How Are Appraisers Different than Real Estate Agents?

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Some of our clients confuse the roles of the real estate appraiser and the real estate agent. We will be clearing up those differences today, because they have two very different roles.

Once a buyer and a seller have agreed to the terms and the price of a home, the appraiser comes in and does a sort of ‘sanity check’. What we mean is that the appraiser makes sure that neither party is paying too little or too much for the home. They want to make sure that the deal makes sense, and that the home is not being overvalued.

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The appraiser comes in and does a sort of ‘sanity check’.

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Appraisers will look at similar homes in the neighborhood and see what they have sold for in the past. This is then used as a sort of measuring stick to ensure that the sale price is close to what it should be.

Real estate agents go a little further when they price homes because they look at comparables, but they also look at homes in competition with the one they are selling. Their goal is to set an appealing price for your home so that buyers will fight each other to purchase your home, and this slowly raises the sale price. If your agent managed to sell your home above the listed price, then they did a good job pricing it.

If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I look forward to continuing this conversation with you!