Appraisal services for Pleasant Hill and Contra Costa County homeowners

Here are the top 7 reasons CA homeowners need CalWest Appraisal:

  1. Find the right listing price (whether they're selling the home themselves or using an agent)
  2. Challenge property tax assessments
  3. Remove PMI to reduce your mortgage payment
  4. Reinstate their Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC)
  5. Review another appraiser's report for verification
  6. In the case of a CA divorce, where real estate needs to be divided
  7. To determine the true market value of property in question to settle an estate in Contra Costa County or the state of CA

Own a home in or near Pleasant Hill, CA and need help deciding the value of it?
Contact CalWest Appraisal.

We at CalWest Appraisal understand the special needs of a customer seeking appraisal services. While our typical 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.

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. A professional appraisal is very valuable as a negotiating tool once you have an interested buyer, in addition to helping you set a realistic price to sell at so your property will attract buyers. The appraisal is something concrete to show the buyer. The appraisal is an independent third party's opinion of your home's price, not just you saying how much your home is worth. Interested buyers assume you have an emotional attachment to your home and will be much more likely to give credibility to an experienced appraiser's value judgement than yours.

PMI Removal Appraisals

Getting the PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance) eliminated from your mortgage loan is a preferred way to cut expenses for homeowners. Your monthly payments will go down once your mortgage loan amount is down below 80% of the value of your house. In most cases you can apply to a lender to have the PMI eliminated from your loan. We are seasoned in helping consumers just like you do away with undesirable PMI insurance.

Challenge property tax assessments

Lets say you live in an area that is going down -- your local tax assessor may have your home overvalued. This means you are most likely paying higher taxes than you should be paying. The sooner you take care of a matter like this, the better, since your property assessment may likely go up again in the next period. When contesting your property tax assessment, getting an appraisal report from CalWest Appraisal is your number one weapon.

Was your HELOC recently frozen?

If your property is in or near a declining area, your lender may decide to automatically freeze your home equity line of credit (HELOC) - even if your specific property has not declined in value. Not only can this be annoying from a cash flow standpoint, but it can be bad for your credit score since it may appear as though that credit line is maxed out. CalWest Appraisal can provide you with a professional appraisal to help you reinstate your HELOC.

We Provide Field and Desktop Appraisal Review Services

Do you need a professional to double-check your appraisal for preciseness, or do you want 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 a field review. Or, if you need it in a rush, we can 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 you with a a retrospective review of any appraisal report you may have in your possession. Even though this is typically requested by banks, you may want to exercise this service if you suspect mortgage fraud related to your home.