Appraisal services for Chico and Butte County homeowners

Here are the top 7 reasons why CA homeowners need Michael Stratton:

  1. To get a pre-listing appraisal (whether you're using an agent or selling the home on your own)
  2. To challenge a CA property tax assessment
  3. To lower your monthly mortgage payment by removing PMI
  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 property needs to be divided
  7. To determine the true market value of real estate in question to settle an estate in Butte County or the state of CA

Do you own a house in or near Chico? Do you need help determining the price of your real estate?
Contact Michael Stratton.

At Michael Stratton, we understand the particular needs of a customer after appraisal services. Our business practices and reporting formats are relatively routine to our business clients like lenders, lawyers, and CPAs. But as a general consumer,we will give you extra guidance and explanations through the appraisal process to more clearly understand what we do and how we document our findings.

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

It's very hard to be objective about your house because you most likely have an emotional attachment to it. The professional appraisers at Michael Stratton will tell you what you need to know -- not just what you want to hear. We are objective. A professional appraisal is very valuable as a negotiating tool once you have an attainable buyer, in addition to helping you set a realistic price to sell at so your home will attract many interested buyers. The appraisal is something tangible to show the buyer. It's an independent third party's opinion of your home's value, and not just you saying how much you think your home is worth. Potential buyers assume you have an emotional attachment to your home and will be more likely to give credibility to an experienced appraiser's value judgement than yours.

Need to cancel PMI?

Getting the PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance) eliminated from your mortgage loan is a fashionable way to cut expenses for homeowners. Once your mortgage loan amount is less than 80% of the value of your house, in most cases you can apply to the lender to have the PMI removed from your loan, which will make your monthly payments go down. At Michael Stratton, we're seasoned in helping people just like you rid themselves of unnecessary PMI insurance.

Challenge Tax Assessment

Lets say you live in a local area that is declining -- your local tax assessor may have your home overvalued. That only means you are most likely paying more taxes than you should. Since your property assessment may likely go up again in the next period, the quicker you take care of a matter like this, the better. When contesting your property tax assessment, getting an appraisal report from Michael Stratton is your best weapon.

HELOC recently frozen?

If your home is close to a declining area, your lender just might decide to automatically freeze your home equity line of credit (HELOC) - even if your specific property has not declined in value. This can be be bad for your credit score since it may appear as though that credit line is maxed out, and also difficult from a cash flow point of view. An efficient appraisal from Michael Stratton can help you reinstate your HELOC.

Field and Desktop Appraisal Review Services

Have you just gotten a copy of your appraisal and you'd like to have a veteran appraiser double-check it for verity or do you need a second opinion without the expense and delay of waiting for a whole new appraisal? An appraiser from Michael Stratton can go out and check the subject and comps in a field review. Or, if you need it in a rush, we can provide desk review and verify as many facts as we can using online data sources as well as our own files.

Do you need a retrospective review of an appraisal report? Michael Stratton can help with that too. While usually requested by banks, you may need to exploit this service if you suspect mortgage fraud related to your house.