Ask the New York Appraiser

Everyone today is certainly aware of the economic crisis that has caused a severe recession the last 2 years or so. This recession was promulgated by the banking and mortgage industry fiasco. Basically, the mortgage companies were providing easily affordable loans to homeowners with less than satifactory loan terms.

Millions of homeowners received loans that they should not have qualified for to begin with and soon realized that their original adjustable mortgage payments were increasing at a substantial rate. The underwriters within these banks simply approved all these loans and sold them to investors that were soon to find out that the loans would only wind up in foreclosure.

Homeowners have now seen their property values decrease by a substantial amount - causing the value of their homes to be less than what they currently owe on their mortgage. This creates a number of severe problems for both homeowner and the economy. The banks are stuck with millions of foreclosed homes and homeowners can't refinance their homes for lower interest rates and or equity loans. Equity loans provide cash to homeowners for many things suchas home improvements, school loans, vacations etc.

So where does this leave the homeowner? Unfortunately many homeowners have no idea what their property values are currently at. The problem with that is that their taxes may be based on a higher property values before this recession started. If that is the case, then the home owner may be paying significantly more taxes than they should be. Homeowners should definitely know what their properties are currently worth - either by researching data at their local assessor's office or obtaining an affordable real estate appraisal.

Often, the latter is simply the most economical and time saving solution. Not that I'm trying to sell you our services, but I'd recommend at least consulting an appraiser to get the scoop for your local area. If you're in New York, you can contact me 24/7 at: http://www.propertyoneappraisal.com/ContactUs

Keep in mind, there are lots of online home valuation tools also, and these can be a good starting place, but a lot of people have indicated that tools like Zillow are consistently over-valuing or under-valuing homes (especially in this economic market).So don't put all of your eggs in the online valuation basket. Knowing the true worth of your home and getting a potentially higher sale value or lower tax assessment is definitely worth it.