WARNING: I rarely blow my own horn in this space, but today is different, so if you can't stand bloviation, read no further.

One of the advantages of the real estate profession is that it allows for many different kinds of business models.  Most are based upon marketing methods - print advertising, Internet sites, virtual tours, promotion to every licensee in America, all that kind of stuff.  Although that is important (and I do all, except spamming licensees across the country), it is a very small part of a successful transaction for a seller.  As far as I am concerned, the real effort can begin when the sales contract is signed, especially in today's market of mortgage madness.

Today I did something I do for all my seller clients who have signed a contract with a buyer: I met the buyer's appraiser at the property.  The house is vacant, the sellers far away, and there is a lockbox on the house.  Why should I bother?  Perhaps the answer to that question is less obvious than you think.  I didn't just let the appraiser into the house. And for good reason.

This particular appraiser came from an hour away.  He was doing at least three appraisals this morning, each in a very different market area of New Jersey.  He need help to find this property.  I don't mean this as a criticism of the appraiser, by the way, but simply a statement of facts.  That is the life of an appraiser these days.

What I did was I provided him with objective data that would make his job a bit easier, and make him feel a bit more confident of his final product.  From me he got not only the MLS printout of the subject property and several closed comps, but a pending comp with contract price as well.  But that's not all (because he could get that with a few phone calls).  I also gave him the builder's floorplan of the subject property, a copy of the survey, a list of special features, the glossy brochure, and, perhaps most importantly, my market data spreadsheet for this town for the 2006, 2007 and 2008.

Not only will he know the property and where it fits into the comparables, but he will also know whether this market is declining, stable, or rising.  He can see the dynamic of a decreasing absorption rate over the past three months. 

I do this with every property I list that sells.  The last appraisal problem I had was five years ago.  This appraiser today, like virtually all the ones I've met over the past five years, was grateful for the data.  I expect every appraiser to "trust but verify" my proferred information.  They may measure every room, but they don't have to do a sketch.  Issues arise when an out-of-area appraiser is expected to seem knowledgeable about a local market.  All I want is for the appraiser to know at least as much about the market as I do.  Then I am confident I have provided a unique, high-value service to my client, the seller.

I know of no other Realtor® in my area who performs this service.  Do you think this service has value?