Attention homeowners in Cedar Falls and Black Hawk County: Need an appraisal?

Here are the top 7 reasons IA homeowners use McRae Appraisals LLC:

  1. Get a pre-listing appraisal (whether they're selling the home themselves or using an agent)
  2. Challenge a property tax assessment
  3. To lower your mortgage payments by removing PMI
  4. Reinstate your Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC)
  5. Review a different appraiser's report for verification
  6. In the case of a IA divorce, where real estate property needs to be divided
  7. To determine the true market value of real estate in question to settle an estate

Need help deciding the price of your home in or near Cedar Falls, IA?
Contact McRae Appraisals LLC.

We at McRae Appraisals LLC understand the individual needs of a customer looking for appraisal services. The appraisal process and reporting formats are relatively routine to our business clients like lenders, attorneys, and CPAs. Being a regular person not in the real estate industry that probably doesn't see an appraisal every day,we'll be sure you get extra guidance and explanations through the appraisal process to better understand what we do and how we report our conclusions.

For Sale By Owner (FSBO)/Pre-Listing Services

Since you have an emotional attachment to your house, it's often very hard to be objective about it. The professional appraisers at McRae Appraisals LLC will tell you what you need to know -- not just what you want to hear. We are objective. A professional appraisal is a very valuable negotiating tool once you have an attainable buyer, in addition to helping you set a realistic price to sell at so your home will attract buyers. The appraisal is something concrete to show your buyer. An appraisal is an independent third party's opinion of your house's price -- not just how much you think your house is worth. Interested buyers know that you have an emotional attachment to your home and will be much more likely to give credibility to a seasoned appraiser's value report than yours.

Need to remove PMI?

A fashionable way to cut costs for homeowners is to get the PMI eliminated from their mortgage loan, thus saving them money on their monthly payments. PMI stands for "Private Mortgage Insurance". Once your mortgage loan amount is below 80% of the value of your home, in most cases you can apply to your lender to have the PMI removed from your loan, which will make your monthly payments go down. At McRae Appraisals LLC, we're qualified in helping consumers just like you abolish unneeded PMI insurance.

Challenging a property tax assessment

Lets say your home is not appreciating as much as other properties nearby -- your local tax assessor may have your house overvalued. That only means you're most likely paying more taxes than you should. The quicker you take care of a matter like this, the better off you'll be, since your property assessment may likely go up again in the next period. An appraisal report from McRae Appraisals LLC is your best weapon when contesting your property tax assessment.

Was your HELOC recently frozen?

If your house is close to a declining area, your lender may choose to automatically freeze your home equity line of credit (HELOC) - even if your specific property has not declined in value. This can this be disadvantageous from a cash flow angle, and detrimental to your credit score since it may appear as though that credit line is maxed out. McRae Appraisals LLC can help you reinstate your HELOC.

Field and Desktop Appraisal Review Services

Have you just accepted a copy of your appraisal and you would wish to have a seasoned professional double-check it for efficiency or do you want a second opinion without the added cost and delay of waiting for a whole new appraisal? We can go out and check the subject and comps in question in a field review. Or, if you need it immediately, we can provide you with a desk review and verify as many facts as we can using online data sources as well as our own files.

We can also provide a retrospective review of any appraisal report you may have in your possession. Even though this is usually requested by banks, you may need to utilize this service if you suspect mortgage fraud related to your property.