Attention homeowners: Real estate appraisal services for in Columbus and Franklin County

See the top seven reasons Ohio homeowners call on Rich Plagenz:

Get a pre-listing appraisal (whether they're selling the home on their own or using a real estate agent)
Challenge Franklin County's assessment of your property
Remove PMI to lower their mortgage payment
To reinstate their Home Equity Line of Credit (or HELOC)
Review a different appraiser's report for verification
If real estate needs to be divided because of a divorce
Settle an estate in Ohio by determining the true market value of a property


	Need help deciding the price of your house in or near Columbus, Ohio? Contact Rich Plagenz.

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

Pre-listing Services/For Sale by Owner

Since you have an emotional attachment to your own home, it's often very hard to be objective about it. Professional appraisers, like the ones at Rich Plagenz, will be objective. We'll tell you what you need to know, not just what you want to hear. A professional appraisal is very crucial 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 many interested buyers. The appraisal is something concrete to show your buyer. It's an independent third party's opinion of your house's value, and not just you saying how much your home is worth. Interested buyers know you have an emotional attachment to your house and will be much more likely to give credibility to an expert appraiser's value opinion than yours.

Challenge property tax assessments

Your local tax assessor may have your house overvalued if your house is not appreciating as much as other properties close to yours. This only means you are paying higher taxes than you should be paying. The faster you take care of a matter like this, the better off you'll be, since your property assessment may likely go up again in the next period. When contesting your property tax assessment, getting an expert appraisal from Rich Plagenz is your number one weapon.

Need to cancel PMI?

Getting the PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance) eliminated from your mortgage loan is a popular way to cut expenses for homeowners. Once your mortgage loan amount is less than 80% of the value of your house, in most cases you can apply to a lender to have the PMI eliminated from your loan, which will make your monthly payments go down. We are veterans in helping folks just like you get rid of unnecessary PMI insurance.

HELOC recently frozen?

Even if your specific property has not declined in value, your lender might just decide to automatically freeze your home equity line of credit (HELOC) if your home is in a declining area. This can be inconvenient from a cash flow point of view, and negative on your credit score since it may appear as though that credit line is maxed out. Rich Plagenz can provide you with a professional appraisal to help you reinstate your HELOC.

Field and Desktop Appraisal Review Services

Have you just been handed a copy of your appraisal and you would like to have a veteran appraiser double-check it for verity or do you want a second opinion without the cost and delay of waiting for a whole new appraisal? In a field review we will go out and check the subject and comps in question. If you need it ASAP, we'll provide you with a 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. Although most appraisal reviews are commissioned by lenders, homeowners suspecting they've been the victim of mortgage fraud are wise to invest in a second opinion.