Home appraisal-typical price ?

[Nooknookmom]

We're in CA and looking for a decent home appraiser. So far, the price is around $400-gulp. Is this average?

[bluestarfish18]

Where are you? My parents live in NB and had their home appraised a few years ago...$300-400 for Southern CA seems about what they paid.

[swrc00]

I know in Georgia we paid $400 for an appraisal last year.

[rachelh]

Sometimes it depends on the value/size of the house as well. For a mid-range priced house, I would say $400 sounds good. I have seen houses that were being appraised at $750+ be closer to $700.

[Pepper]

We paid $350 last year when we tried to refinance (we're in the boston area). Later someone suggested that we should have just contacted a realtor and asked for a Free Market Analysis. Not sure if that would work for what you need, but at least it's free ;)

[Twoboos]

That sounds pretty much on the mark.

If you're using a bank (to refi, for example) you'll need an appraiser, not a real estate agent. If you're selling, a Realtor is the way to go!

[codex57]

$300-500, so $400 is smack in the middle.

[MmeSunny]

I just took a class on home-buying this weekend in preparation of this. The home inspector quoted a price of $375. He also said that you should get a digital copy with photos/description/possible repairs & costs to repair with it. Anything less than that and you're not getting your money's worth. Also, since home inspectors are NOT regulated in many states, he recommended getting an ASHI certified one. (American Society of Home Inspectors) They have a lot of continuing ed and strict qualifications to continue membership.

[ha98ed14]

We paid $400 and change for one we had done for a house we were going to buy in north OC. The best advice I have is to hire someone who really knows the area where you are having the appraisal. Our lender (or the seller? which was a bank) hired an appraiser from Passaic, NJ. They knew little to nothing about SoCal, which is part of the reason the house did not appraise for what we offered.

[dhano923]

We are about 20 miles north of Los Angeles and bought our house a couple months ago. Our home inspection was $425 and our appraisal was $500.

[kijip]

Our inspection was $400ish and our appraisal was around $200. Our independent, non-lender recommended appraisal came back higher than our agreed on purchase price, which was reassuring. I think our was a little cheaper because we bought a townhouse and not a house, so the inspector gave us the condo rate and because we bought at essentially the lowest livable for a family price point in the city limits here (cheaper houses had 1 bedroom or were the size of a garage).