Attention homeowners: Real estate appraisal services for in Durham and Durham County

See the top seven reasons NC homeowners hire Odell Appraisal Services:

Pre-listing appraisals (whether you're using a real estate agent or selling the home on your own)
Challenge property tax assessments
To reduce their mortgage payments by removing PMI
To reinstate your Home Equity Line of Credit (or HELOC)
Review another appraiser's report for verification
If real estate property needs to be divided because of a divorce
Determine the true market value of property in question to settle an estate

Need help deciding the value of your house in or near Durham, NC?
Contact Odell Appraisal Services.

At Odell Appraisal Services, we understand the individual needs of a homeowner in need of appraisal services. While our usual business clients understand the appraisal process and standard reporting formats, you as a consumer will get extra 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

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 a crucial negotiating tool once you have a likely buyer, in addition to helping you set a realistic price to sell at so your home will attract buyers. It gives you something tangible to show the buyer. An 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 know that you have an emotional attachment to your home and will be much more likely to give credibility to an expert appraiser's value estimation than yours.

Appraisals to remove PMI

PMI stands for Private Mortgage Insurance. A popular way to cut costs for homeowners is getting the PMI removed from their mortgage loan, thus saving them money on their monthly payments. Your monthly payments will go down once your mortgage loan amount is less than 80% of the value of your home. In most cases you can apply to a lender to have the PMI removed from your loan. We are experts in helping consumers just like you remove unwanted PMI insurance.

Challenging Durham county's assessment of your property

Your local tax assessor may have your home overvalued if your home is not appreciating as much as other houses close to yours. This only means you're probably paying higher taxes than you should be paying. The quicker you take care of things like this, the better off you'll be, since your property assessment may likely go up again in the next period. Getting an appraisal report from Odell Appraisal Services is your #1 weapon when contesting your property tax assessment.

Recently got a freeze your HELOC?

Your lender might decide to automatically freeze your home equity line of credit (HELOC) if your property is in or near a declining area -- even if your specific property has not declined in value. Not only can this be disadvantageous from a cash flow viewpoint, but it can be detrimental to your credit score since it may appear as though that credit line is maxed out. Odell Appraisal Services can help you reinstate your HELOC.

Field and Desktop Appraisal Review Services

Have you just received a copy of your appraisal and you'd prefer to have a veteran appraiser double-check it for accuracy or do you desire a second opinion without the charge and delay of waiting for a whole new appraisal? Odell Appraisal Services offers field reviews where we'll go out and check the subject and comps in question. If you're 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.

Need a retrospective review of an appraisal report? We can help you with that Even though this is typically requested by banks, you may want to make use of this service if you suspect mortgage fraud related to your property.