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Information is power. Appraisers provide valuable information. The right appraiser can save you serious money, time, and headaches. We interviewed a top appraiser in the Washington DC Area, John Osipchak, to learn more. Here is some of what I learned.
First, if you bought your house with less than 20% down, you most likely have private mortgage insurance (PMI). If you have PMI, you need to call an appraiser like John—today. You might be paying for insurance you don’t need, and the insurance company isn’t going to volunteer that information.
How much can you save? Using Kiplinger’s Best-rated Mortgage calculator, we see that a $500,000 house bought with $20,000 down and financed for 25-plus years, with a credit score of 760 or better, pays an average $528 in PMI per month! John can tell you if your loan to equity ratio qualifies you for a lower insurance or no insurance at all.
Eight other common reasons for using an appraiser include:
- setting a profitable listing price which can reduce time on the market
- expert witness testimony and asset division
- valuations for relocation coordinators
- estate planning and retroactive date of death appraisals
- assessing current or past market value
- investor analysis and consultations
- homeowner consultations prior to home improvements
- challenging your Tax assessment
John is licensed, certified, and second-generation appraiser applying the decades of experience and the latest technologies and best practices to provide the most accurate, thorough, and timely appraisals. (John’s stories of learning appraising from is mother is worth a separate article.)
He works in DC, Virginia, and Maryland. And he provides the personal attention and he offers advice on how to improve your property. For example, he might suggest you call Junk King to get rid of clutter that detracts from the home’s value. You can find more information about John’s company Appraise Metro DC on his website.
Again, what really got my attention was the possibility of eliminating expensive private mortgage insurance—that’s a no-brainer.
