Mortgage financing & refinancing
A lender lends against the value, not the price, so the report has to stand up to the lender’s reviewer. That is what a financing appraisal is for: current market value, documented well enough that the person approving your file can rely on it.
- Date of value
- Current
- Relied on by
- Your lender or broker
- Service area
- Calgary & area, Red Deer to Lethbridge
What to know before ordering
Ask your lender first
Many lenders order the appraisal themselves or through an appraisal management company, and some only accept reports they ordered. One call to your broker before ordering avoids paying twice.
Equity is the whole question
For a refinance or to remove default insurance, the report shows whether the equity is really there. Renovations count only as the market prices them, which is not always what they cost.
Written for the reviewer
Intended user, scope and effective date are stated inside the report. A financing report cannot be reused later for a divorce or an estate; the purpose is baked in.
Every RAM report is prepared to CUSPAP by a Candidate Member of the Appraisal Institute of Canada and co-signed by a designated CRA member who takes professional responsibility for it, covered by AIC’s mandatory professional liability insurance program. The fee and scope are confirmed in writing before any work begins.
How it runs, start to finish
- Stage 01
Order placed
You send the address, the purpose, and the deadline. We confirm scope and fee before any work starts. No surprise invoices.
- Stage 02
Site inspection
Every room inspected, every improvement photographed. Condition and quality rated against the standard your intended user requires.
- Stage 03
Market research
Closed sales, not asking prices, confirmed through MLS records and available data sources. We track how the market has moved since each one sold: sometimes sharply in weeks, sometimes not at all for months.
- Stage 04
Analysis
Every difference priced: size, age, condition, location, and time. If the market moved between a sale and our effective date, the sale is adjusted by what the data shows, not a rule of thumb.
- Stage 05
Report delivered
A signed report, prepared to CUSPAP, in your inbox, with the reasoning laid out well enough to survive review.