Appraisal services for Corona and Riverside County homeowners

The top 7 reasons CA homeowners hire Michael Barbara:

  1. Pre-listing appraisals (whether you're using a real estate agent or selling the home on your own)
  2. Challenge a property tax assessment
  3. Remove PMI to reduce their monthly mortgage payment
  4. To reinstate their Home Equity Line of Credit (or HELOC)
  5. Review a different appraiser's report for verification
  6. In the case of a CA divorce, when real estate property needs to be divided
  7. To determine the true market value of property in question to settle an estate

Own a house in or near Corona, CA and need help determining the price of it?
Contact Michael Barbara.

At Michael Barbara, we understand the unique needs of a consumer looking for appraisal services. While our usual business clients understand the appraisal process and standard reporting formats, you as a consumer will get an extra level of customer 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)

Since you have an emotional attachment to your house, it's often very hard to be objective about it. Professional appraisers, like the ones at Michael Barbara, will be objective. We'll tell you what you need to know, not just what you want to hear. A professional appraisal is very crucial as a negotiating tool once you have an attainable buyer, in addition to helping you set a realistic selling price so your home will attract many interested buyers. It gives you something concrete to show your buyer. An appraisal is an independent third party's opinion of your property's price -- not just how much you think your home is worth. Interested buyers assume you have an emotional attachment to your home and will be much more likely to give credibility to a professional appraiser's value opinion than yours.

PMI Removal Appraisals

A preferred way to save money for homeowners is to get the PMI removed from their mortgage loan, thus saving them money on their monthly payments. PMI stands for "Private Mortgage Insurance". Once your mortgage loan is less than 80% of the value of your house, in most cases you can apply to your lender to have the PMI eliminated from your loan, which will make your monthly payments go down. Michael Barbara is experienced in helping people just like you delete unneeded PMI insurance.

Challenging property tax assessments

Your local tax assessor may have your home overvalued if your house is not appreciating as much as other houses close by. This only means you are probably paying higher taxes than you should be paying. The earlier 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. Getting an appraisal report from Michael Barbara is your chief weapon when contesting your property tax assessment.

HELOC recently frozen?

If your house is near a declining area, your lender just may 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 harmful to your credit score since it may appear as though that credit line is maxed out, and also unsuitable from a cash flow viewpoint. Michael Barbara can help you reinstate your HELOC.

We Also Offer Field and Desktop Appraisal Review Services

Would you prefer a second opinion without the added expense and delay of waiting for a whole new appraisal? Or do you desire an expert to double-check your appraisal for verity? In a field review we will go out and check the subject and comps. If you're in a hurry, we'll 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 done before. Even though this is typically requested by banks, you may need to exercise this service if you suspect mortgage fraud related to your house.