Attention homeowners in Metairie and Jefferson County: Get an Appraisal today!

Here are the top 7 reasons LA homeowners use Independent Appraisal:

  1. Get a pre-listing appraisal (whether they're selling the home themselves or using a real estate agent)
  2. Challenge Jefferson county's assessment of your propertyworth
  3. To reduce your monthly mortgage payment by removing PMI
  4. Reinstate their Home Equity Line of Credit (or HELOC)
  5. Verify another appraiser's report
  6. In the case of a LA divorce, where property needs to be divided
  7. Settle an estate in LA by determining the true market value of property in question

Need help determining the price of your home in or near Metairie, LA?
Contact Independent Appraisal.

We at Independent Appraisal understand the particular needs of a consumer after appraisal services. Our regular business clients are used to the appraisal process and the usual "products" we deliver to them. But as a general consumer,we will provide you with extra guidance and explanations through the appraisal process to more clearly understand what we do and how we document the results of our analysis.

Pre-listing Services/For Sale By Owner (FSBO)

Since you have an emotional attachment to your home, it's often very hard to be objective about it. A professional appraiser is objective and will tell you what you need to know, not just what you want to hear. In addition to helping you set a realistic selling price so your home will attract interested buyers, a professional appraisal is a very valuable negotiating tool once you have an attainable buyer. The appraisal is something tangible to show the buyer. An appraisal is an independent third party's opinion of your property's value -- not just how much you think your house is worth. Potential buyers assume that you have an emotional attachment to your home and will be much more likely to give credibility to an expert appraiser's value report than yours.

Need to remove PMI?

Getting the PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance) removed from your mortgage loan is a popular way to cut expenses for homeowners. Once your mortgage loan amount is down below 80% of the value of your home, in most cases you can apply to your lender to have the PMI eliminated from your loan, which will make your monthly payments go down. We're experienced in helping folks just like you do away with unneeded PMI insurance.

Challenging a property tax assessment

Your local tax assessor may have your home overvalued if you live in a local area that is going down or not appreciating as much as other properties close to yours. That only means you are most likely paying more taxes than you should. Since your property assessment may likely go up again in the next period, the sooner you take care of a matter like this, the better. When challenging your property tax assessment, getting an appraisal report from Independent Appraisal is your #1 weapon.

Was your HELOC recently frozen?

If your home is in or near a declining area, your lender just may make the decision to automatically freeze your home equity line of credit (HELOC) - even if your specific property has not declined in value. This can this be unsuitable from a cash flow standpoint, and detrimental to your credit score since it may appear as though that credit line is maxed out. Independent Appraisal can provide you with an expert appraisal to help you reinstate your home equity line of credit.

We Also Provide Field and Desktop Appraisal Review Services

Have you just been handed a copy of your appraisal and you would prefer to have a seasoned appraiser double-check it for precision or do you want a second opinion without the charge and delay of waiting for a whole new appraisal? Independent Appraisal offers field reviews where we go out and check the subject and comps in question. If you're in a hurry, we'll provide you with a desk review and verify as many facts as we can using online data sources as well as our own files.

We can also provide a retrospective review of any appraisal you may have had in the past. Even though this is typically requested by banks, you may need to take advantage of this service if you suspect mortgage fraud related to your house.