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

Here are the top seven reasons why IL homeowners use Appraisals By Trautman:

  1. Get a pre-listing appraisal (whether they're selling the home on their own or using a real estate agent)
  2. Challenge a property tax assessment
  3. To lower their monthly mortgage payment by removing PMI
  4. Reinstate their Home Equity Line of Credit (or HELOC)
  5. To review another appraiser's report for verification
  6. In the case of a IL divorce, where real estate property needs to be divided
  7. Settle an estate in IL by determining the true market value of property in question

Own a house in or near Champaign, IL and need help determining the value of it?
Contact Appraisals By Trautman.

We at Appraisals By Trautman understand the particular needs of a consumer seeking appraisal services. While our typical 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/Pre-Listing Services

Since you have an emotional attachment to your own home, it's often very hard to be objective about it. The professional appraisers at Appraisals By Trautman 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 attainable buyer, in addition to helping you set a realistic selling price so your house will attract buyers. It's something tangible to show the buyer. It's an independent third party's opinion of your home's value, and not just how much you think your house is worth. Interested 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 judgement than yours.

Appraisals to remove PMI

PMI stands for Private Mortgage Insurance. A fashionable way to cut costs for homeowners is getting the PMI eliminated from their mortgage loan, thus saving them money on their monthly payments. Your monthly payments will go down once your mortgage loan is below 80% of the value of your home. In most cases you can apply to your lender to have the PMI eliminated from your loan. We are seasoned in helping people just like you remove unneeded and unwanted PMI insurance.

Challenge Tax Assessment

If you live in an area that is declining or not appreciating as much as other properties close to yours, your local tax assessor may have your home overvalued. That means you're probably paying more taxes than you should. The faster you take care of things like this, the better, since your property assessment may likely go up again in the next period. When challenging your property tax assessment, getting an appraisal from Appraisals By Trautman is your strongest weapon.

Recently got a freeze your HELOC?

Your lender might just decide to automatically freeze your home equity line of credit (HELOC) if your property is in a declining area -- even if your specific property has not declined in value. This can this be unsuitable from a cash flow standpoint, and unfavorable to your credit score since it may appear as though that credit line is maxed out. Appraisals By Trautman can help you reinstate your HELOC.

Do You Need Field and Desktop Appraisal Review Services?

Would you like a second opinion without the cost and delay of waiting for a whole new appraisal? Or do you need a seasoned appraiser to double-check your appraisal for precision? We can go out and check the subject and comps in a field review. If you need it ASAP, 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? Appraisals By Trautman can We can assist you. While usually requested by banks, you may wish to make use of this service if you suspect mortgage fraud related to your property.