Cook County Gets Praise
There’s always more information than I can include in a my column. Appraiser Tim McCarthy and I also discussed software companies that marry public data, digital photography and an appraiser. And then we started discussing the Cook County Assessor’s website.
“The Cook County Assessor I voted for just because I love his website, “ McCarthy says. “You can do comparable searches and so much else. Cook County has some of the great sites in the country. Our recorder has a great site. You can find out anything that happened to any property there. The City of Chicago Zoning site is good, too.”
It’s heartening that Cook County has finally come onto its own with public online data access.
McCarthy also offered these suggestions for those getting appraisals.
1) You are entitled to get a copy of your appraisal.
2) Point out any errors you see in it.
3) The average fee for a first-mortgage appraisal is somewhere between $200 and $250
4) If your lender says go get an appraiser, get a new lender.
5) If you are going to a lender to get a loan, you want a certified appraiser, not a trainee.
6) Hire an appraiser who has an errors and omissions insurance policy.
7)McCarthy really does have an extensive set of useful links.
