Attention homeowners: Real estate appraisal services for in Ellicott City and Howard County

The top reasons MD homeowners call on Dave Benton:

Pre-listing appraisals (whether you're using an agent or selling the home on your own)
To challenge a MD property tax assessment
Remove PMI to reduce their mortgage payment
Reinstate their Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC)
To review a different appraiser's report for verification
If property needs to be divided because of a divorce
Determine the true market value of real estate in question to settle an estate

Own a home in or near Ellicott City, MD and need help deciding the value of it?
Contact Dave Benton.

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

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

It's very hard to be objective about your own house because you most likely have an emotional attachment to it. Our professional appraisers at Dave Benton are objective. We won't just tell you what you want to hear, we'll tell you what you need to know. In addition to helping you set a realistic selling price so your home will attract interested buyers, a professional appraisal is a very important negotiating tool once you have an interested buyer. The appraisal is something concrete to show your buyer. An appraisal is an independent third party's opinion of your property's price -- not just you saying how much your house is worth. Interested buyers assume that you have an emotional attachment to your house and will be more likely to give credibility to an experienced appraiser's value report than yours.

Appraisals to remove PMI

An attractive way to save money for homeowners is getting the PMI eliminated from their mortgage loan, thus saving them money on their monthly payments. PMI stands for "Private Mortgage Insurance". Once your mortgage loan is less than 80% of the value of your property, in most cases you can apply to a lender to have the PMI eliminated from your loan, which will make your monthly payments go down. We're experienced in helping customers just like you remove unwanted PMI insurance.

Challenging property tax assessments

Your local tax assessor may have your home overvalued if your home not appreciating as much as other properties close to yours. This only means you're going to pay higher taxes than you should be paying. Since your property assessment may likely go up again in the next period, the faster you take care of a matter like this, the better. Getting an appraisal report from Dave Benton is your strongest weapon when contesting your property tax assessment.

Recently got a freeze your HELOC?

Your lender might choose to automatically freeze your home equity line of credit (HELOC) if your property is in a declining area -- even if your specific property has not declined in value. Not only can this be difficult from a cash flow point of view, but it can be detrimental to your credit score since it may appear as though that credit line is maxed out. An appraisal from Dave Benton can help you reinstate your HELOC.

Need Field and Desktop Appraisal Review Services?

Have you just been given a copy of your appraisal and you would like to have a seasoned professional double-check it for precision or do you desire a second opinion without the added cost and delay of waiting for a whole new appraisal? In a field review we will go out and check the subject and comps. Or, if you need it in a rush, we can provide desk review and verify as many facts as we can using online data sources as well as our own files.

Do you need a retrospective review of an appraisal report? Dave Benton can help with that too. Even though this is typically requested by banks, you may need to use this service if you suspect mortgage fraud related to your property.