Appraisal services for Laurel and Howard County homeowners

The top seven reasons MD homeowners call on Neal Seckler:

Get a pre-listing appraisal (whether you're using a real estate agent or selling the home on your own)
Challenge a property tax assessment
To reduce their mortgage payment by removing PMI
Reinstate your Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC)
Verify a different appraiser's report
If real estate needs to be divided because of a divorce
Determine the true market value of property in question to settle an estate

Own a house in or near Laurel, MD and need help deciding the value of it?
Contact Neal Seckler.

We at Neal Seckler understand the individual needs of a consumer seeking appraisal services. Our regular business clients are used to the appraisal process and the standard documents we provide. As our valued client, you'll receive extra guidance and explanations through the appraisal process to more clearly understand what we do and how we document the results of our analysis.

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

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

PMI Removal Appraisals

PMI stands for Private Mortgage Insurance. An attractive way to save money 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 down below 80% of the value of your home. In most cases you can apply to the lender to have the PMI removed from your loan. At Neal Seckler, we're seasoned in helping customers just like you abolish unwanted PMI insurance.

Challenging property tax assessments

Your local tax assessor may have your home overvalued if you live in a local area that is going down or is not appreciating as much as other properties close to yours. This only means you're probably paying higher taxes than you should be paying. The quicker you take care of a matter like this, the better, since your property assessment may likely go up again in the next period. An expert appraisal from Neal Seckler is your chief weapon when challenging your property tax assessment.

Recently got a freeze your HELOC?

Your lender may just decide to automatically freeze your home equity line of credit (HELOC) if your house is close to a declining area -- even if your specific property has not declined in value. This can be be destructive to your credit score since it may appear as though that credit line is maxed out, and also difficult from a cash flow standpoint. Neal Seckler can provide you with a professional appraisal that will help you reinstate your HELOC.

We Also Provide Field and Desktop Appraisal Review Services

Have you just been handed a copy of your appraisal and you'd like to have an expert double-check it for precision or do you desire a second opinion without the added expense and delay of waiting for a whole new appraisal? In a field review we'll go out and check the subject and comparables. Or, if you need it immediately, 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 you with a a retrospective review of any appraisal you may have had in the past. While typically requested by banks, you may wish to take advantage of this service if you suspect mortgage fraud related to your home.