How do  real estate appraisers work ? Are they expensive ? Do they work for banks or Realtors, or independent?
553213
Appraisal fees are mostly based on the property and the property type. Around in Southern California, the fees are from 300-450 dollars for basic apprasials (Single family homes under a million).\n\nThey need to be licensed. Once licensed, they can work for themselves, banks or other companies.\n\nThere's something called a Broker's price opinion. They are not as detailed as an appraisal, but they run 100-150 bucks each (around here). Basically a broker runs comps of the property and makes a physical inspection of the property and gives his opinion on how much he/she thinks the property is worth.\n\nYour best bet is to have a real estate agent run the comps for the properties you like and have your purchase agreement be subject to the property appraising at x amount of dollars.
1182719
Hi-\nRealtors are paid 100% commission in residential real estate typically splitting either side of the transaction with the sponsoring broker. For example if you represented a buyer on a $500K purchase at a 6% rate, 3% would go to each side and then that would typically be split 50 -50 from there. Good rule of thumb is 1.5% of any transaction. There are situations in commercial where a firm will give you a draw that gets paid back once transactions are complete.
838589
usually 0 - they work 100% commission.  So you get out of it, what you put into it.  A realtor is a tough job though - in California, there are more realtors then houses where sold this year.
540719
Most appraisers in Texas charge about $300 for a residential appraisal.  In my opinion, given the amount of work that they do, it's a very fair price.  For commercial and raw land appraisals, the prices are much higher.
408632
usually the appraiser will require payment at the time of the appraisal.  Sometimes it can be paid through close of escrow, but it really depends on the relationship between the appraiser and the lender or broker.
378864
Don't use a realtor.  THey charge a ridiculous amount of money for the work that you cna do yourself if you are willing to do the research\n\nFirst, check your counties property appraisers website for the recent sales of homes in your neighborhood.  Find similar homes that sold and use the number as a basis for your home.\n\nNext advertise the home anywhere you can.  there are multiple websites you can use to market your home. \n\nWhen you finally find a buyer, hire a real estate attorney to handle the paper work for you.  They will do this for a fraction of the price you would have paid a realtor.  if your homes value is really 155k then you could expect to pay as much as $9300.
938313
I am a professional appraiser.  Today appraisals are done by statistical approaches which is why they all spend only 15 min., they all take the parameters needed and leave.  In their offices they make the calculations based on statistics, end of story.  This means that if you consider a mass of appraisals as dots and plot them and compare them in time with real transactions, many dots will be above and below the "real selling price" curve, although as a whole the deviation will still be acceptable.  From a Government standpoint or a Corporation, this is sufficient.  From an individual standpoint where you are one of the dots, it is not acceptable because you are not interested in the mass mean values, you are interested in your particular, very private, and singular, property.  If you want an appraisal which comes closer to the "real expected selling price", perhaps the best approach is to get in touch with a real estate firm that specializes in selling the type of property you have.
494664
Hello,\n\nIt is usually a lot of work to buy foreclosures.  I believe it needs some experience in home hunting, dealing with problems in such properties and handling complex situations. As you must have seen the problems could be deeper like structural or just aesthetic.\n\nThe reason why bankers and foreclosure "vultures" do it well is their seasoned approach to this.  It is a specialized trade in itself.  For an inexperienced buyer, you will get properties that only the professionals let go. That implies that it is no more cheap for the problems that it has in it.\n\nIn my opinion a good way to buy such a property would be to work with a Realtor with an expertise in Foreclosure properties and he agrees to work with you as a Buyers Agent.\n\nDisclosure:  I am a Licensed Realtor in California and work with Century 21.
418344
I went with a discount broker when I sold my last house.  I won't even go that route again.  There is just too much involved.  \n\nIt is enough to keep the place clean enough to show, look for a new place, etc. without the heartache of setting up appraisers, inspectors, courriers......
464726
Lawyers are the one profession that can receive referral fees from Realtors.  The real estate contract is a legal document, which means lawyers can receive compensation for them.
347353
If you're looking to sell your home, a real estate agent can do a market survey for you so you can price your home accordingly, and it'll be up to the buyer to pay for the appraisal.  If you are looking to refinance, your mortgage company will likely order a new appraisal with the cost rolled into the closing.\n\nIf you get your own appraisal, and then go to try to refinance, the lender may or may not accept your appraisal report and you'll have to pay for another anyway.
