Bogus home appraisal

[Wolf359]

Maybe as a woman she felt uncomfortable with you ?
l‘m not saying you’re a creep...... but she really doesn’t know you.

Bad vibe / episode of Forensic Files flashes into her head going into dark basement of foreclosed house with you.... ?

I‘m sure you’re a decent guy.

Well I am a real estate broker so they meet with brokers all the time and it's on their calendar so it's not like she could just disappear without anyone knowing what happened to her. We are licensed by the state so having a criminal background could be grounds for denial of a license.

That would be more likely if the client is meeting with you for the first time.

I think she was just afraid to go into a dark basement with cobwebs and a dirt floor.

 

[Tjbouwhu]

With the super low interest rates, I decided to refinance my home mortgage. Company has been great and the rate is low.


Last week the appraiser came out and looked the house over. Got the appraisal yesterday. It was MUCH lower than I anticipated. We had paid the house down quite a bit, so it was kind of a moot point as the amount financed is much lower than the bogus appraisal.


My house is less than three years old. Notable items in the appraisal:


He had the house at 2200 Square foot. It's over 2600.


Had garage as a two car. It's a four car.


Had one fireplace. We have two.


Has it as three bedrooms, we have four.


Appraised pool at 20k. It is a high end pool, from a very respected pool builder, and needless to say it was quite a bit more than 20k installed two years ago.


If I put the house up for sale at the appraised price, it would sell immediately.


Thoughts?

This is interesting, the exact same thing happened to us a couple of moths ago!

We have bought and sold eight houses over the years, and the recent appraisal was an absolute joke this time...as you pointed out they missed basic stuff, and the cost was double what the bank quoted. The guy was here for literally 20 minutes.

 

[Wolf359]

This is interesting, the exact same thing happened to us a couple of moths ago!

We have bought and sold eight houses over the years, and the recent appraisal was an absolute joke this time...as you pointed out they missed basic stuff, and the cost was double what the bank quoted. The guy was here for literally 20 minutes.

You got a slow poke, normally they're there for 10-15 minutes. That's all it takes, they usually put the report together later. Usually all they really need is the purchase and sale agreement or the refi paperwork. They're just there to make sure it really exists and that it's not just a hole in the ground.

 

[SevenBizzos]

A refinance appraisal will have absolutely zero bearing on value for property taxes.

The ONLY reason to have it redone is if you want a higher valuation so you can pull more equity out of the house, such as for investing.

Not according to my own assessor's office. He wrote a paragraph on how to use an appraisal during an appeal. So I dunno

 

[Hall]

Not according to my own assessor's office. He wrote a paragraph on how to use an appraisal during an appeal. So I dunno

Here, the county auditor records sale prices and knows the property's details and use that to determine property value. If a homeowner refinances, that isn't reflected in the property's tax value (nor is the appraisal). The property record for our house includes all of this information:

Exterior Wall Material
Building Style
Number of Stories
Year Built
Total Rms/Bedrms/Baths/Half Baths
Square Feet of Living Area
Finished Basemt Living Area (Sq. Ft.)
Rec Room (Sq. Ft.)
Total Square Footage
Basement
Central Heat/Air Cond
Heating System Type
Heating Fuel Type
Number of Fireplaces(Masonry)
Number of Fireplaces(Prefab)

That information will almost never change unless we do remodeling or renovation and pull permits. The permits come from the city too, not the county, and I don't know if they pass the information on to the county agency. If I finished the basement, add a bedroom and bathroom down there, they'd never know. They do do drive-by "appraisals" every so many years so yeah, they could "see" that we added a floor or changed the siding to brick.

 

[Leo99]

Not according to my own assessor's office. He wrote a paragraph on how to use an appraisal during an appeal. So I dunno

An appraisal that is clearly incorrect isn't going to hold much sway should you appeal your assessment.

 

[HonorAndHonesty]

So if the appraisal is less than your assessed value can you use the low appraisal to appeal your property tax assessment?

 

[Hall]

So if the appraisal is less than your assessed value can you use the low appraisal to appeal your property tax assessment?

No, your local taxing agency doesn't give a rodent's rear about an appraisal done for re-financing.

 

[ZeeOSix]

Where did they find that house appraiser - in some back alley in a cardboard box, or in a van down by the river?

 

[Skippy722]

My parents ran into an issue like that.... the appraiser they sent was from a “higher end” housing area sent to pretty rural area and grossly undervalued their home, even the bank was like “Yeah that isn’t right at all.” Sent another one more familiar with the area and that came back right in line with what the house was actually worth. He also spent more than 10 minutes looking at the house and property.

