As a homebuyer or home seller, it’s essential to be knowledgeable of the appraisal processes, as it’s one of the final steps during the closing of a home. By understanding the factors affecting how long an appraisal may take, proactive steps can be taken to make sure this process goes according to plan.
Home appraisals are done by lenders to see if your home is worth the loan amount you’re requesting to complete the homebuying process. Typically, the appraisal process can take around 1 to 2 weeks but when the market is busy, an appraisal can take upwards of about a month.
When a home doesn’t meet certain standards, and the appraised value comes in lower than the asking price, issues can arise. When this happens, a lender may require repairs to be made on the property and then for an additional appraisal report to be submitted.
In addition, if the market in the area you wish to purchase a property in is busy, the home appraisal process may take longer if there is a lack of appraisers available.
If the appraised value comes in lower than the asking price, either the difference needs to be met, or an additional appraisal needs to be done for the mortgage loan to be approved.
However, once the appraisal is approved, the mortgage lender then starts the underwriting process, in which a mortgage underwriter ensures needed documents and conditions are placed before issuing the loan.
During this process, they examine the borrower's credit, debt-to-loan ratio and other relevant factors to make sure the borrower is fit for a mortgage loan.
A home appraisal is a vital step of the home buying journey, so it pays off to work closely with a lender to explore your options to solidify a smooth appraisal process.
Susan Shuxian Hu has been a dedicated realtor serving in Silicon Valley since 2010. With great passion, outstanding negotiation skills and due diligence, she has helped many buyers and sellers in their real estate needs. Living in West San Jose for more than 14 years, she has broad knowledge in Cupertino, West San Jose, Los Altos and Saratoga. She has enormous patience working with buyers and never tired of showing all possible properties that may fit client’s needs. Clients appreciate her best service to their satisfaction. She specialized in luxurious real estate purchase in Los Altos, Cupertino, Saratoga and Palo Alto. She also helped friend and past client’s referral working in San Francisco, Foster City and far reached Bay Area.
Susan Shuxian Hu was graduated in East China Normal University in Shanghai with bachelor and master degrees in Bio science. She came to US in 1989 and earned her Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics in Texas A&M University in 1996. After one year of postdoc in Southern Florida University in Tampa, she moved back to Orlando with her family and started working in Lucent Technologies. In 2002, Susan moved to California, Silicon Valley joined a start-up company. Since then she worked in high tech Corporation till 2009. Driven by her dream job pursuing, she found her passion working in sales by helping people in real estate after one year of education in De Anza business and real estate law study. Since then, she has been serving many people in Bay Area for their real estate needs.
With bilingual advantage, she has been actively working with Chinese immigrants as well as local engineers and residents. With rich high tech background and connection with Chinese community, Susan has served in luxurious real estate in last a couple of years.