowner to do some preliminary research on the pricing of similar homes in the area. Again, your home divorce appraiser may be unfamiliar with your neighborhood, especially if you do not live in a subdivision where many of the surrounding houses look alike. The best way to find comps in your area is to enlist the help of three different local realtors. Chances are there will be some overlap between their results, which will give you the reassurance you want that the information in your home divorce appraisal is correct. Having these comps on hand for your home divorce appraiser will also give him or her some idea as to where you expect your home to fall on the valuation scale. Not to mention, your expectations will be more realistic when you ultimately receive your divorce home appraisal.

The third and final step of the home divorce appraisal process lies almost entirely with your home divorce appraiser. Though you are free to share your analysis with the home divorce appraiser who is appraising your home, it is at this stage he or she will combine all of the information you provided up to this point with his or her own. He or she will then conduct a dollar for dollar analysis, making any adjustments for differences that exist between your house and the comps in your neighborhood. Indeed, this is the most difficult part of the home divorce appraisal process and where your home divorce appraiser’s years of expertise and experience kicks in, so any information you offered earlier can only strengthen the credibility of the home divorce appraiser’s report.

By integrally involving yourself in your real estate divorce appraisal, you will invariably feel less helpless or nervous during the process (if you are feeling that way at all). You will also keep your divorce home appraiser accountable and on task even more so than he or she already is, inspiring him or her to generate the most accurate valuation possible. A professional home divorce appraiser should not resent your involvement in the process. In fact, if reputable, he or she will thank you for it. Remember, a home divorce appraisal can only help during a divorce, so help your home divorce appraiser help you.

To read more about real estate divorce appraisals, please just click here Divorce Appraisals.

I don’t take sides, and my one goal is to get you where you want to be. Call Nathan anytime at 503.349.3765 to get started and to get all of your questions answered. We look forward to talking with you and putting your mind at rest. We want to help you get through to the next stage of your life.

Website | Facebook | LinkedIn | Google + | Blog

Nathan Bernhardt
Bernhardt Appraisal
Portland, Oregon

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#appraisal
#portlandrealestateappraisal
#bernhardtappraisal
#divorceappraiser
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