Bernhardt Appraisal

Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Home Divorce Appraisal 101: 6 Behaviors to Avoid

Selling the marital home is one of the most emotionally-charged tasks a couple must face during a divorce, particularly a contentious one. As trying as it is, there is a point during the home sale process when a divorcing couple can let go of the reins a bit and ease tensions, and that is during the home divorce appraisal.

From the moment, your home divorce appraiser accepts you as a client, he or she focuses on creating the most accurate and comprehensive home divorce appraisal possible. After doing preliminary research on your home, your home divorce appraiser will schedule a visit to your house. During that visit, it is critical that you allow your home divorce appraiser to do the job he or she is being paid to do. That means putting forth your best effort to not engage in behaviors or activities that will either prevent or interfere with your home divorce appraiser seeing what he or she must see.

As a home divorce appraiser, here are the six behaviors I recommend watching out for during your home divorce appraisal.

1. Arguing. If you and your soon-to-be-ex are sharing an appraisal, also called a joint appraisal, and both of you are present, do your best to be civil to each other for at least one hour so your home divorce appraiser can pay attention to the house and not the two of you. Your home divorce appraiser does not need to hear who wronged who, who slept with the neighbor, who pays the bills, who never pays attention to the kids, or dodge objects flying above his or her head. Keep in mind your home divorce appraiser is not there to appraise you. Your home divorce appraiser simply needs to see the house and take notes, photos, and measurements. Quiet is best.

2. Failing to control distractions. I love kids and dogs just as much as the next guy but during the home divorce appraisal process they should be kept busy elsewhere. Our equipment and process can be fascinating to children and pets alike. But, again, your home divorce appraiser needs to pay close attention to what he or she is seeing. Your home divorce appraiser also shouldn’t have to worry about Cujo biting or scratching him while working.

3. Lying. Here is my favorite: Don't create a fake list of things wrong with the house that cannot be verified by the appraiser. If the walls are full of water, there are unicorns in the crawl space, or the house spins on its axis when it’s windy, get a professional home inspector to document it firsthand. Sending your home divorce appraiser on a wild goose chase only prolongs the inevitable, which will cost you more money in the long run. Let your home divorce appraiser do his or her job, and everyone wins.

4. Misleading. Don't deliberately try and mislead your home divorce appraiser by providing a massively-biased CMA report of value from a realtor. Your home divorce appraiser knows how subjective a realtor's assessment is and, accordingly, how much it can vary from realtor to realtor. In the same vein, be careful about putting all your value eggs in the Zillow basket. Zillow estimates don’t account for nearly as many factors as a home divorce appraisal does. Appraisals are the gold-standard for providing home valuations. Appraisers are highly-trained, accountable, and worry more than you could ever know about doing a credible job on your appraisal. Zillow fills a space where there used to be nothing except poorly accessed county data. Consequently, it can be useful as a preliminary tool for assessing your property. However, it is important to remember that The Zestimate is not an appraisal and should not substitute for one.

5. Being messy. Hoarders beware! It’s challenging to view a house if every room is crammed to the ceiling with collectibles and only a narrow path to squeeze through. You may love every one of your 200 Precious Moments figurines, but to your home divorce appraiser, they are just cluttering the space if keeping him or her from examining your baseboard heating. Especially if you’re going to be moving from your home shortly, begin packing such objects away. Or get a dumpster before your appraisal if need be. Your home divorce appraiser must be allowed to examine your home thoroughly and not have to worry about navigating an obstacle course while doing so.

6. Worrying. Don't worry! I see a lot of anxious people during home divorce appraisal inspections, and I am here to tell you that anxiety is just not necessary. By worrying you are only punishing yourself. Home divorce appraisal examinations are very anticlimactic, even tedious. If you have any paperwork you want to show your home divorce appraiser, ask. Your home divorce appraiser will let you know whether it’s relevant to his or her analysis. Bottom line, home divorce appraisers are here to make your life easier. The trick is for you to let them.

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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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Wednesday, August 2, 2017

What Happens If Your Home Divorce Appraisal Comes in Low?

There is a reason why homeowners sometimes fear home appraisers, particularly during a divorce, and that is because home divorce appraisals can come in lower than homeowners expect. In situations where a home divorce appraisal is part of a home sale, a lower than anticipated home divorce appraisal can potentially kill a deal. Even when there are no plans to sell the home, and one of the homeowners chooses to stay for purposes of keeping children settled in their same school, for example, a low home divorce appraisal can wreak havoc on the financial calculations made during negotiation of a divorce settlement.

Even if your home divorce appraisal comes in lower than you expected or, in some circumstances, especially during a strong housing market, is lower than the agreed upon sale price of the home, you can still recover. Here are four ways to regroup after a low home divorce appraisal.

1. Appeal. Even if you prepared for your home divorce appraisal thoroughly by presenting your home divorce appraiser with all of the information you had about your home, including improvements and information about the home which may not have been readily available or visible to your home divorce appraiser, you could still appeal the home divorce appraisal after completion.

2. Get a second opinion. Not all divorce appraisers have the same knowledge or experience. Some home appraisers are specialists in certain areas while others are not. Just as you would ask for a second opinion from a doctor before electing for open heart surgery, so, too, can you hire a second, or even third, appraiser to evaluate your home.

If you are going through a divorce, many homeowners fail to realize that it is advantageous to hire a home appraiser who is familiar with divorce issues. A home divorce appraiser will recognize and appreciate that your home divorce appraisal also gets used for purposes other than the sale of your home, including the calculation of your divorce settlement. He or she will understand the timeline of a divorce and how every delay can potentially cost divorcing homeowners money while causing unnecessary stress.

3. Negotiate. Especially during a housing boom where multiple bidders bid on the same property, causing a sale at or above the asking price, a home divorce appraisal may come in lower than the sale price. Since mortgage lenders want to ensure that, in the event a borrower defaults on his or her loan, that the mortgage company will be able to recover the amount of their loan, a mortgage company may be hesitant to underwrite a mortgage where the sale price is higher than the appraisal. Receiving a home divorce appraisal that is lower than a home’s sale price is often the quickest way to kill a deal. To save a deal, the seller can negotiate with the buyer to make up the difference by adding money to the purchase price or meet somewhere in the middle by contributing money as well.

4. Lower the home’s sale price. If a home divorce appraisal comes in low and a seller is unwilling to add money to the purchase price, a seller has the option to lower the home’s sale price so that it is in line with the home divorce appraisal. That way the buyer’s mortgage application is more likely to be approved and the home’s sale concluded. Though the seller might believe he or she is leaving money on the table, especially when a divorce is pending, the longer it takes to sell the marital home, the longer it can take to conclude the divorce proceedings, which can potentially cost the homeowners more money in the long run.

The important thing to remember about your home divorce appraisal is that it is not the final word. A home divorce appraisal is, in essence, a guideline for ensuring that a home is valued correctly, regardless if the home is going to be sold or not. If your home divorce appraisal is not to your satisfaction, remember, interpretation is subjective. That said, the best way to ensure accuracy is first to hire the most competent home divorce appraisal specialist for the job.

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