Kevin Slemko AACI on how to conduct estate appraisals
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Estate Appraisals: What you need to know

When an estate involves real estate, proper valuation can be crucial It's a common situation: An elderly parent dies, leaving behind a spouse, adult children and young grandchildren. The family home is owned outright, or has a small mortgage, and everyone assumes that the home will be sold and the proceeds divided. Simple, right? After all, there's a straightforward Will and no one's arguing. Except that when there is a surviving spouse, and/or step-children, and the Will turns out to…...
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What happens when there are no comparable sales for an appraisals
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What happens when there are no comparable sales?

Say what you will about sprawling new subdivisions, they're a residential appraiser's dream. There's nothing easier than putting a value on a house when there have been 4 sales of the exact same model on the street in the past 6 months. But what happens when you're faced with, say, a beautiful 90-year-old home that's been renovated multiple times over the years, has a larger backyard than the newer properties which have sprung up around it - but also a…...
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Midtown Appraisal Group home appraisal checklist

Preparing for an appraisal of your home: A handy checklist

A few simple tips to help your appraisal go more smoothly "We're refinancing our mortgage and they're sending out an appraiser this week. What should we do to ensure that our appraisal goes smoothly?" As we've discussed before, professional appraisers are trained to see beyond a few dirty dishes in the sink and even that fucshia accent wall in the living room that you painted to celebrate the Barbie movie, so you don't have to 'prepare' for your appraisal by…...
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how are appraisals created

What goes into an appraised value?

It's not just a comparison to the house next door. It happens to every appraiser, often once a week: Someone involved in the property buying and selling process says something like "Yeah, this appraisal won't be that hard. The house across the street sold a month ago and it's pretty much the same layout, so we expect the value of our property to be about that price - well, a bit more probably, since prices are going up so fast!"…...
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House types in Canada by Midtown Appraisals

Types of house in Ontario: The basics

Do you know the differences? At first glance, 'house types' seems obvious: We all know the difference between a 1-storey house and a 2-storey house, right? But different terminology is used for different types of homes based not just on how many storeys they contain, but also on the way the floors are arranged. Here's an overview of the most common types of homes you'll see in Ontario. (There are other types, but most of them are just slight adaptations…...
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Second mortgage FAQs by Kevin Slemko

Second mortgages: Popular FAQs

Second mortgages can be useful - but it's important to know what you're getting into As appraisers, it's not unusual for us to be asked to provide a valuation for a property when a second mortgage is being considered. Because second mortgages are, as their name suggests, 'second in line' to be repaid after the first mortgage, the amount of equity in the property is even more crucial than for a first mortgage. Lenders want to be assured that in…...
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Kevin Slemko AACI agricultural appraisals

How are Ontario farms valued?

Per-acre farm values in Canada have been rising more slowly than residential home prices (about 5% in 2019 vs 2018), but, like residential properties, values are largely dependent on regional locations and southern Ontario values can be as much as 35% higher than the provincial average. With as much of 75% of Canadians' wealth tied up in real estate, and given that we're at the beginning of the largest generational transfer of wealth in Canadian history, the next decade will…...
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Appraisals step by step with Midtown Appraisals

Home appraisals step by step

No one loves them, but they're not that bad Whether you're a homeowner looking to refinance your mortgage, a home buyer with your heart set on the dream home you finally found, or a home seller hoping that the conditional offer you got will finally firm up: Sooner or later there'll be a need for a home appraisal, and you'll spend at least a little time worried about the process. But you shouldn't worry so much. Appraisers aren't going to…...
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Kevin Slemko AACI on the problem of overimprovement

“But that bathroom cost me $27,000!”

When valuations don't reflect the money the homeowner spent I hadn't been an AACI for very long when it happened: I was doing an inspection of a pretty standard, older 3-bedroom bungalow outside of Hamilton, and the homeowner insisted I see the master bathroom first. "You have to see this!" he said, leading me toward the back of the house. When I got to the bathroom door, I guess my face didn't register the amazement he expected, because he started…...
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Kevin Slemko AACI talks about zoning verification

Zoning Verification: Definitely worth the fee

Sometimes, when you’re appraising a property – especially an older one – you’ll come across something that doesn’t seem to fit in with the typical zoning for the area: Maybe it’s a large commercial sign in a street of single-family homes, a quadruplex that was built in the 1960s that now sits beside luxury homes, or even a small barn with a pony in the backyard of a house in an otherwise residential neighbourhood. Typically, these are ‘grandfathered’ exemptions: That…...
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