The Home Evaluation

The Home Evaluation By Theresa Grant Real Estate Columnist Home evaluations are interesting. There are different kinds of home evaluations. There is the kind the that is ordered by the bank or finance company if you decide to refinance your existing home. The purpose for that one is to determine if there is enough equity in your home to warrant giving you more money. That type of evaluation looks at things like the condition of your home. Any enhancements or upgrades you have made to your home since you purchased it. And what your home would reasonably be expected to sell for if it went on the market at that moment. The bank or finance company’s only real interest or concern is that they would get their money back if you, all of a sudden could not pay your mortgage and they needed to repossess the house. When banks repossess a property, they put it up for sale and try to get back the money they lent the home buyer. Anything that may be over and above what they gave the home buyer, along with associated costs, would go to the homeowner who is losing their house. Another type of home evaluation is the one done by insurance companies. This is where the company will set up an appointment to send someone out to take pictures of everything, create a file of items and dates. This is done to make sure that the homeowner has the right type of insurance and enough of it, should there be reason to use it. Many things are looked at in this type of inspection because not everything is insurable. Some insurance companies will tell you that you have to replace plumbing or electrical in order to qualify for insurance with the. In most cases a time frame is given to complete the work. Another thing that insurance companies will look at is the age of some things that will require insurance. For instance, I had a home evaluation for insurance purposes many years ago when I purchased a 100-year-old semi in in downtown Oshawa. I was told that I needed to replace the water heater which looked to be about the same age. Then there is the home evaluation that Real Estate Agents do. This type of home evaluation is to determine what you might list your home for and expect to get for your home, if you were to list at that time. This is done through comparable properties. The realtor will look at what other homes, similar to yours have sold for in the last 30-90 days. Given that the real estate market is always fluctuating, it is not really a true comparison to look at similar homes 9 months or 12 months apart. Unless of course, that market has remained exactly the same over that time period. Realtors will look at what your house has in it, as well as the upgrades you’ve made. They will compare that information to the other houses that have sold in your area and determine what would you might reasonably expect to get for your home if you were to list it at that time. Questions? Column ideas? You can email me at newspaper@ocentral.com