Add another one to the list.
Item: Home Appraisal
Cost: $300
Why: You go to a banker and say, "I'd like to borrow, let's say $100K, for this house I just made an offer to buy". Now, unless you've got a horrible credit rating or some other bad deeds in your past, the banker will jump all over you and try to work out a deal to lend you the money. Very early in that process, probably after a quick credit check, is the ordering of an appraisal on the home in question. This basically is just so the banker knows that you're not trying to borrow the $100K to pay for a house that's worth $75K. In fact, they'll want to see an LTV (that's Loan To Value ratio) somewhere around 80%. So the banker calls up his buddy, who does a quick search of home prices in the neighborhood, maybe drives by and takes a picture, and then types up a report that says the house is worth some value that's equal to, or slightly higher, than the value you agreed to purchase it for. He then charges the banker $300 for this 'service', which of course is then charged directly to you.
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