Real estate appraisal services for homeowners in the city of Marion and Linn County

The top 7 reasons IA homeowners hire Downes and Associates Inc:

Pre-listing appraisals (whether they're selling the home on their own or using an agent)
Challenge property tax assessments
Remove PMI to lower their mortgage payments
To reinstate your Home Equity Line of Credit (or HELOC)
Verify another appraiser's report
If property needs to be divided because of a divorce
To determine the true market value of real estate in question to settle an estate in IA

Do you own a home in or near Marion? Do you need help deciding the value of your real estate?
Contact Downes and Associates Inc.

At Downes and Associates Inc, 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.

For Sale By Owner/Pre-Listing Services

Since you have an emotional attachment to your home, it's often very hard to be objective about it. Professional appraisers, like the ones at Downes and Associates Inc, will be objective. We'll 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 many interested buyers, a professional appraisal is a very valuable negotiating tool once you have a likely buyer. The appraisal is something concrete to show your buyer. An appraisal is an independent third party's opinion of your home's price -- not just how much your house is worth. Potential buyers know you have an emotional attachment to your home and will be far more likely to give credibility to an accomplished appraiser's value assessment than yours.

Need to remove PMI?

A popular money saver for homeowners is to get the PMI canceled from their mortgage loan, thus saving them money on their monthly payments. PMI stands for "Private Mortgage Insurance". Your monthly payments will go down once your mortgage loan amount is down below 80% of the value of your house. In most cases you can apply to your lender to have the PMI removed from your loan. Downes and Associates Inc is seasoned in helping customers just like you remove unwanted and unneeded PMI insurance.

Challenging a property tax assessment

Your local tax assessor may have your home overvalued if your house not appreciating as much as other properties close to yours. That means you're most likely paying more taxes than you should. Since your property assessment may likely go up again in the next period, the faster you take care of a matter like this, the better off you'll be. Getting an appraisal report from Downes and Associates Inc is your number one weapon when challenging your property tax assessment.

Recently got a freeze your HELOC?

Even if your specific property has not declined in value, your lender might make the decision to automatically freeze your home equity line of credit (HELOC) if your home is near a declining area. This can be be damaging to your credit score since it may appear as though that credit line is maxed out, and also annoying from a cash flow angle. Downes and Associates Inc can provide you with efficient appraisal that will help you reinstate your HELOC.

We Also Offer Field and Desktop Appraisal Review Services

Would you wish a second opinion without the expense and delay of waiting for a whole new appraisal? Or do you want a seasoned expert to double-check your appraisal for efficiency? In a field review we will go out and check the subject and comparables. Or, if you need it ASAP, 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 report you may have had in the past. Even though this is usually requested by banks, you may desire to use this service if you suspect mortgage fraud related to your property.