value is not necessarily what you believe your home is worth. Recognizing this helps avoid overpricing, a major factor that leaves homes languishing or unsold. Familiarity with the real estate terms market value, appraisal value, and assessed value can save disappointment and frustration, and allow the home seller to more meaningfully engage in setting a home’s listing price. The most-used definition of market value is “the most probable price a property should bring in a competitive, open market under conditions requisite to a fair sale.” Essentially, this is a pre- negotiation opinion of what a house should bring in its local market, i.e., its geographical area, generally an area such as a suburb, inner city, or small pocket community. Appraisal value is an evaluation of a property’s worth at a given point in time that is performed by a professional appraiser. Appraised value is a crucial factor in loan underwriting and determines how much money may be borrowed and under what terms. For example, the Loan-to Value (LTV) ratio is based on the appraised value. Buyers with a down payment of at least 5% of the purchase price but less than 20% must be backed by mortgage insurance such as CMHC. This protects the lender in the event that the home buyer defaults. These loans are known as “high LTV” or “high ratio” mortgages. In situations in which the buyer has 20% or more for a down payment, the lender or borrower could obtain “low-ratio” insurance that covers 100% of the loan in the event of a default. Mortgage insurance is backed by the Canadian government through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). (Globe and Mail, 2016; updated 2017)
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