Should I Get an Appraisal Before Selling My House in CT?

If you're getting ready to sell your home, figuring out what it's worth is probably near the top of your list.

So should you hire an appraiser before you list?

For most Connecticut sellers, a pre-listing appraisal isn't necessary.

A professional appraisal can absolutely be useful in certain situations, but sellers generally don't need one simply to establish an asking price. Before listing a home, I typically prepare a comparative market analysis and develop a pricing strategy based on recent sales, current competition, the property's condition and features, and what's happening in that specific local market.

An appraisal and a Realtor's market analysis both deal with value, but they serve different purposes.

What's the Difference Between an Appraisal and a Comparative Market Analysis?

A real estate appraisal is an independent opinion of a property's value prepared by a licensed or certified appraiser.

The appraiser analyzes the property and relevant market information to develop an opinion of value. Appraisals are commonly associated with mortgage transactions because lenders use them as part of assessing the property being used as collateral for the loan.

A comparative market analysis, or CMA, is prepared by a real estate agent.

When I'm determining how to position a home for sale, I'm looking at recent comparable sales, active competition, pending activity when available, location, condition, improvements, market trends, buyer demand, and how the property compares with what buyers can choose from right now.

And there's an important distinction:

Market value and listing strategy aren't always exactly the same thing.

Pricing a home for the market also means considering how buyers are likely to react when the property becomes available.

When Could a Pre-Listing Appraisal Make Sense?

There are situations where I could see an appraisal being genuinely useful.

One is a particularly unusual property.

Maybe you own a custom home with features that aren't common in the area. Maybe the property includes substantial acreage, multiple structures, or characteristics that make comparable sales difficult to find.

An independent appraisal could provide another piece of information when determining value.

It may also be useful if there are multiple owners who disagree about the property's value or when an independent valuation is needed for reasons beyond simply preparing to list.

The question isn't whether an appraisal is valuable.

It's whether you need one for your particular sale.

Will an Appraisal Tell Me Exactly What My House Will Sell For?

No.

An appraisal is an opinion of value, not a guarantee that a buyer will pay that amount.

Your eventual sale price is determined by the market.

A property could appraise at one number and receive stronger or weaker interest once it's actually listed. Market conditions, competition, presentation, pricing strategy, and buyer demand can all influence what happens.

That's particularly important in markets where multiple buyers may compete for certain properties.

I wouldn't treat any single valuation as a promise of what your home will sell for.

What If Zillow, My Realtor and an Appraiser All Give Me Different Values?

That can happen.

An online home-value estimate, a Realtor's comparative market analysis, and a professional appraisal aren't the same product.

Automated estimates rely heavily on available data and algorithms.

An appraiser performs an independent valuation using professional appraisal standards and applicable market information.

A listing agent is also evaluating the home through the lens of how it will compete when it hits the market.

If the numbers differ, the useful question isn't simply, “Which one is right?”

I want to understand why they're different.

Maybe one analysis used more relevant comparable sales. Maybe recent improvements aren't reflected in an automated estimate. Maybe the property is unusually difficult to compare with nearby homes.

Understanding the reasoning behind a number is more useful than simply choosing the highest one.

Will the Buyer Still Need an Appraisal?

Potentially, yes.

This is one of the biggest misconceptions about paying for an appraisal before listing.

If you order your own appraisal, that doesn't necessarily mean a buyer's lender will simply use it later.

For a financed transaction, the lender may require an appraisal as part of its underwriting process and generally controls that appraisal process.

So paying for your own appraisal before listing doesn't automatically eliminate the possibility of another appraisal after you accept an offer.

Should I Get an Appraisal Just to Decide My Listing Price?

For most sellers, I wouldn't automatically spend the money before first seeing what the market data tells us.

Start with the property.

Look at the recent comparable sales.

Look at what's currently for sale.

Consider the home's updates, condition, location, lot, layout, and features.

Then look at current buyer activity and decide how the property should be positioned.

If the home is difficult to value or there's a specific reason an independent appraisal would be useful, then it may make sense to take that additional step.

Start With the Market Before Paying for Another Opinion

If you're thinking about selling, you don't need to order an appraisal simply because you aren't sure what your home is worth.

Start by understanding the market around the property and what comparable homes are actually doing.

If you're considering selling in West Hartford, the Farmington Valley, or elsewhere in Hartford County, I can prepare a market analysis, walk through the factors affecting your home's value, and explain how I would approach pricing it for today's market.

From there, we can determine whether an independent appraisal would provide useful additional information or whether you already have what you need to confidently move forward.

Adam Cannon, Realtor
Coldwell Banker Realty | West Hartford