How do forum members handle this?

[Bearslide]

Ran into another appraiser today. The conversation turned to reviews. She is completing a full field review for the grand sum of $175. (sigh.......)

She proudly proceeded to tell me about all the errors she had caught, but the one that struck me the most was this comment:

"there was no adjustment for the heating type". I asked her what she meant. She said the subject had baseboard electric and 2 of the comps had baseboard hot water and one had radiator hot water. She felt baseboard electric was inferior and nailed the appraisal for not adjusting for that feature.

Added for clarification: there was no central air in either the subject or the comps - all had a type of heat that would require ductwork for cac. Baseboard electric was a hard wired, permanent system.

I asked her what market derived information did she have that indicated a market preference for one type or the other and how she arrived at an adjustment for baseboard electric versus other types of heat.

"well, everyone knows baseboard electric is the cheapest to install so I adjusted for the difference in cost to install - I do it that way all the time"

Ummmm.......ok. That statement tells me she probably does this on all reviews and probably her own appraisals.

Does anyone else here adjust for types of heat? Comments?

 

[CANative]

I usually (not always) adjust for differences in types of heating systems. Wall heaters versus forced air systems - $3,500 to $5,000. Wood heat versus gravity wall furnace - $1,500 or so. Low end system versus hi-tech floor radiant heat in luxury class homes. I don't think I'd adjust for the various types of baseboard heaters.

I doubt if I would make an issue of this in a review unless other factors were involved that made it obvious an appraiser was cooking the appaisal.

 

[Michigan CG]

Well, first of all this "appraiser" is an idiot. First for doing field reviews for $175. Start at $300 and move up.

Secondly, it is obvious she is a "list" appraiser taught to adjust at $30/SF, $1,500 for a fireplace, $1,000 for a fence, land is 20% of the appraised value, etc.

Do I adjust for different heating and or cooling, yes. Is baseboard heating a cheap alternative to forced air, yes. It is my experience that homes with baseboard heating do not have air conditioning and therefore to install AC you have to run duct work which in an existing home would be very challenging and very costly, to the point of being a functionally incurable obsolescence.

I think the problem you have with the person you met is that they were taught that everyone should subscribe to the same list that they do. Most likely their list is not up to date and is the same as it was 5 years ago.

Some people should not be reviewers and some AMCs are garbage for procuring reviews from the clueless.

Why would an AMC order a review without trying to find the most qualified....I remember now....$$$...they are most likely wasting their money on these reviews.

 

[Winston Wolf]

I usually (not always) adjust for differences in types of heating systems. Wall heaters versus forced air systems - $3,500 to $5,000. Wood heat versus gravity wall furnace - $1,500 or so. Low end system versus hi-tech floor radiant heat in luxury class homes. I don't think I'd adjust for the various types of baseboard heaters.

I doubt if I would make an issue of this in a review unless other factors were involved that made it obvious an appraiser was cooking the appaisal.

Yeah, same here. But my adjustment is not as high as yours.

I had my FWA/CAC system (everything but the ducting) replaced in my home for $2,500. I typically adjust about 1,500 for a wall/evap vs. a FWA/CAC unit in my market.

 

[Bearslide]

Please note I added a clarification to my original post. Neither the subject or the comps had cac and all had a type of heat that would require ductwork for cac.

 

[CANative]

Offhand I'd say your adjustment is low. You also have to take profit/incentive for installation into account. But then I don't know what area you're in so I can't say my opinion is very strong. San Diego for instance has very mild weather. Where do you do most of your work?

http://www.costhelper.com/cost/home-garden/central-air-heating.html

 

[Winston Wolf]

Where do you do most of your work?

Inland Empire. Hard to take a 5K adjustment on an 80K bungalow. Know what I mean?

 

[VolcanoLvr]

Uhhhh....where was it mentioned in the OP's post that an AMC was involved?

We as pros should not jump to conclusions unless facts are known.

But it's obvious that the appraiser does not know what she is worth if only accepting $175 for a full field review. Or maybe she does!

One sad problem is the number of appraisers in the country who do these assignments for a pittance. So naturally some clients will offer that lofty sum as slave wages. But 'we' don't have to accept it. $300 should be a bare minimum for a FR.

 

[CANative]

I know exactly what you mean and I would probably make adjustments very similar to yours. I'm 4th generation Inland Empire.

 

[CANative]

I used to do 3 to 5 reviews a week at $400 for Chase, CW and WF. I'll bet I've done at least 400 FR's. Haven't had one in at least a year.

F'ng AMC lowlife $175 appraiesers have killed my business. Review work was kind of enjoyable and interesting. It felt like I was doing something good for someone.