Bogus home appraisal
- Thread starter FADEC
- Start date
You should measure yourself. Square footage is one of those things that vary all the time depending on how the measurements are done. Some just measure from the outside and just do a round estimate and don't do all the corners correctly. Others just do inside measurements. You lose square footage in the walls. I've helped appraisers hold the tape when they did the measurements, some seemed sloppy. They just jotted the numbers down. Maybe mistakes were made later in calculations. As others said, keep a copy of the appraisal, maybe you can use it to lower your tax assessment. It's a double edge sword though, could hurt you when it's time to sell. But if you know in advance and few do, get another appraisal and resubmit that for higher appraised value as some people make offers based on appraised value.
For one of my past refinancings, I received an 'appraisal' that wasn't even worth the paper that it was printed on. What the appraiser (who was a state licensed appraiser) had done, was to compare my house, to houses that he had already appraised in the past. A little cut and paste, and the report was quickly done. The problem was, the comps that he had used were not even comps at all, or some were several miles away. Then, he didn't even make an honest effort to try to adjust the values to make up for it.
He compared my house (that backs up to a open commons area), to a house that was 6 miles away that had about 50 feet of backyard, then an interstate... with no berm, wall, fence or anything. The back property line ran along the ROW for the interstate. You can see right into the backyard of this house, from the interstate. Then, he made $0 value adjustment for it.
There were several glaring mistakes like this. I simply made a photocopy of the appraisal, put a number next to each item (1, 2, 3, 4...), then briefly explained each of the issues on a separate sheet of paper and included a bit of documentation. For this one, I included a brief summary of the issue, and snips of two very self-explanatory images from Google Earth. I then mailed it to the bank who had spent my money on such rubbish.
A few weeks later, I received a check from the bank, refunding the full amount of the appraisal. Since the bank apparently agreed with me with the refund of the appraisal fee, I then filed a complaint with the state agency, against the license of the appraiser.
These banks don't know when these over-priced reports are nothing but a bunch of rubbish, nor do they care. They're just getting them as a third party opinion to cover their butts.
Since then, when I've refinanced and an appraisal is required... I've made it very clear up front that whoever pays for the appraisal gets to pick the appraiser. In this state, they have to be qualified enough to be 'licensed', so there's no reason why the bank should need to object to a report from any state licensed appraiser.
He compared my house (that backs up to a open commons area), to a house that was 6 miles away that had about 50 feet of backyard, then an interstate... with no berm, wall, fence or anything. The back property line ran along the ROW for the interstate. You can see right into the backyard of this house, from the interstate. Then, he made $0 value adjustment for it.
There were several glaring mistakes like this. I simply made a photocopy of the appraisal, put a number next to each item (1, 2, 3, 4...), then briefly explained each of the issues on a separate sheet of paper and included a bit of documentation. For this one, I included a brief summary of the issue, and snips of two very self-explanatory images from Google Earth. I then mailed it to the bank who had spent my money on such rubbish.
A few weeks later, I received a check from the bank, refunding the full amount of the appraisal. Since the bank apparently agreed with me with the refund of the appraisal fee, I then filed a complaint with the state agency, against the license of the appraiser.
These banks don't know when these over-priced reports are nothing but a bunch of rubbish, nor do they care. They're just getting them as a third party opinion to cover their butts.
Since then, when I've refinanced and an appraisal is required... I've made it very clear up front that whoever pays for the appraisal gets to pick the appraiser. In this state, they have to be qualified enough to be 'licensed', so there's no reason why the bank should need to object to a report from any state licensed appraiser.
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Since I built the house, I bought the plans from an architect. So unless the architect was off in their calculations.
Yes, but the appraiser does their own measurements and ends up using those. As I said, they can be sloppy so you always hear of 3 different appraisers make completely different measurements all the time and being off by several hundred square feet all the time.
Call the bank and tell them you want a real appraisal from a competent professional and they can pay for it. Otherwise there are state agencies that will be interested in the banks practices and their use of appraisers and fees/kickback fees.
The city or county knows how many square feet and garage doors you have. They don't care if the bank considers it a safe or unsafe loan. If you brought the appraisal into a tax appeal, it would be laughed out for all the reasons you mentioned. Your house will not "sell" for the appraised value, unless you are borrowing back the entire difference between equity and value.
You really have nothing to lose by demanding a professional job.
You really have nothing to lose by demanding a professional job.
Nothing to gain either, but you will lose your time.
This is weird, most of the appraisals I've seen are for MORE than the appraised value, so that the mortgage company can refi for more money & rake in more $ on closing costs and interest. Makes me think a credit card might be a good way to pay for them, have a little protection that way.
Was the appraisal close enough to the amount owed that you had to end up paying PMI? I think I got screwed by the appraisal when I bought my house a few years back. It was a foreclosure where I got an awesome price on it. If the appraisal would have reflected the "market" value I wouldn't have been paying PMI, but it appraised artificially low where I did have to pay PMI. I think it was intentional.
Appraiser works for the bank, and carry an insurance that if they screw up (bank losing money because it was not really what it is), their insurance will pay the bank.
That's it. They will do the minimal amount of work to get the loan approved, and the bank pays just enough to not lose money on average (so don't expect a very high quality inspection). The most important thing for the data point is the recent transaction price, and it is the right address. Everything else can be picked up on Redfin.
That's it. They will do the minimal amount of work to get the loan approved, and the bank pays just enough to not lose money on average (so don't expect a very high quality inspection). The most important thing for the data point is the recent transaction price, and it is the right address. Everything else can be picked up on Redfin.
The town went through and reassessed everyone here.
Somehow my log went from 40x70 to 50x100, my garage got smaller --- 18x36 to 18x26 (I've honestly never measured) and my house got two years older... 1950 to 1948.
Somehow my log went from 40x70 to 50x100, my garage got smaller --- 18x36 to 18x26 (I've honestly never measured) and my house got two years older... 1950 to 1948.
It bothers me when people do careless, sloppy work. It's not like he got just one thing wrong. Unless there are ZERO comps in your area, he should have used actual sales and listing comps. Appraisers are licensed by your state. Tell your lender that the appraisal was poorly done, and you are considering filing a complaint with the state licensing board, which would reflect poorly on both the lender and the moron appraiser. If you are the one paying for the appraisal, you have a valid beef. Less so if the lender is paying the tab. If my lender accepted a sloppy appraisal, I may look for a new lender.
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If you get the refi then who cares.
With respect to the pool low end vs high end the value add is similar. A pool is a pool in terms of appraisal. In my area pools add no value to home.
With respect to the pool low end vs high end the value add is similar. A pool is a pool in terms of appraisal. In my area pools add no value to home.
Yeah, it can actually be a negative as over 3500 on average drown each year.
Appraisers can be kind of clueless about various things. I told one appraiser the place had a new roof and he had no idea what they cost, I had to tell him how much the new one cost. Had one appraiser who was afraid to go into the basement of a foreclosed property. If she did, she would have seen that the copper was missing.
I would file a tax/assessment appeal immediately if this happened to me. Exciting.
I offered to go in there with her and she declined. Normally appraisers go through all the rooms in the house including the basement.
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.
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.
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