Appraisers know your loan amount?

[load97]

I just had an appraisal done on my home today, and it had me thinking about something from a few years ago. Since the appraiser is contracted by my lender(though I foot the bill), do they know what my appraisal needs to come in at to get the refinance(or a new home purchase for that matter)? I would think they wouldn't(or shouldn't) know, but since it is my lender that hires the person or company it makes me wonder a bit about what goes on "behind the scenes" so to speak.

Iv'e often wondered this since I bought my home a few years ago, and the house appraised at $2500 above the price I bought it for; which I haggled with the bank back and forth because I felt it was worth about 5-10,000 less being a forclosed home with no one living in it for 8-12 previous months, and the prices of homes in the area at that time.

Sometimes I think there is to many fishy appraisers out there; and/or ones pressured to much by lenders etc..

TIA.

 

[Mztk1]

On a refinance the appraiser shouldn't have a target, but that doesn't mean the lender - and often the owner - don't try to give the appraiser one. I do my best to ignore those numbers.

On a sale we have to review the contract to determine if it is a market transaction or not. If we determine the sale reflects market conditions than we are supposed to consider the contract as a pending sale in the analysis.

 

[JonGalt]

I just had an appraisal done on my home today, and it had me thinking about something from a few years ago. Since the appraiser is contracted by my lender(though I foot the bill), do they know what my appraisal needs to come in at to get the refinance(or a new home purchase for that matter)? I would think they wouldn't(or shouldn't) know, but since it is my lender that hires the person or company it makes me wonder a bit about what goes on "behind the scenes" so to speak.

..........Sometimes I think there is to many fishy appraisers out there; and/or ones pressured to much by lenders etc..

TIA.

In my area many appraisers are "owned" by the mortgage "professional" and do as they are told or lose the business. These appraisers are first given a call on the phone and asked what they think the value of your place is, before seeing it. This step is repeated with 5+ different appraisers that are used by that particular lender and the one who promises the highest value gets the assignment. Sometimes the loan officer simply calls his go-to guy and tells them he needs $zzz,zzz to make his deal happen and the appraiser gets it done.

There are also good, honest, ethical appraisers who will evaluate your property, analyze the market, do the research and come back with a solid market based opinion of value. Most of these appraisers can't get lending work as they return a reality based value which may make lenders decide not to do a loan. Many of these ethical appraisers are currently struggling to survive and may soon be out of the business altogether. I've had concerned folks like yourself request that their loan officer use me because they knew I was honest. Each time they were met with different reasons why the loan officer couldn't use me.

If you want some really interesting reading, do a search of the forum for "skippy".

Hope this helps.

 

[Lee Lansford]

...

Sometimes I think there is to many fishy appraisers out there; and/or ones pressured to much by lenders etc..

TIA.

Great minds must think alike because I think the same thing.

 

[JRS at OBX]

Yes, sometimes there are too many fishy appraisers out there.

Most of my appraisal requests do not have the loan amount or the owners estimate of value.

 

[Joker]

It depends on the lender. Some lenders will put the loan amount or estimated value on the order, most of my clients do not. It is of no concern to me as an appraiser what the loan amount is.

In my state, it is illegal to pressure an appraiser to arrive at a predetermined value conclusion. However, a professional appraiser will ignore such pressure. You are right, there are some bad seeds in the industry but we are not all spineless form filling monkeys.

 

[load97]

Well I have a message that my FHA loan appraisal came back at the number I needed it to be. Haven't talked to the banker, give him a call in the morning. MY fiance have done a fair amount of adding/remodeling to the house etc in the last 2.5 years, but with conditions the way they are, I really find it hard to believe that it increased(but I'm glad the loan will go through now). I'll have to look up that "Skippy" thread and see what its all about.

So an appraiser does have knowledge of the pending loan value(pending sale) etc, or is that only if the lender tells hime that to try and sway him?

Thanks for the insight guys. Loan I'm getting in to is an FHA 30 year with a rate(not apr) of 6.375% on $184,000(which with refi fee's added in will be about $189,000).

 

[load97]

I made a more lengthly post, but for some reason internet connection went bad atm. So I'll keep is short. ->Thanks for the insight guys.

I did get the loan( I have to call the bank for the details), but personally I don't think it should have appraised where it did considering my market area, which is more flat than on a down swing. Who know though, I'm no appraiser, just a plumber LOL.

 

[Greg Bell]

Before you trash the appraisal , a review may indicate that it was the greatest opinion of value in the last century.Many factors apply that someone out of the business will not know.Well gotta go ., my sink is leaking .Do I need a spanner wrench or some super glue..?

 

[Thern Newbell]

When there is a purchase agreement, we do have to analyze the sales agreement so we will know (usually) what the contract price is. There are occassions where some of this information is concealed from the appraiser, such as the three ton leaking gas can (aka- a new Hummer) that is included as part of the sales price.

As far as an owner's estimate of market value--I don't mind that it is there, but I don't let it influence my value opinion. I heard from someone associated with one of the larger appraisal management companies recently, and they said that several appraisers nearly had a meltdown when the owner's estimate was removed from their order forms. I say that to say this, I think for the improvement of the industry that the owner's estimate of value or loan amount should not be provided because there are appraisers out there who believe that their role is to facilitate deals, and they will do whatever it takes to support the number on the order form. I know that the same could be said for purchase agreements, but that is a USPAP requirement.