Need an appraisal in Vancouver or Clark County?

The top 7 reasons Washington homeowners hire Michael Shank:

To get a pre-listing appraisal (whether you're using an agent or selling the home on your own)
Challenge property tax assessments
Remove PMI to reduce a monthly mortgage payment
Reinstate their Home Equity Line of Credit (or HELOC)
To review a different appraiser's report for verification
In the case of a divorce in the state of Washington, when real estate needs to be divided
To settle an estate in Clark county or Washington by determining the true market value of the property in question


	Own a house in or near Vancouver, Washington and need help deciding the value of it? Contact Michael Shank.

We at Michael Shank understand the unique needs of a homeowner in need of appraisal services. The appraisal process and reporting formats are relatively routine to our business clients like banks, attorneys, and accountants. As our client, we will provide you with extra guidance and explanations through the appraisal process to more clearly understand what we do and how we document our conclusions.

Pre-listing Services/For Sale by Owner (FSBO)

It's very hard to be objective about your own house because you probably have an emotional attachment to it. The professional appraisers at Michael Shank will tell you what you need to know -- not just what you want to hear. We are objective. A professional appraisal is a very valuable negotiating tool once you have an interested buyer, in addition to helping you set a realistic price to sell at so your house will attract buyers. It gives you something tangible to show the buyer. An appraisal is an independent third party's opinion of your property's value -- not just you saying how much you think your house is worth. Interested buyers know 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.

Challenging Clark County's assessment of your property

If you live in an area that is going down or not appreciating as much as other homes nearby, your local tax assessor may have your house overvalued. That means you are 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 things like this, the better. Getting a professional appraisal from Michael Shank is your chief weapon when contesting your property tax assessment.

Appraisals to cancel PMI

PMI stands for Private Mortgage Insurance. A preferred money saver for homeowners is to get the PMI eliminated from their mortgage loan, thus saving them money on their monthly payments. Once your mortgage loan amount 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. We're experienced in helping customers just like you get rid of unwanted and unneeded PMI insurance.

HELOC recently frozen?

If your home is close to a declining area, your lender may just choose to automatically freeze your home equity line of credit (HELOC) - even if your specific property has not declined in value. This can be annoying from a cash flow angle, and destructive to your credit score since it may appear as though that credit line is maxed out. Michael Shank can help you reinstate your HELOC.

Field and Desktop Appraisal Review Services

Do you need a seasoned expert to double-check your appraisal for accuracy, or do you desire a second opinion without the cost and delay of waiting for a whole new appraisal? Michael Shank offers field reviews where we go out and check the subject and comps in question. 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.

Do you need a retrospective review of an appraisal? We can help with that too. While typically requested by banks, you may wish to employ this service if you suspect mortgage fraud related to your house.