Why Get An Appraisal?

Here are the top reasons why homeowners use Thornycroft Appraisals:

1. Get a pre-listing appraisal (whether you’re using a real estate agent or selling the home on your own)
2. To challenge your property tax assessment in Idaho
3. Remove PMI to cut a monthly mortgage payment
4. To reinstate their Home Equity Line of Credit (or HELOC)
5. Review a different appraiser’s report for verification
6. In the case of a divorce in the state of Idaho, when real estate needs to be divided
7. Determine the true market value of the property in question to settle an estate in Latah county or Idaho

We at Thornycroft Appraisals understand the special needs of a customer seeking appraisal services. Our regular business clients are used to the appraisal process and the usual documents we provide. But as a general consumer, you can expect extra guidance and explanations through the appraisal process to more fully understand what we do and how we present the results of our analysis.

Pre-listing Services/For Sale by Owner (FSBO)

Since you have an emotional attachment to your home, it’s often very hard to be objective about it. A professional appraiser is objective and will tell you what you need to know, not just what you want to hear. In addition to helping you set a realistic selling price so your house will attract many interested buyers, a professional appraisal is very valuable as a negotiating tool once you have an attainable buyer. It’s something concrete to show the buyer. The appraisal is an independent third party’s opinion of your home’s market value, not just you saying how much your house is worth. Potential buyers know you have an emotional attachment to your house and will be much more likely to give credibility to an accomplished appraiser’s value assessment than yours.

Challenge Tax Assessment

Let’s say you live in a local area that is going down — your local tax assessor may have your house overvalued. That only means you are probably paying more taxes than you should. The faster you take care of a matter like this, the better, since your property assessment may likely go up again in the next period. When contesting your property tax assessment, getting a professional appraisal from Thornycroft Appraisals is your strongest weapon.

Appraisals to cancel PMI

PMI stands for Private Mortgage Insurance. A fashionable way to cut expenses for homeowners is getting the PMI eliminated from their mortgage loan, thus saving them money on their monthly payments. Once your mortgage loan is down below 80% of the value of your house, in most cases you can apply to a lender to have the PMI removed from your loan, which will make your monthly payments go down. At Thornycroft Appraisals, we’re experts in helping people just like you delete unnecessary PMI insurance.

HELOC recently frozen?

If your property is in a declining area, your lender just may choose to automatically freeze your home equity line of credit (HELOC) – even if your specific property has not declined in value. This can be unsuitable from a cash flow angle, and bad for your credit score since it may appear as though that credit line is maxed out. An appraisal from Thornycroft Appraisals can help you reinstate your HELOC.

We Offer Field and Desktop Appraisal Review Services

Do you need a professional to double-check your appraisal for verity, or do you desire a second opinion without the added cost and delay of waiting for a whole new appraisal? An appraiser from Thornycroft Appraisals can go out and check the subject and comparables in question in a field review. If you need it ASAP, we’ll provide you with a desk review and verify as many facts as we can, using online data sources as well as our own files.

Do you need a retrospective review of an appraisal report? We can assist you. While usually requested by banks, you may desire to use this service if you suspect mortgage fraud related to your property.