What's the Difference Between Home Inspections and Home Appraisals?

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Today, we cover a topic that confuses many people: the difference between a home inspection and a home appraisal. 

Most real estate contracts have both a home inspection contingency and an appraisal contingency. These are completely separate:

• The home inspection contingency pertains to the overall condition of the home and any potential issues with the property. This protects the prospective buyer and can include structural issues, a leaky roof, or faulty appliances. A home inspection typically takes anywhere from 2-4 hours. The idea is to pinpoint any issues with the property prior to moving forward with the purchase.
• The home appraisal contingency is in place to get a licensed appraiser to the property to justify the purchase price of a property. An appraiser will visit the property once it has gone under contract to make sure the sales price is in line with the current market. The appraiser will review comparable sales and review items such as square footage, condition of the property, lot premiums, and other variables that are factored into property values. The goal of the appraiser is to provide a detailed report showing how the sales price was reached in the contract.

We hope this gives you a good understanding of the differences between home inspections and home appraisals. If you have any further questions, or if you would like our assistance, give us a call or shoot us an email. We would be pleased to help you!

What's Wrong with Zestimates?

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Hey everyone, today we are going to be discussing Zestimates, and how accurate they are in Charleston.

I cannot even begin to explain how often buyers and sellers ask me about the accuracy of their Zestimate, an automated home valuation from the home search website, Zillow. From my experience, the Zestimates in Charleston tend to be off in value considerably.

I've seen property value off by as much as $100,000 on homes in our area. Zillow uses several different sources for their information in an attempt to put an accurate value, but in my opinion, it will never be accurate. Each home is unique, and has its own unique value. There simply is not a substitute for a local Realtor who is familiar with all the market details. They can get you the most accurate home valuation. 

If you don't believe me about Zestimates being inaccurate, let me prove it to you. If you go on Zillow.com, scroll down to the very bottom, and click on the "Zestimates" link, you will see a tab that says "How Accurate is my Zestimate?" Here you will see for yourself that their Zestimates can be off by as much as 10% in 40% of sales. 

As you can see, the Zestimate is pretty useless for getting an accurate home value. I invite you to visit with a local Realtor or appraiser for a much more accurate idea of what your property is worth in the current market. If you have any questions for us, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you!