Now in their 13th year the International Property Awards is not just another back scratching industry type ceremony where figures from the world or real estate get together to praise each other and pat each other on the back – the International Property Awards serve an incredibly important function for the likes of you and me who might one day like to own a home abroad, live overseas or dabble in real estate investing overseas.

The awards are sponsored by CNBC for a start which means that they are NOT sponsored by a related company that will at least want a lifetime’s achievement award for services rendered! In addition to this the panel of judges that assess who and which company are excelling and setting the highest standards in the industry are those truly in the know!

The judges are selected for having a deep understanding and awareness of international real estate and the panel of 26 have to determine which companies independently nominated in all categories are truly deserving of these incredibly high and well respected accolades.

The 2007 International Property Award winners have just been announced and chairman of the judging panel Eric Pickles MP, opened by saying “this year, following a rise in the number of entrants and an impressive increase in quality, competition was exceptionally fierce and the judging very close.”

“Okay, okay” I hear you yawn – “but what’s the point of the International Property Awards? What does it all mean for me?”

Well, as stated if you have any interest in the overseas property market then the awards can help you find the very best, most reputable and trustworthy in the international fields of everything from estate agents to property developers, from architects to interior designers!

One of the most hotly contended awards this year was the ‘Best Spanish Property Portal 2007′ – the reason for this is because the Spanish property market is one of the most competitive, over subscribed, in demand and active real estate markets in the whole world and as a result everyone and his cat wants a piece of the action.

There are thousands of Spanish property portals online all claiming to be able to show the surfer where the best properties are – but the winner of this year’s award epitomized everything the International Property Awards stand for.

Simply put the Awards aim to distinguish the highest levels of achievement in a range of property-related fields which is why the company Kyero won out in the most intensely contended category of ‘Best Spanish Property Portal 2007.’ The company was the single company that invested the most effort and resources into producing the ultimate portal for anyone seeking property in Spain.

The presentation dinner for the 2007 awards was attended by 350 representatives from 57 companies, each nominated for an award in their particular field of expertise and Dan McClean, Director of CNBC Europe commented “the winners of this year’s awards represent the leaders in the property industry.”

So, if you want to buy property abroad and you want to know who the best of the best estate agents are, who the best of the best property developers are or which are the best of the best property portals by country…you should really pay attention to the winners of the annual International Property Awards!

When buying a home, it is important that you order an appraisal. This is because real estate appraisers offer reports about the close estimate of a property’s true market value.

When buying a mortgage, a lender will require an estimate of the property’s true market vale. This is where lenders base the amount of money to lend you.

Appraisers
Appraisers are licensed people that will estimate the true market value of the property.
? The lenders might have an appraiser on its staff or contract an independent appraiser. Sometimes, you will be allowed to choose your own appraiser.

It is important that you know what you will see on an appraisal report. An appraisal report should include:

? An evaluation of the overall real estate market in your area.
? It should include details about the property being appraised with evaluation of at least three similar properties.
? An appraiser should include in the report about the issues considered harmful to the property’s value, like; little access to the property, and maintenance problems.
? What type of zoning your property is in?
? An estimate of the average sales time for the property.

When a residential property is appraised, there are two common methods to do this.

One is the sales comparison approach.

In this method, the appraiser will estimate the market value of the property by comparing it to similar properties sold in the same area.

There are usually no properties alike. Therefore, the appraiser looks for recently sold properties with the most similar characteristics and adjusts the subject property to get it inline with the comparable property. The appraisal result would show how much market value of the comparable property if it has the same components of the subject property.

Another method is the cost approach

This method is often used in new properties. This enables the appraiser to know how much money is used to build the house. Since the appraiser knows the cost of building the house, he or she can estimate how much it will cost to replace the structure if it were destroyed.

What importance will the appraisal be for you?

Even if you accomplish personal approval for the loan early, loan institutions can deny you the loan if the appraisal is unsatisfactory for them. This is because loan institutions would not want to risk loaning you money with collateral that has low market value.

Loan institutions would not want a property that is difficult to sell if ever your property has been foreclosed. The accessibility to the property can determine if your property can be sold faster.

In addition, the maintenance issues with your property poses a very important factor in the appraisal. If the building foundation is crumbling, the appraisal will be low.

If the appraisals are low, there are steps you can take to increase the market value of the property to meet the standards of loan institutions.

If you really want the mortgage, you can offer to make larger down payment. In this, you should be sure that you could afford to make larger down payment to make the deal work.

Negotiations with the seller and buyer about the price can make the deal work.

You can also ask the lender for another appraisal, by using a new appraiser or asking the original appraiser to take another look at the property.

Remember that real estate appraisal can determine the outcome of your mortgage application. Consider the condition of the property before you apply for a mortgage.