When we sold our first house both the appraiser and FHA inspector spent about 5 minutes at the house. We weren’t home (saw it on the ring camera) for either, but of course the house appraised for exactly what the buyer offered and no issues from the FHA guy.

 

[dlundblad]

With the super low interest rates, I decided to refinance my home mortgage. Company has been great and the rate is low.


Last week the appraiser came out and looked the house over. Got the appraisal yesterday. It was MUCH lower than I anticipated. We had paid the house down quite a bit, so it was kind of a moot point as the amount financed is much lower than the bogus appraisal.


My house is less than three years old. Notable items in the appraisal:


He had the house at 2200 Square foot. It's over 2600.


Had garage as a two car. It's a four car.


Had one fireplace. We have two.


Has it as three bedrooms, we have four.


Appraised pool at 20k. It is a high end pool, from a very respected pool builder, and needless to say it was quite a bit more than 20k installed two years ago.


If I put the house up for sale at the appraised price, it would sell immediately.


Thoughts?

Very insulting. The guy sounds oblivious... listed as a 2 car garage vs a 4... I realize this is BITOG, but people do look at that sort of thing.

Meanwhile, our appraisal gent is known to be extremely generous.

 

[callbay]

I believe that you should report the mistakes to the appraisers company and to the appraisal board of your state. The next appraisal this person makes mistakes on might be very important to the people needing their appraisal done accurately. These people keep getting away with this kind of thing and keep hurting peoples lives because people don't report their incompetence. Incompetence is rampant in the appraisal industry.

If anyone out there gets an incompetent appraisal, get a second one or even a third. You will find they are often vastly different.

 

[Wolf359]

I believe that you should report the mistakes to the appraisers company and to the appraisal board of your state. The next appraisal this person makes mistakes on might be very important to the people needing their appraisal done accurately. These people keep getting away with this kind of thing and keep hurting peoples lives because people don't report their incompetence. Incompetence is rampant in the appraisal industry.

If anyone out there gets an incompetent appraisal, get a second one or even a third. You will find they are often vastly different.

This is like reporting a driver that strays outside of their lane. Has no impact on the refi and the banks bid it out to the lowest bidder. They are low bidders for a reason. As long as they hit the numbers everyone should be happy. Except the home owner who for some reason thought they were going to get a "real" appraisal, whatever that means.

 

[Donald]

Use it to lower your property taxes if possible.

 

[Slick3914]

An Appraiser has to be licensed....file a complaint with the licensing agency. After you give them a chance to correct the errors.

 

[JHZR2]

Compare that information with your auditor's estimation. That appraisal could mean lower property taxes on the next valuation.

I’d be concerned if the appraisal doesn’t match the tax assessor’s info, that OP could be held liable for back taxes at some point.

 

[FADEC]

The refinancing has gone through and were done with it. Appraisal was a joke, but we're happy with the 1.85% interest rate.

 

[Wolf359]

I’d be concerned if the appraisal doesn’t match the tax assessor’s info, that OP could be held liable for back taxes at some point.

I highly doubt that. If it's too low, you can file for an abatement and use the appraisal for that. If it's too high, well, that's a mistake by the tax assessor's office. They can't retroactively increase your taxes. You always get a chance to appeal their assessment.

 

[JHZR2]

I highly doubt that. If it's too low, you can file for an abatement and use the appraisal for that. If it's too high, well, that's a mistake by the tax assessor's office. They can't retroactively increase your taxes. You always get a chance to appeal their assessment.

My understanding was that tax assessors did their assessment based upon what the house is... so how many beds/baths, fireplaces, amenities, etc. Thats why when one puts on an extension, for example, taxes go up.

So the assessor has some data. IF (amd I think it’s an if) a new assessment is created, based upon misinformation, that’s fraudulent. Especially if OP provides it knowingly. And especially if the records show that the house is one thing, then the assessment says it’s something less (in terms of what the house IS, not what anyone says it is worth), and then taxes are reduced based upon that.

Simple hypothetical scenario:

Assessor records have house on half an acre, four beds, three baths, a fireplace, two car garage, and valued at $100k.
Updated mortgage assessment shows house on .4 acre, three beds, two baths, no fireplace and one car garage. Different comps, or algorithm assesses that house, a far different house, at $85k. Taxes are adjusted downward based upon that. It’s fraudulent.

We’re not talking disagreement on comps or valuation on a, apples-to-apples comparison of homes. We’re talking about changing taxes on an apples to oranges assessment that OP knows is wrong.

The big IF is still IF the taxes will/would/could be adjusted based upon this assessment. If the answer is no, all of this is moot.

 

[SeaJay]

# of bedrooms needs to meet the legal requirements of the locality. Often there needs to be a closet and a window, otherwise it is just a den.