When you buy a single-family home or condominium and even a multi-family dwelling in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island your mortgage lender will want to know whether the home you are buying is worth the amount of money you have agreed to pay the seller.

The lender needs to evaluate the house to discover anything that might negatively or positively impact the home's fair market value. To determine a home's value, lenders require a real estate appraisal, sometimes referred to as a home appraisal, for all borrowers. Sometimes, under particular circumstances, a bank or mortgage company will waive the appraisal.

Federal banking regulations require that the lender be the one that orders the appraisal. The regulations are a result of the savings and loan scandals in the late 1980s. Federal law entitles the home buyer to receive a copy of the completed appraisal from the lender.

Most lenders will collect the cost of the appraisal from the home buyer up front. Even if the appraiser's fee isn't collected from you before hand, the cost will be passed on to you as a closing cost for most mortgage loan programs. There are loan programs that do not have any closing costs, but the vast majority of those mortgage programs are used by individuals who are refinancing an existing loan. Most purchase loans require the borrower to pay closing costs, including the cost of the appraisal. The details of the closing costs will be contained in the Closing Disclosure.

Appraisals typically cost between $375 and $500, but appraisers will charge additional fees, if they need to make multiple visits to the property for any reason. Lenders must disclose appraisal and other fees in the Loan Estimate, which is a three-page form that potential borrowers receive after applying for a mortgage.


An appraisal is not a home inspection. First-time home buyers sometimes confuse the appraisal and the home inspection.


• Learn About Assessed Value: [ Ссылка ]


• Learn About Interest Rate Lock: [ Ссылка ]


• What is a Closing Disclosure?: [ Ссылка ]


• What is Debt-to-Income Ratio?: [ Ссылка ]



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