Need an appraisal in Huntingtown or Calvert County?

Here are the top seven reasons why MD homeowners call on Thomas O'Brien:

  1. To get a pre-listing appraisal (whether you're using an agent or selling the home on your own)
  2. Challenge Calvert county's assessment of your propertyworth
  3. Remove PMI to lower their mortgage payments
  4. Reinstate your Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC)
  5. Review another appraiser's report for verification
  6. In the case of a MD divorce, when real estate needs to be divided
  7. Determine the true market value of property in question to settle an estate

Need help deciding the value of your home in or near Huntingtown, MD?
Contact Thomas O'Brien.

We at Thomas O'Brien understand the individual needs of a customer looking for appraisal services. While our typical 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.

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

It's very hard to be objective about your house because of your emotional attachment to it. A professional appraiser is objective and will tell you what you need to know, not just what you want to hear. In addition to helping you set a realistic price to sell at so your property will attract interested buyers, a professional appraisal is very valuable as a negotiating tool once you have a potential buyer. It gives you something tangible to show the buyer. An appraisal is an independent third party's opinion of your house's value -- not just you saying how much your home is worth. Interested buyers assume that you have an emotional attachment to your home and will be more likely to give credibility to a qualified appraiser's value opinion than yours.

Appraisals to cancel PMI

PMI stands for Private Mortgage Insurance. A popular way to cut costs for homeowners is to get the PMI canceled 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 property. In most cases you can apply to your lender to have the PMI removed from your loan. We're veterans in helping consumers just like you do away with unneeded PMI insurance.

Challenge a property tax assessment

Your local tax assessor may have your home overvalued if your house not appreciating as much as other houses close to yours. That only means you are going to pay more taxes than you should. The earlier you take care of a matter like this, the better, since your property assessment may likely go up again in the next period. An appraisal report from Thomas O'Brien is your best weapon when contesting your property tax assessment.

Was your HELOC recently frozen?

If your home 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. This can this be difficult from a cash flow point of view, and harmful to your credit score since it may appear as though that credit line is maxed out. Thomas O'Brien can help you reinstate your home equity line of credit with an expert appraisal.

We Provide Field and Desktop Appraisal Review Services

Do you need a veteran appraiser to double-check your appraisal for efficiency, or do you want a second opinion without the expense and delay of waiting for a whole new appraisal? In a field review we'll go out and check the subject and comps. Or, if you need it ASAP, we can provide desk review and verify as many facts as we can using online data sources as well as our own files.

We can also provide a retrospective review of any appraisal report you may have had in the past. While usually requested by banks, you may want to use this service if you suspect mortgage fraud related to your property.