Most sellers depend on their realtor to provide a market analysis and idea for an asking price before listing their home on the MLS, but is there any benefit to getting an appraisal completed before putting a house on the market? Many sellers prefer to wait and have the buyer foot the bill for an appraisal as they are required by most lenders to do and most appraisals must be completed by random third party associates.  Pre-home-sale appraisal? If you can afford it; do it.

Many experienced realtors will recommend a current appraisal at the start of the selling process. They will usually have a professional home appraiser to recommend as well.  Getting an appraisal provides an unbiased and equally informed opinion about the "retail" value of your property.  A professional appraiser has tools and information available to them that enables them to give you an accurate estimate of what your home is worth. 
A home appraisal will help to ease doubts you may have in selling your home. Remember when you decided to hire your realtor you got a representative for your home who would know how to market your home to prospective buyers? By getting an appraisal done before you place your house on the market, you are hiring someone who has no binding interest in the property, but can provide a truly unbiased and unemotional number to concentrate on.  An appraisal not only helps you set a price, it is information that prospective buyers will appreciate having as well.

A professionally performed appraisal will get you closer to market value for your home. You don’t want to wait for buyers to tell you what they think your home is worth.  By opting for a professional appraisal you will already know what your home is worth. The money you’ll pay a professional appraisal is small in comparison to the price you’ll get when your home is sold at market value. The thousands you could make on the sale are well worth the few hundred you may have to pay.  That is of course, if you can afford to pay at before the sale. 

With the headaches of selling, buying and moving, it is worth the money you’ll pay a professional appraiser for one less thing on your list to worry about. Pre-sale home appraisals are a requirement, but can often help give your home sale the dollar direction it needs to be a success.