Appraisal services for Austin and Travis County homeowners

The top 7 reasons why TX homeowners call on Doug Rives:

Find the right listing price (whether they're selling the home on their own or using an agent)
To challenge a TX property tax assessment
Remove PMI to cut a monthly mortgage payment
Reinstate your Home Equity Line of Credit (or HELOC)
Verify another appraiser's report
In the case of a TX divorce, when real estate property needs to be divided
To determine the true market value of real estate in question to settle an estate in Travis County or the state of TX

Do you own a home in or near Austin? Do you need help determining the value of your real estate?
Contact Doug Rives.

At Doug Rives, we understand the individual needs of a consumer in need of 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.

For Sale By Owner/Pre-Listing Services

It's very hard to be objective about your home because you probably have an emotional attachment to it. The professional appraisers at Doug Rives will tell you what you need to know -- not just what you want to hear. We are objective. In addition to helping you set a realistic selling price so your home will attract many interested buyers, a professional appraisal is a very valuable negotiating tool once you have an interested buyer. The appraisal is something concrete to show the buyer. The appraisal is an independent third party's opinion of your house's price, not just you saying how much you think your house is worth. Interested buyers assume that you have an emotional attachment to your home and will be far more likely to give credibility to an accomplished appraiser's value opinion than yours.

Need to cancel PMI?

An attractive way to save money for homeowners is getting the PMI removed from their mortgage loan, thus saving them money on their monthly payments. PMI stands for "Private Mortgage Insurance". Once your mortgage loan amount is less than 80% of the value of your home, in most cases you can apply to a lender to have the PMI canceled from your loan, which will make your monthly payments go down. At Doug Rives, we're experts in helping customers just like you delete unwanted PMI insurance.

Challenge Tax Assessment

Lets say you live in an area that's going down -- your local tax assessor may have your home overvalued. This only means you are probably paying higher taxes than you should be paying. Since your property assessment may likely go up again in the next period, the earlier you take care of a matter like this, the better off you'll be. Getting an expert appraisal from Doug Rives is your number one weapon when contesting your property tax assessment.

Recently got a freeze your HELOC?

Even if your specific property has not declined in value, your lender may just choose to automatically freeze your home equity line of credit (HELOC) if your property is in or near a declining area. This can be be negative on your credit score since it may appear as though that credit line is maxed out, and also difficult from a cash flow viewpoint. Doug Rives can help you reinstate your home equity line of credit with a professional appraisal.

Do You Need Field and Desktop Appraisal Review Services?

Do you need a seasoned appraiser to double-check your appraisal for efficiency, or do you desire a second opinion without the expense and delay of waiting for a whole new appraisal? Doug Rives offers field reviews where we go out and check the subject and comps. If you're in a rush, 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? Doug Rives can help you with that. While typically requested by banks, you may want to exploit this service if you suspect mortgage fraud related to your house.