Attention homeowners in Washington and District Of Columbia County: Get an Appraisal today!

The top 7 reasons why DC homeowners use John C. Burnett:

  1. Pre-listing appraisals (whether they're selling the home on their own or using a real estate agent)
  2. To challenge a DC property tax assessment
  3. Remove PMI to reduce your mortgage payments
  4. Reinstate their Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC)
  5. Review another appraiser's report for verification
  6. In the case of a DC divorce, where real estate property needs to be divided
  7. Determine the true market value of real estate in question to settle an estate in District Of Columbia county or DC

Need help determining the price of your home in or near Washington, DC?
Contact John C. Burnett.

We at John C. Burnett understand the special needs of a consumer seeking appraisal services. While our typical business 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.

Pre-listing Services/For Sale By Owner

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 John C. Burnett, will be objective. We'll tell you what you need to know, not just what you want to hear. A professional appraisal is a crucial negotiating tool once you have an interested buyer, in addition to helping you set a realistic price to sell at so your property will attract interested buyers. It gives you something tangible to show the buyer. The appraisal is an independent third party's opinion of your house's price, not just you saying how much your house is worth. Interested buyers know that you have an emotional attachment to your home and will be much more likely to give credibility to a professional appraiser's value estimation than yours.

Appraisals to remove PMI

PMI stands for Private Mortgage Insurance. A preferred way to save money for homeowners is getting the PMI canceled from their mortgage loan, thus saving them money on their monthly payments. Your monthly payments will go down once your mortgage loan amount is below 80% of the value of your house. In most cases you can apply to your lender to have the PMI canceled from your loan. We are seasoned in helping consumers just like you abolish unwanted PMI insurance.

Challenging District Of Columbia county's assessment of your property

Lets say your house is not appreciating as much as other houses close by -- your local tax assessor may have your house overvalued. This only means you are probably paying higher taxes than you should be paying. The sooner you take care of things like this, the better, since your property assessment may likely go up again in the next period. An appraisal from John C. Burnett is your #1 weapon when challenging your property tax assessment.

Was your HELOC recently frozen?

Your lender might make the decision to automatically freeze your home equity line of credit (HELOC) if your property is near a declining area -- even if your specific property has not declined in value. This can be be destructive to your credit score since it may appear as though that credit line is maxed out, and also disadvantageous from a cash flow angle. A professional appraisal from John C. Burnett can help you reinstate your HELOC.

Field and Desktop Appraisal Review Services

Would you like a second opinion without the charge and delay of waiting for a whole new appraisal? Or do you desire a veteran appraiser to double-check your appraisal for accuracy? John C. Burnett offers field reviews where we go out and check the subject and comparables. Or, if you need it immediately, we can provide you with a desk review and verify as many facts as we can using online data sources as well as our own files.

Need a retrospective review of an appraisal? We can help with that too. While typically requested by banks, you may wish to take advantage of this service if you suspect mortgage fraud related to your home.