Congratulations! You’ve been preapproved for a home mortgage, found your dream home, negotiated an agreeable sales price, and successfully maneuvered through the home inspection process. You now have the fully executed sales contract for your new house.
Next, on to the home appraisal.
You’ll need a home appraisal anytime you take out a loan from a mortgage lender. The appraisal process can get bumpy sometimes, but it’s an important and enlightening part of buying a home.
If you’re a first-time homebuyer, you might not realize how many steps there are until you’re in the thick of it. It helps to prepare yourself for the appraisal process and know how long it will take ahead of time.
How long does a home appraisal take?
It takes most appraisers 1-3 hours to physically inspect a home, but some appraisal inspections take less than an hour. It can then take up to a week or two to get the final appraisal report.
After the appraiser visits the property, they’ll look at comparable home sales in the area. They factor these properties into their appraisal report along with everything they found during their physical inspection.
An appraisal can take longer depending on the appraiser’s workload and the current housing market in your area. The size and complexity of the property can also affect the appraisal timeline.
For example, it will generally take longer to inspect and prepare reports for 6,000 square-foot homes in Dallas, TX than 1,500 square-foot houses in Seattle, WA.
What is an appraisal, and why do I need one?
A home appraisal is an unbiased estimate of your home’s value performed by a licensed real estate appraiser. Here’s why you might need one:
- First, your mortgage lender will likely need an appraisal. By providing an estimate of the fair market value of your home, an appraisal assures the lender they aren’t lending more money for a property than it’s worth.
- An appraisal also protects you by proving you aren’t paying more for…