Mecklenburg County Real Estate Appraisal

Mecklenburg County was formed in 1762 from the western part of Anson County. It was named for the German Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1744-1818) from the German state of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, who had become queen consort of King George III the previous year. She is also the eponym of Mecklenburg County's county seat and largest city, Charlotte. Mecklenburg County contains seven municipalities including the City of Charlotte and the towns of Cornelius, Davidson, and Huntersville, Matthews, Mint Hill, and Pineville.

Mecklenburg County is the home to seven Fortune 500 companies with an eighth retaining headquarters there while its acquisition is completed. As of the census of 2000, there were 695,454 people, 273,416 households, and 174,986 families residing in the county. As of 2008, the population has grown to 902,803.

Appraisals are an Important Part of Your Home Buying Transaction

A real estate appraisal helps to establish a property's market value in Mecklenburg County – the likely sales price it would bring if offered in an open and competitive real estate market.

Your lender will require an appraisal when you ask to use a home or other real estate as security for a loan, because it wants to make sure that the property will sell for at least the amount of money it is lending.

Don't confuse a comparative market analysis, or CMA, with an appraisal. Real estate agents in Mecklenburg County use CMAs to help home sellers determine a realistic asking price. Experienced agents often come very close to an appraisal price with their CMAS, but an appraiser's report is much more detailed - and is the only valuation report a bank will consider when deciding whether or not to lend the money in Mecklenburg County.

About Appraisers and Appraisals

Residential Appraisal Methods

There are two common appraisal methods used for residential properties:

Sales Comparison Approach

The appraiser estimates a subject property's market value by comparing it to similar properties that have sold in the area. The properties used are called comparables, or comps.

No two properties are exactly alike, so the appraiser must compare the comps to the subject property, making paperwork adjustments to the comps in order to make their features more in-line with the subject property's. The result is a figure that shows what each comp would have sold for if it had the same components as the subject.

Cost Approach

The cost approach is most useful for new properties, where the costs to build are known. The appraiser estimates how much it would cost to replace the structure if it were destroyed.