Property Valuation Oak Hills | Mortgage Lenders

Trusted Real Estate Appraisal Company

James Lewis Property Appraisals is a recognized leader in valuation and financial consulting, servicing clients nationally. Our company is made up of highly experienced real estate appraisers and financial analysts dedicated to meeting the needs of homeowners, lenders, advisors, and other clients that require independent valuation and consulting services.

Our Appraisers

James Lewis Sr.

CA LIC#AG004871
TX LIC#TX-1336456-G
State Cert. General Appraiser

Gayle Fields

Three Steps to Faster Appraisal Turn Times

When you order appraisals online, you get automatic email acknowledgments stating that the assignment was received. You will also get fast and secure delivery of a report in PDF format. Online ordering helps us save time since we don’t have to retype the information from a fax. Additionally, you don’t have to wonder whether we have already received your order.
Having complete and accurate details about the property also helps speed up the process. For example, one incorrect number in the property’s street address could cause delays and add unnecessary time to an appraisal assignment. If you have a tax parcel number, plat map number, subdivision name, or any other information that uniquely identifies the property, please pass it along. We also accept lists of recent sales in the area. Please be advised that professional appraisers must always do their own due diligence on comparable sales. Moreover, your findings might differ from ours.
To achieve faster turn times, it is ideal to share information about what makes the property unique upfront. Cookie-cutter homes are relatively easy to appraise. What takes time is analyzing how one-of-a-kind features contribute to or detract from the property’s value. Please inform us about the features of the home and its surrounding areas, such as recent additions, zoning restrictions, and flood proneness. We’ll eventually learn about these details, but knowing them as soon as possible makes your report arrive quickly.

Appraiser Ethics

As with any profession, appraisers are bound by ethical considerations. An appraiser’s primary responsibility is to his or her client. In residential practice, the lender is the appraiser’s client. The lender requests for a property valuation in order to decide whether to make a mortgage loan. Likewise, homeowners usually request a copy of the appraisal report from the lender. Appraisers have duties of confidentiality to their clients. These include attaining numerical accuracy depending on the assignment parameters, maintaining a level of competency and education, and generally conducting oneself as a professional. At James Lewis Property Appraisals, we take these ethical responsibilities very seriously.

Other Duties of an Appraiser

Appraisers may also have fiduciary obligations to third parties such as homeowners, buyers, sellers, and more. These third parties are normally stated in the appraisal assignment. An appraiser's fiduciary duty is limited to these third parties, individuals whom the appraiser knows, based on the scope of work or other written parameters of the assignment. In addition to these duties, appraisers must keep their work files for a minimum of only five years.

Unethical Practices Appraisers Avoid

James Lewis Property Appraisal only conducts business with the highest integrity. We don't do assignments on contingency fees. Our appraisers don't agree to do an appraisal report and get paid only if the loan closes. We don't do assignments on percentage fees. That is probably an appraiser’s biggest no-no because they would tend to inflate the value of homes or properties to increase their paycheck. Other unethical practices may be defined by professional societies or state law. The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) also defines as unethical the acceptance of an assignment that is contingent on "the reporting of a pre-determined result (e.g., opinion of value)," "a direction in assignment results that favors the cause of the client," and "the amount of a value opinion.” Rest assured that we work objectively and without any bias.

Helpful Information About Appraisals

A home is one of the most important investments you will ever make. Whether it's a primary residence or a vacation home, the purchase of real estate is a complex financial transaction that requires multiple parties to become successful. The realtor is the individual most involved in the transaction. Meanwhile, the mortgage company provides the financial capital necessary to fund the transaction. The title company ensures that all aspects of the transaction are completed and that a clear title is passed from the seller to the buyer.

What Are Appraisals?

So, who makes sure that the value of the property is in line with the amount being paid? Who ensures that the value of the property is commensurate with the amount being paid? This is where appraisals come in. An appraisal is an unbiased estimate of what a buyer might expect to pay—or a seller receive—for a parcel of real estate, where both buyer and seller are informed parties. To be an informed party, most people turn to a licensed, certified, and professional appraiser to provide them with the most accurate estimate of the true value of their property.

Property Inspection

What happens in a real estate appraisal? It all starts with the inspection. An appraiser's duty is to inspect the property to ascertain its true status. He or she must see its features, such as the number of bedrooms and bathrooms as well as the property’s location, to ensure that the house lives up to the buyer’s expectations. The inspection often includes a sketch of the property that shows the proper square footage and layout. Most importantly, the appraiser looks for any obvious advantages or defects that would affect the value of the house. Once the site has been inspected, an appraiser uses two or three approaches to determine the value of real estate. These include a cost approach and a sales comparison.

The Property Valuation Experts

Serving Homeowners, Mortgage Lenders, and More

Ask About Property Valuation

Trusted Real Estate Appraisal Company

Three Steps to Faster Appraisal Turn Times

Appraiser Ethics

Helpful Information About Appraisals

James Lewis Property Appraisals