Most sellers hire a Realtor and hope the price is right. Mike Berg doesn't guess — he appraises. With 14 years as a former licensed real estate appraiser before becoming a full-time Realtor, Mike brings a level of pricing precision to every listing that virtually no other agent in DuPage County can offer.
Request Your Free ValuationMost people have heard the word "appraisal" — but few understand what it actually involves. A real estate appraisal is a formal, data-driven determination of market value produced by a state-licensed professional. It is not an opinion, a guess, or a market report. It is a defensible, documented analysis that banks, courts, estate attorneys, and the IRS rely on when real money is on the line.
Becoming a licensed appraiser requires completing separate education, serving a supervised apprenticeship under a certified appraiser, and passing a state licensing exam — entirely independent of a real estate sales license. The two credentials are completely separate. Most Realtors have never been through this process. Mike Berg has — and spent 14 years practicing it before transitioning to full-time real estate sales.
The core of every appraisal is the comparable sales analysis — a disciplined review of recent closed sales of similar properties. An appraiser does not simply find three nearby sales and average them. The process is far more rigorous: the appraiser identifies sales that are better than, similar to, and worse than the subject property, then makes precise dollar adjustments for every meaningful difference.
Those adjustments account for location (street, subdivision, proximity to amenities or negatives), size (square footage, lot size), condition (updated vs. deferred maintenance), and amenities (garage configuration, basement finish, pool, fireplace, and dozens of other variables). Every adjustment must be supported by market data — not intuition.
The result is a value conclusion that a bank will stake a mortgage on. That is the standard Mike applies to every listing he prices.
In Illinois real estate appraisal, only above-grade (above ground level) square footage is counted in the primary gross living area calculation. A finished basement — even a high-quality, fully finished walkout with a full bathroom — is valued separately and at a meaningfully lower per-square-foot rate than above-grade space. This means two homes with identical total finished square footage can have significantly different appraised values depending on how much of that space is above grade versus below grade. Online estimates and inexperienced agents routinely miss this distinction. Mike does not.
The moment you accept an offer on your home, a clock starts. The buyer's lender will order an independent appraisal — and if that appraisal comes in below the contract price, the deal is in jeopardy. The buyer may not be able to get financing at the agreed price. You may be forced to renegotiate, reduce your price, or watch the transaction fall apart entirely. This scenario is far more common than most sellers realize — and it is almost entirely preventable with the right pricing strategy from the start.
Appraisal expertise is not an abstract credential — it has a measurable dollar value in real transactions. Here are two examples of how that knowledge has protected sellers' net proceeds.
Not all appraisers are equally familiar with every market. An appraiser who is not deeply knowledgeable about a specific neighborhood may pull comparable sales that are not truly relevant — from a different subdivision, a different school district, or a different price tier. Those mismatched comparables can push a home's appraised value significantly below what the market would actually support. Most sellers — and most Realtors — would never catch this. Mike reads every appraisal and knows exactly what to look for. When an appraiser's comparable selection is flawed, he can identify it, document the correct comparables, and work with the lender to challenge the value — a process called a reconsideration of value. This is a skill virtually no other agent in the Western Suburbs can offer.
The appraisal advantage does not only benefit sellers. Buyers working with Mike Berg know they are not overpaying — because he can identify when a listing is priced above what a bank will lend against before an offer is ever made.
When a buyer finds a home they like, the next step is research — not assumption. Even after seeing dozens of similar homes, you cannot simply assume a home is priced correctly without doing the analysis. Mike approaches every buyer transaction the same way he approaches an appraisal: pulling the relevant comparable sales, making the appropriate adjustments, and arriving at a defensible value conclusion. If the asking price is above that number, the buyer knows before they are committed. If it is in line with the market, the buyer can move forward with confidence.
In a market where buyers are competing for limited inventory, knowing the true value of a home — not just the asking price — is one of the most powerful advantages a buyer can have.
Mike Berg's dual background as a licensed appraiser and a top-producing Realtor is not a marketing tagline — it is a combination of credentials that took decades to build and that virtually no other active agent in DuPage County can match.
Markets served:
A Realtor is a licensed real estate agent who represents buyers and sellers in transactions. A licensed appraiser is a separately credentialed professional who performs formal, data-driven determinations of market value — used by banks, courts, and estate attorneys. Appraisers are trained to analyze comparable sales, make precise adjustments for differences in size, condition, location, and amenities, and produce defensible valuations that meet lender standards. Most Realtors have no formal appraisal training. Mike Berg holds both credentials — 14 years as a licensed appraiser and 22+ years as a Realtor.
Yes, but it is extremely rare. Becoming a licensed appraiser requires separate education, a supervised apprenticeship, and a state licensing exam — entirely independent of the real estate sales license. In DuPage County and the Western Suburbs of Chicago, Mike Berg is among the very few active Realtors who also holds formal appraisal credentials, giving him a pricing precision advantage that virtually no other agent in the market can offer.
Because the bank will send its own appraiser after you accept an offer — and if that appraisal comes in below the contract price, the deal can fall apart. A Realtor with appraisal training knows exactly how the bank's appraiser will evaluate your home, which comparable sales they will use, and where the defensible ceiling of value is. This means your home gets priced to attract offers AND survive the appraisal — protecting your net proceeds from last-minute renegotiations or deal collapses.
In Illinois real estate appraisal, only above-grade (above ground level) square footage is counted in the primary gross living area calculation. Finished basements — even high-quality, fully finished walkout basements with bathrooms — are valued separately and at a lower per-square-foot rate than above-grade space. This means two homes with the same total finished square footage can have meaningfully different appraised values depending on how much of that space is above grade versus below grade. Online estimates and many agents routinely miss this distinction. Understanding it is essential to accurate pricing.
A reconsideration of value is a formal request submitted to a lender asking the appraiser to review their value conclusion in light of additional information — typically better comparable sales that the appraiser overlooked or excluded. This process is available when an appraisal comes in below the contract price and there is legitimate evidence that the appraiser's comparable selection was flawed. Most agents do not know how to identify flawed comparable selection or how to build a reconsideration request. Because Mike has worked as an appraiser himself, he knows exactly what to look for and how to make a compelling, data-supported case — giving his clients a meaningful advantage when a low appraisal threatens a transaction.
If you're thinking about selling your home in Willowbrook or the Western Suburbs, you deserve a price that is built on the same foundation a bank appraiser uses — not an algorithm, not a gut feeling, and not a number designed to win your listing. Request your free valuation from the only appraiser-Realtor in the market.
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