Appraiser independence

[KiKki]

Hello,
first of all, excuse me if I am erratic in my post I am a little bit upset.
I would like your input in this matter; I did an appraisal for a purchase. The buyer, told me the day of the inspection, is a Certified General for many years. The appraised value came less than 4% below the contract price. This morning the buyer (CG) sent me a threatening e-mail complaining about the low value. I contacted the AMC, they haven't responded yet, I didn't reply to the buyer directly. I need some input because I honestly feel threatened and I think I won't be able to complete a reconsideration of value if requested. I think I should report him for coercion. I have had a few upset borrowers before but no one was a Certified General. I have done very complete recosiderations of value when requested. I try to be honest, accurate and professional all the time. This job is a very important source of income for my family. But this time I feel the buyer should have known better and these actions made me feel I am not independent anymore to keep working on this appraisal. I don't wont to report to any agency because as I said before I need this job and I can't be distracted with a dispute. Is there any way I can request to be released from the assignment? Never heard of that but that is what I want. Thanks in advance for your kind responses.

 

[J Grant]

He (or she) sounds like a complete a**. Not all of them, but some cert gens are incredibly arrogant ( why, they are just appraisers....)/ The ONLY time I got a board complaint was from a cert gent whose report I reviewed - I found some issues with it and he went nuts, filed a board complaint that was dismissed but still was nerve wracking to respond to.

That said, he was just blowing hot air, and this cert gen whose house you appraised should know better than to call and threaten you. Keep your cool, treat him as you would any other borrower - ignore or send a one sentence email that he should direct any inquires to the lender. If you get an ROV , just respond to it professionally. If you need help responding to the ROV feel free to email me. Good luck, they are in the wrong with their behavior.

 

[J Grant]

Don't ask to be released from assignment because that can make you lose your client. Just ride it out, if they ask for an ROV respond professionally, this too shall pass.

 

[KiKki]

Don't ask to be released from assignment because that can make you lose your client. Just ride it out, if they ask for an ROV respond professionally, this too shall pass.

Thanks for your encouraging response. I will ride it out. Thanks!

 

[J Grant]

save and print in case need it their email-.how dumb was that to send a threat in an email that leaves a record...

 

[glenn walker]

Hello,
first of all, excuse me if I am erratic in my post I am a little bit upset.
I would like your input in this matter; I did an appraisal for a purchase. The buyer, told me the day of the inspection, is a Certified General for many years. The appraised value came less than 4% below the contract price. This morning the buyer (CG) sent me a threatening e-mail complaining about the low value. I contacted the AMC, they haven't responded yet, I didn't reply to the buyer directly. I need some input because I honestly feel threatened and I think I won't be able to complete a reconsideration of value if requested. I think I should report him for coercion. I have had a few upset borrowers before but no one was a Certified General. I have done very complete recosiderations of value when requested. I try to be honest, accurate and professional all the time. This job is a very important source of income for my family. But this time I feel the buyer should have known better and these actions made me feel I am not independent anymore to keep working on this appraisal. I don't wont to report to any agency because as I said before I need this job and I can't be distracted with a dispute. Is there any way I can request to be released from the assignment? Never heard of that but that is what I want. Thanks in advance for your kind responses.

Nobody is independent that is a buzzword propagated by many. 35 years of pressure- buyer seller pressure so just relax- If your value is solid stand on it - if someone brings in additional comps or things you may have missed look at it and re-evaluate- A 4% is a small percentage unless you are in high cost area and even then I use 5% as being too good for me to nail down.. Remember nobody is going to fall on a sword for you. WHATS interesting is the BUYER is a CG -so he/she understands values ? WAS the contract price supported by your adjusted sales comparables ? anyway you cannot get a little bit pregnant and you now own the appraisal so just relax and calm down and deal with it on Monday.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

If a person lets you know they are an appraiser, it is a great time to go back to the office and say you cannot complete the report and let them get someone else. Risk risk risk...I would tell the AMC the conversation and do not take any calls from the appraiser...let them text you or email you. You have the email. It is a direct threat. Keep it and include it in the ROV if you get one.

 

[glenn walker]

Other appraisers are the-worst- How many threads on the forum over the years have we seen where an-appraiser is doing a refinance or purchase and even when the poor dunderhead hits their SC they ***** and Moan and then even review the guy/gals report looking for some error or mistake, I have no problem because I take an-open minded position, did I miss something ?or did he/she have a valid point ? if so I will have no problem with a ROV. If I know for a fact I am in the zone then I just sit back and say- I did the best I could so sue me. Anyway we are jumping to conclusions because we don' have all the facts. For me its no big deal usally two days later things calm down and often we can meet in the middle LOL

 

[George Hatch]

As a purely practical and self-serving matter.....

Whether the borrower is an appraiser or not, any time you're coming in lower than the contract price on a sale that was exposed through the MLS then you need to go on offense. Not only do you need to demonstrate why you concluded to less than 4% of the contract price, but you actually need to demonstrate why the contract price cannot be considered a reasonable expression of market value as defined. Why the contract price is obviously outweighed by the comparable sales.

You're not going into double overtime in order to protect your client's interests so much as to protect your own. You never want to knowingly expose yourself to an ROV without doing everything you possibly can to sell your opinion to your reader. You want to give your reader everything it takes to trust your opinions above any and all contrary opinions. You want to be more informed about all the relevant sales data than even the brokers.

Whenever you run into one of these situations you need to recognize that you are entering Thunderdome and you need to act accordingly. And you need to do it in your original report. You need to crush all hopes anyone else might have toward getting a different outcome. You need to deny anyone the opportunity to even suggest that you somehow missed something. Truly, you need to be right to begin with.

 

[J Grant]

A general observation- an irritating aspect - the appraiser is not telling the buyer what to pay and the appraiser is not stopping the borrower from paying the contract price - all the buyer has to do is put down the difference in cash. Isn't it amazing then, that the buyer is happy to use the lender's $, but not their own to get to a sales price. The reality is, a buyer when they apply for financing runs risk of not getting the LTV from appraisal. Boo hoo. buyer...bring the difference in $ of your own funds and feel free to pay whatever price you want.