Appraisal services for Southern California homeowners

The top seven reasons why California homeowners call on Sullivan Appraisals:

  1. Get a pre-listing appraisal (whether they're selling the home on their own or using a real estate agent)
  2. Challenge property tax assessments
  3. Remove PMI to cut your mortgage payments
  4. To reinstate their Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC)
  5. Verify a different appraiser's report
  6. If real estate needs to be divided because of a divorce
  7. Determine the true market value of the property in question to settle an estate
Own a house in Southern California and need help determining the price of it? Contact Sullivan Appraisals.

At Sullivan Appraisals, we understand the unique needs of a consumer seeking appraisal services. Our regular business clients get the appraisal process and the standard "products" we deliver to them. But as a general consumer, we will give you extra guidance and explanations through the appraisal process to better understand what we do and how we document the results of our analysis.

For Sale by Owner/Pre-Listing Services

Since you have an emotional attachment to your own 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 very valuable negotiating tool once you have a likely buyer, in addition to helping you set a realistic price to sell at so your house will attract many interested buyers. It's something concrete to show your buyer. The appraisal is an independent third party's opinion of your property's value, not just how much your house is worth. Potential buyers know that you have an emotional attachment to your home and will be much more likely to give credibility to a qualified appraiser's value opinion than yours.

Challenge Tax Assessment

Let's say your house is not appreciating as much as other houses close to yours -- your local tax assessor may have your house overvalued. That means you are paying more taxes than you should. The quicker you take care of a matter like this, the better off you'll be, since your property assessment may likely go up again in the next period. When contesting your property tax assessment, getting a professional appraisal from Sullivan Appraisals is your perfect weapon.

Need to cancel PMI?

PMI stands for Private Mortgage Insurance. A preferred way to save money for homeowners is to get the PMI eliminated from their mortgage loan, thus saving them money on their monthly payments. Once your mortgage loan is less than 80% of the value of your property, in most cases you can apply to the lender to have the PMI canceled from your loan, which will make your monthly payments go down. At Sullivan Appraisals, we're seasoned in helping folks just like you delete undesirable PMI insurance.

Recently got a freeze to your HELOC?

Even if your specific property has not declined in value, your lender just may decide to automatically freeze your home equity line of credit (HELOC) if your home is in or near a declining area. This can be bad for your credit score since it may appear as though that credit line is maxed out, and also inopportune from a cash flow angle. An appraisal from Sullivan Appraisals can help you reinstate your HELOC.

We Also Offer Field and Desktop Appraisal Review Services

Would you like a second opinion without the charge and delay of waiting for a whole new appraisal? Or do you want a seasoned professional to double-check your appraisal for verity? We can go out and check the subject and comparables in question in a field review. Or, if you're 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 a retrospective review of any appraisal you may have had done before. While typically requested by banks, you may wish to exercise this service if you suspect mortgage fraud related to your house.