Attention homeowners in Orinda and Contra Costa County: Get an Appraisal today!

Here are the top seven reasons why CA homeowners order from California Property Valuations:

  1. Pre-listing appraisals (whether you're using a real estate agent or selling the home on your own)
  2. To challenge a CA property tax assessment
  3. Remove PMI to lower your monthly mortgage payment
  4. Reinstate your Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC)
  5. Review another appraiser's report for verification
  6. In the case of a CA divorce, when property needs to be divided
  7. Determine the true market value of property in question to settle an estate

Do you own a house in or near Orinda? Do you need help deciding the value of your real estate?
Contact California Property Valuations.

At California Property Valuations, we understand the individual needs of a customer after appraisal services. While our usual business clients understand the appraisal process and standard reporting formats, you as a consumer will get an extra level of customer service in the form of an explanation of the process and even special consumer-friendly reporting forms if the assignment allows for them.

Pre-listing Services/For Sale By Owner

Since you have an emotional attachment to your own house, 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 price to sell at so your house will attract interested buyers, a professional appraisal is very crucial as a negotiating tool once you have an interested buyer. It's something concrete to show your buyer. An appraisal is an independent third party's opinion of your house's price -- not just how much your house is worth. Interested buyers know that you have an emotional attachment to your home and will be much more likely to give credibility to an experienced appraiser's value estimation than yours.

Need to cancel PMI?

PMI stands for Private Mortgage Insurance. A popular way to save money for homeowners is to get the PMI removed from their mortgage loan, thus saving them money on their monthly payments. Once your mortgage loan amount is below 80% of the value of your home, in most cases you can apply to the lender to have the PMI eliminated from your loan, which will make your monthly payments go down. We are experts in helping clients just like you do away with unwanted and 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 declining. That means you are 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 things like this, the better. An expert appraisal from California Property Valuations is your perfect weapon when contesting your property tax assessment.

Recently got a freeze your HELOC?

Even if your specific property has not declined in value, your lender may choose to automatically freeze your home equity line of credit (HELOC) if your property is in or near a declining area. This can be be damaging to your credit score since it may appear as though that credit line is maxed out, and also troublesome from a cash flow point of view. California Property Valuations can help you reinstate your home equity line of credit with a professional appraisal.

Field and Desktop Appraisal Review Services

Do you need a professional to double-check your appraisal for precision, or do you desire a second opinion without the added expense and delay of waiting for a whole new appraisal? We can go out and check the subject and comparables in question in a field review. If you need it in a rush, we'll provide desk review and verify as many facts as we can using online data sources as well as our own files.

We can also provide you with a a retrospective review of any appraisal you may have had done before. While typically requested by banks, you may need to take advantage of this service if you suspect mortgage fraud related to your house.