Appraisal services for Huntington Beach and Orange County homeowners

See the top seven reasons why CA homeowners use NorthStar:

  1. To get a pre-listing appraisal (whether you're using a real estate agent or selling the home on your own)
  2. Challenge Orange county's assessment of your property
  3. Remove PMI to reduce your mortgage payments
  4. Reinstate their Home Equity Line of Credit (or HELOC)
  5. To review a different appraiser's report for verification
  6. If real estate needs to be divided because of a divorce
  7. To settle an estate in CA by determining the true market value of property in question

Need help determining the value of your home in or near Huntington Beach, CA?
Contact NorthStar.

At NorthStar, we understand the unique needs of a customer in need of appraisal services. While our usual 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 (FSBO) / Pre-Listing Services

It's very hard to be objective about your own house because of your emotional attachment to it. The professional appraisers at NorthStar will tell you what you need to know -- not just what you want to hear. We are objective. A professional appraisal is very valuable as a negotiating tool once you have an attainable buyer, in addition to helping you set a realistic selling price so your property will attract interested buyers. It gives you something concrete to show your buyer. It's an independent third party's opinion of your property's price, and not just how much your house is worth. Potential buyers know that you have an emotional attachment to your house and will be more likely to give credibility to an expert appraiser's value assessment than yours.

PMI Removal Appraisals

A popular way to cut expenses for homeowners is to get the PMI eliminated from their mortgage loan, thus saving them money on their monthly payments. PMI stands for "Private Mortgage Insurance". Once your mortgage loan is down below 80% of the value of your house, in most cases you can apply to a lender to have the PMI removed from your loan, which will make your monthly payments go down. NorthStar is seasoned in helping people just like you rid themselves of unneeded and unwanted PMI insurance.

Challenging Orange county's assessment of your property

If you live in a region that is declining or is not appreciating as much as other houses nearby, your local tax assessor may have your house overvalued. That means you're going to pay more taxes than you should. The sooner you take care of a matter like this, the better, since your property assessment may likely go up again in the next period. When challenging your property tax assessment, getting a professional appraisal from NorthStar is your number one weapon.

HELOC recently frozen?

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

Need Field and Desktop Appraisal Review Services?

Have you just gotten a copy of your appraisal and you would like to have an expert double-check it for efficiency or do you desire a second opinion without the added expense and delay of waiting for a whole new appraisal? We can go out and check the subject and comparables in question in a field review. Or, if you're in a rush, 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.

We can also provide you with a a retrospective review of any appraisal you may have had done before. While typically requested by banks, you may desire to employ this service if you suspect mortgage fraud related to your home.