Comments on: The Appraisal System Blows. Especially Non-Local Appraisers.

By: Mark Ziegler

Mark Ziegler — Mon, 24 May 2010 23:23:02 +0000

I have to go along with Mr. Glesser above. And I could also personally address each post, but in the interest of time…
I too cover a considerable territory (18 counties in eastern Wisconsin), so it could be said I’m not necessarily local. However, every time I get called on this, and especially in cases of expert witness testimony, people are shocked that I’ve comp-leted more reports in that area than the “locals”. What it boils down to Jurisdictional Competency and Professionalism, which goes for everyone in this industry. “Realtor” and agent bashing would be easy, which is why I quit doing that 30 years ago. Almost every negative instance described herein reeks of incompetancy, not location. And while no self-respecting appraiser should be asking for your comps, no one says you can’t provide what you use for your CMA’s for consideration. While I don’t agree with most of the HVCC, I’ve been working with some AMC’s for 15 years and have no problem with them at all (BTW, they aren’t bank-owned). And while I’m ripping, on a percentage basis, I’ve done reviews on reports just as bad if not worse than beginner’s from Appraisal Institute members. This mess isn’t going away anytime soon, so I recommend, regardless of distance, get a competent and ethical professional appraiser regardless of where they drive from. And by the way, if they are, they fully understand statistical analysis and the direction of the market, be that up or down. Best Wishes!

By: Christina

Christina — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 23:32:20 +0000

Well I received a low fha appraisal because the Appraiser had lived in the are over 30 years ago, raised his family and said that side of the street has always been less money those people never took care of their houses, since 1960s! It’s 2010 – the market has changed, investors are moving in, rehabbing properties and the value have increased. Appraiser won’t budge but did admit that maybe he knows too much about the area – so getting a local appraiser is not always a good thing. Also, he compared our property to short sales, foreclosures and properties that had not be touched for over 50 years. These Appraiser are ridiculous and just right down whatever value they think is correct regardless of the most recent comps.

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 17:47:03 +0000

Accomodating the 3% buyers got us into this mess (the problem). Nobody putting 3% down should be buying a property with money that is not priced for risk being taken. Credit, Capacity and full proof of Collateral are the tenants of a worthly banking system and a stable housing market. It is still taking too long for the correction to happen.

Time will demonstrate for all the impact of the greed and the self-serving corruption I still see in the WashDC Metro RE market. We are finally seeing the REOs and the short sales, but many of the listings are ridden already with abuse and the telling signs of the next wave of fraud (i.e. Professional negotiators, Seller chooses settlement, etc.)

By: Frank

Frank — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 02:11:05 +0000

I am a Real Estate Appraiser for over 20 years. To say we (Appraisers) are getting screwed is an understatement. Look at what my 20+ years of honesty has gotten me. I dont necessarily agree with the guy crashing his plane into the IRS building but I see his point. Our government has hands in everything. We have lost our freedom in this country. If you dont see it you are blind. Whenever a politician opens his/her mouth it a lie.

By: FranklyRealty.com

FranklyRealty.com — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 15:54:25 +0000

By the way, the lender was Chevy Chase.

I think I want to make a list of lenders that do NOT use AMCs (the 3rd party funneling companies) since those appraisers get $100 out of the $425 and tend to be much worse.

Maybe even put that into the contract. No AMC appraisers.

Frank

By: Mark Konar

Mark Konar — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 04:33:03 +0000

The only thing AMC are interested in is profit. Please see First Americans webite post for a appraiser ordering position

This is on the First America’s web site. This tells yet another side of the story. The cheepest appraisers are not the best. But this is what you get with most AMC’s

Appraisal Coordinator, in Bloomington, MN – First America

• Fees – Products have a standard flat fee regardless of what state the property is located in on all properties up to 1 million dollar or 1.5 million dollars dependent on business line. For this reason it is important for PAs to attempt to place the order to an appraiser with the lowest fee to maintain our profitability. On orders over 1 million dollars the PA is to obtain 3 fee quotes from 3 different offices before assigning the order. In situations where we must use a one time vendor or fee appraiser the PA will need to check as many options as possible to obtain the lowest fee.

By: The Ten Best Articles in RE.net This Week: Feb. 6, 2010 Edition

The Ten Best Articles in RE.net This Week: Feb. 6, 2010 Edition — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 17:04:53 +0000

[...] 2) The Appraisal System Blows. Especially Non-Local Appraisers. – HVCC has been one of my most talked about items over the last 7-8 months. Even in a market that has been having slow appreciation they are still valuing at declining prices. [...]

By: Tchaka Owen

Tchaka Owen — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 17:28:16 +0000

Frank, let’s get something straight….Country Club Hills is the best most expensive and nicest part of Arlington. >:-)

The very first HVCC appraisal I requested was for a refinance in Arlington Village on a place I expected to be valued around $290-295k. It came back just over $260k. I immediately looked up the appraiser and his firm was located in SW Virginia (makes Purceville look like next door). It is possible that the appraiser lives in Northern Virgina and works for a firm 250 miles away, but not very likely. What was clear is that he didn’t know Arlington at all!

I like Paul’s advice and would like to add that when I order an appraisal, I put a request in the system that the appraiser be local.

Touching on Venturion’s comment above, what I also don’t like is that the dispute process for an appraiser is unnecesarily long and as you mention, there’s no accountability. I had an appraisal come in low on an Oakton property and my dispute resolution didn’t get anywhere – even though I pointed out areas of concern in the appraisal. Maybe appraisers don’t realize some of us know how to read them properly.

I look forward to the demise of HVCC. Thanks for the blog.

By: Venturion

Venturion — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 14:47:14 +0000

I here everyone giving 1 or 2 examples of problems with out-of-area appraisers. How about local appraisers? I had one visit in December and another one visit in January. Both were local and their estimates differed by $25K on a $3xxK property. In my opinion, both had serious flaws in their selection of comps.

My point? Professionalism and standards are a problem for every participant in this industry regardless of (relative) location.

By: Ruthmarie Hicks

Ruthmarie Hicks — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 06:39:14 +0000

This is crazy. I just had two appraisals come through. Fortunately, both were in the black BUT – the one that should have been well under the wire – made it by $500. Another appraisal that I didn’t expect to work and was holding my breath – came through with room to spare. I have NO idea what these appraisers were thinking. Neither made any sense given the current inventory and what has actually sold.

Many of these people are not local and have no idea what these homes are worth. But the appraisals are in large part useless for determining the value of the home or what a buyer is willing to pay.

Btw, this is an example of WHY real estate is truly a LOCAL business. There was an blog yesterday trying to justify listing and selling homes all over creation. It just doesn’t work because the nuances of neighborhoods require boots on the ground and familiarity with the area.