Prescott AZ Real Estate Appraisal Approaches – Part I of II
A real estate appraisal is an opinion of value. This opinion is often based upon the highest and best use of real property.
Many people relate getting an appraisal to purchasing a home or land in Prescott Arizona. The appraisal helps for the financial institution that you have found to determine if the property infact is valued at the price that is being asked for it. An appraisal is performed by a licensed or certified appraiser. There are a few professional organizations of appraisers in the US.
- American Society of Appraisers (ASA),
- the American Society of Farm Managers, and Rural Appraisers, and
- the Appraisal Institute (AI).
In addition to being licensed and certified, appraisers can earn professional designations. The most highly regarded is the MAI (Member, Appraisal Institute) which requires approximately one year of post graduate college level course work, a three year internship, and successful completion of a two day Comprehensive Examination.
What goes into an appraisal?
Appraisals follow an 8-step process, in this article, we’ll briefly touch on each point.
Step #1: Define the Purpose of the Appraisal
It’s important for the appraiser to define the purpose of the appraisal, the type of value to be estimated, the real estate that will be appraised, and the date of valuation.
Depending on the purpose of the appraisal, the appraiser will determine what type of data and information needs to be collected and what
Step #2: Plan the Appraisal
The appraiser will next develop a plan and time schedule, indentify personnel needed, type of data needed, and data sources. An appraiser has many different sources that he can collect his data from, these can include:
- Assessor’s Offices
- Attorneys/Lawyers
- Brokers
- Builders
- Chambers of Commerce
- Cost Manuals
- Newspapers
- Recorders of Deeds