Real Estate Appraisals Archives

While the pandemic inflicted unprecedented losses on many businesses, one sector that did not follow that trend was residential real estate. The market both nationwide and here in the New York area continues to be red hot — largely as city dwellers move to the suburbs and the surge in demand has put the existing inventory of suburban homes in short supply.

Although finding an investment property can be difficult right now, it’s also an opportunity to make big profits – multiple sources including Bloomberg, CNBC, and Forbes report profits on flips are at a record high. And it’s an especially good opportunity for those who have insider’s knowledge like contractors and realtors. I know first-hand – as an investor and contractor, I have renovated and flipped more than 180 properties in my career.

Just like banks who provide mortgages for people buying a home to live in, most private lenders, who finance real estate investors, require an appraisal on a property before making a loan. The appraisal is used to protect the lender – it helps them evaluate if it’s a good deal for the investor and the appraised value is also usually used to set the maximum loan amount. I have been doing appraisals for private lenders for over 10 years. During that time on many occasions the appraisal has differed significantly from the borrower’s estimate of value. Often times this is because the investor does not fully understand how appraisers select the comparable sales used to value the property. If you understand these three things about appraisals, it will help you evaluate your deals…