By Margaret Dietz
Nov 30, 2012
Q: How do I know I’m getting an accurate appraisal?
A: A real estate agent will do a comparative market analysis, or CMA, which helps to determine a selling price in which to market a home. This is different from an appraisal, which would be a more detailed methodology usually done by financial institutions. There is a real distinction between what we do with the CMA and the appraisal process.
What we do as a real estate agent is, if our CMA was not as accurate as the buyer is looking for, we would get them three names of appraisers we recommend and they figure out which appraisers they want to work with.
When we are negotiating a transaction for a sale in a very competitive market where you have more than one bid, buyers will often drop the mortgage contingency so it would be technically an all-cash offer. This makes it more attractive to the seller. However, often the buyer will want to include an appraisal. Sometimes, somewhere down the line even after the transaction has closed, the buyer might want to turn around and perhaps get some financing. This is often the case in an all cash deal.
— Margaret Dietz, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, 203-637-4581
