What’s involved in the Home Appraisal Process?

Early in your loan application process, your lender will arrange for a home appraisal. Borrowers are sometimes confused about this process. They have a pretty good idea about what the home they want to buy is worth but the appraised value can sometimes be very different from that number.

The purpose of a home appraisal is to establish a carefully researched, impartial, and well-documented estimate of property value using a process called comparative analysis. Simply put, a comparative analysis is an item-by-item comparison of two or more comparable alternatives, processes, products, qualifications, or sets of data.  It is intended to protect the interests of buyers, sellers, mortgage lenders and other interested parties. Professional lenders choose appraisers who are licensed and certified.