578591
Doing your own research can you get you a really good idea of what your house would be worth. Do research on what properties in your area are selling for. Same number of rooms, baths, same approx size, fireplace, porches, basements, ect. Get as close as you can. Make sure you check what the houses are selling for and not what they are marketed at! \n\nThat said, it won't help you much other than to know if it would be worth paying someone to do a real one. Banks most likely won't accept your appraisal when you go to (re)finance.
599093
A Realtor is supposed to work for you.  \n\nConsider them your employee.  They only make money if they sell your house.  \n\nIF they have found a buyer at the higher price, and are trying to make a larger profit by buying from you cheaper then selling to them, that is unethical.  It's also called flipping and in most states is not legal
158138
I am a Realtor.  I ask qualifying questions to make sure that the buyers I am working with can purchase the homes we are looking at.  I have never asked for bank statements.  However, a lender will have to have them to send the loan to underwriting to document your income.  That is just part of the application process for a loan.  A good real estate agent will ask qualifying questions in order to keep from wasting everyone's time looking at homes you cannot afford.
456919
If I were a new Realtor, just getting into the business, an "instructor" who learned from a book or school, rather than experience, is not someone whom I would feel confident learning from.  Let me tell you why....\n\nRealtors jobs are pretty basic....find a client, find a house, sell them the house.  Or it could be....find a client that wants to sell their house, then find the client that wants to buy their house....  Pretty simple huh???  Well...not really.  In between all of those pretty "simple" things, you need experience.  Things happen in the real estate experience that nothing in books is going to teach you to deal with. \n\nThe best real estate "instructors" are the ones that have been successful in real estate, and or at least they have been doing it for years and they are now teaching others.\n\nPlease do not think that you can just go and get some kind of instructors license to teach Realtors how to do their jobs, when you yourself would not even know except by the book that would teach you.  Real estate does not work that way...please don't try to make it work that way...
1054727
Buying a home without an agent can be a challenge unless you know where the potholes are.  The devil is in the details.  I don't think you need to worry about the price being inflated because your lender will base your loan on the sales price or appraised value, whichever is less, so if the home doesn't appraise for the sales price the seller will either have to lower the price or you will have to agree to purchase it for more than it is worth and pay the difference in your down payment.  The main thing to remember is that your earnest money agreement (agreement to purchase) is your contract so make certain that everything you both want is in the contract.  This is where the services of an experienced realtor really comes in handy.  They know what things to put into that contract to protect you.  Do you want your agreement to purchase to be subject to the property appraising for the sales price? Do you want the agreement to purchase to be subject to the home passing a home inspection, a pest inspection, a roof inspection, an electrical/plumbing/foundation inspection?  All of these things should be considered and, if you want them, put into your contract in writing.    Sometimes a seller will try to sell a home without a realtor to save the commission and sometimes they will do it because they know the home has a problem that a realtor would require they disclose or might be found on an inspection that an unsophisticated buyer might not be aware they needed.   Since you found the home yourself, you may want to investigate negotiating a reduced "buyer's agent" fee with an experienced realtor to make certain you are protected. \n\nIf the seller is offering financing so that you do not need a loan, I would be very careful to get an appraisal of the property from an appraiser rcommended by a local mortgage bank and all of the inspections.  You will want to talk about who is going to pay for any required repairs and make that a part of your contract to purchase too.  \n\nRemember, if it isn't agreed to in writing, it doesn't exist.\n\nI am a mortgage lender with more than 20 years experience and I can tell you that some of the most acrimonious transactions I have experienced in my career were those where there was no realtor involved and the buyer and seller had unresolved issues with no middle man to negotiate a resolution for them.\n\nGood luck
216554
Realtors suck big time.   I have just had two very bad experiences.  They will lie to your face to get you to sign stuff.  For example, I was offering 106,000 for a home.  The realtor then added 6 percent to that and some other stuff, all said and done, I paid 115,900.  When I asked him why the numbers were higher than what I wanted to pay, he said "you aren't paying that, the buyer is going to pay the difference".  You are supposed to pay these people to help you and they don't.  They are just as bad as the mortgage companies.