Attention homeowners: Real estate appraisal services for in San Jose and Santa Clara County

The top 7 reasons why California homeowners call on James Wagner:

  1. To get a pre-listing appraisal (whether you're using an agent or selling the home on your own)
  2. To challenge your property tax assessment in California
  3. Remove PMI to reduce a mortgage payment
  4. Reinstate their Home Equity Line of Credit (or HELOC)
  5. To review a different appraiser's report for verification
  6. If real estate needs to be divided because of a divorce
  7. Determine the true market value of the property in question to settle an estate
Own a house in or near San Jose, California and need help determining the value of it? Contact James Wagner.

At James Wagner, we understand the particular needs of a consumer seeking appraisal services. While our usual clients understand the appraisal process and standard reporting formats, you as a consumer will get extra service in the form of an explanation of the process and even special consumer-friendly reporting forms if the assignment allows for them.

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. The professional appraisers at James Wagner will tell you what you need to know -- not just what you want to hear. We are objective. A professional appraisal is very important as a negotiating tool once you have a potential buyer, in addition to helping you set a realistic price to sell at so your home will attract interested buyers. The appraisal is something concrete to show the buyer. The appraisal is an independent third party's opinion of your house's value, not just how much you think your house is worth. Interested buyers know that you have an emotional attachment to your house and will be far more likely to give credibility to an experienced appraiser's value judgement than yours.

Challenging Santa Clara County's assessment of your property

Your local tax assessor may have your home overvalued if your house is not appreciating as much as other properties close to yours. That means you're going to pay more taxes than you should. Since your property assessment may likely go up again in the next period, the sooner you take care of things like this, the better. When contesting your property tax assessment, getting an appraisal from James Wagner is your chief weapon.

PMI Removal Appraisals

Getting the PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance) removed from your mortgage loan is a popular way to save money for homeowners. Your monthly payments will go down once your mortgage loan amount is down below 80% of the value of your property. In most cases you can apply to the lender to have the PMI removed from your loan. At James Wagner, we're qualified in helping clients just like you dismiss unwanted and unneeded PMI insurance.

Recently got a freeze to your HELOC?

Your lender just might decide to automatically freeze your home equity line of credit (HELOC) if your home is in a declining area -- even if your specific property has not declined in value. This can be inconvenient from a cash flow viewpoint, and negative on your credit score since it may appear as though that credit line is maxed out. James Wagner can help you reinstate your home equity line of credit with efficient appraisal.

We Provide Field and Desktop Appraisal Review Services

Have you just been given a copy of your appraisal and you'd prefer to have a seasoned professional double-check it for efficiency or do you need a second opinion without the cost and delay of waiting for a whole new appraisal? We can go out and check the subject and comparables in question in a field review. If you're in a rush, we'll 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? James Wagner can help you with that. Even though most review work is commissioned by lenders for quality control, homeowners that have reason to believe a prior appraisal wasn't above board are wise to get a second opinion.