Do I need an Appraisal to Sell my House?

One of the most common questions people ask is, "do I need an appraisal to sell my house?" An appraisal is a professional assessment of the home's worth. It is performed by a licensed appraiser, who takes into account the property features, the market conditions, and the data on sales of similar properties. The appraiser then uses a formula to calculate the most likely worth of the home. Home sellers generally ask "do I need an appraisal to sell my house" because they believe that the appraisal will help them to determine how much to list the home for.

The answer to the question of "do I need an appraisal to sell my house" is technically NO. It is possible to price a home and list it for sale without the home being formally appraised. In order to determine how much you should ask for the home without an appraisal, you can do some basic research yourself on the Internet to find out what similar homes have sold for. Remember, when doing your own research on the Internet, the other homes that appear comparable to yours may actually have different features or be in a different condition, so any estimates you make on your home's value from this type of research should be considered estimates and not facts.

You can also ask your real estate agent what he believes the house will sell for. Real estate agents look at many properties, and seller's agents are often responsible for listing multiple properties within a given market. As a result, agents begin to learn the value of properties and are able to discern what buyers are looking for. Your real estate agent can thus help you determine the appropriate price to list your home for, without the need for you to hire a professional appraiser.

However, although you do not need to have your home appraised to sell your house, the answer to the question of "do I need an appraisal to sell my house" can be more complicated than a simple no.

While sellers do not need to have the home appraised, buyers often do. Generally, a bank will not authorize a loan until the home is appraised by an approved appraiser of the lender's choosing. The buyer pays for this appraisal, and it may be done after an offer is already made on the home. Still, since the bank will generally not provide a mortgage to the buyer if the home is found to be worth less than expected in the appraisal, technically the answer to the question of "do I need an appraisal to sell my house" can in fact be yes- you do because the buyer may be unable to make the purchase unless the appraisal goes OK.