Discovered a major error in my appraisal - now what?

[residentialguy]

He should have not said "with the comps.......................280,000"

Are you suggesting he might not in full USPAP complaince with that appraisal? :laugh:

 

[Webbed Feet]

As far as I'm concerned, your most recent appraiser blew it badly. While some may think you should be a nice guy and should avoid "getting anyone in trouble", the appraiser has failed to perform proper diligence in his work and deserves to get his hand slapped. You should not be embarrassed to file a complaint with the appropriate regulatory agency in NJ.

Good luck.

It is my wish that you remember you posted this. Then someday, if and when you get a phone call you wished you'd never gotten, you advise that property owner to not be embarrassed and file a complaint against you.

 

[Webbed Feet]

<....snip....>
Well during the process of having our taxes adjusted (since we're currently paying taxes on a valuation of $354,000!) the attorney said the appraisal just didn't add up and I should double check it.

<....snip.......>

Thanks for reading such a long post, any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Both the sketches are horrible. Both of them do not show measurements on the right hand side of the house that BOTH sketches should be showing. Nor do either of them show the measurement for what appears to be about a two foot jog in the front. Given that (no insult intended) this floor plan is basically a rectangle and so simple any appraiser should be able to sleep walk and get it right, both of these sketches are .... embarrassing to any actually professional appraiser. All exterior walls should show the measurements. The first appraiser showing 20' on the right (which is the garage only) and not labeling and showing the 6' behind the garage is just as bad as the second appraiser. The two sketches are off on the front left wall as well, 22' to 26' between the two.

That said, this is exactly the kind of measurement assignment appraisers mess up on. They think it is so simple they fail to measure ALL walls and just assume the last wall or last two walls without measuring them. They use a 25 foot tape, try to add the measurements in their head as they run down the back of the house, get distracted and don't add right. It is a mental lapse and can happen to anybody. BUT...IF the appraiser had measured ALL walls he/she would have caught the error. 20' is a number that I can tell you from experience represents a brain ****.

Any appraiser that says they've never absentmindedly got all the way around a house and made a similar mistake is full of it. These days, with electronic measuring on a tablet, an appraiser could "tap" a wrong key and then press "Auto-Close" on the sketching software and end up with the same error by not measuring those last two walls.

On a side issue. I think you used that second appraisal report for a tax valuation appeal, correct? Soooooooo .. you ARE going to go back to the Tax Assessment department, alert them of the error, and agree the correct data should be used for the tax assessment... right?

By the way, I agree with those saying to give the second appraiser a Mulligan on this with the assumption he/she corrects the work and supplies your lender with a corrected opinion of value. I know of no appraiser that would knowingly make that kind of error and the sheer embarrassment of finding out, AND having to correct that with a lender, is a form of punishment on this one. You don't post any other complaints about the report, so personally I'd stop at forcing the second appraiser to read this entire forum thread before allowing him/her to remeasure....

:new_evil:

 

[Mike Garrett RAA]

It is my wish that you remember you posted this. Then someday, if and when you get a phone call you wished you'd never gotten, you advise that property owner to not be embarrassed and file a complaint against you.

People who live in glass houses should never throw rocks! Years ago I decided not to do review work because I felt compelled to turn bad reports into the state. Retaliation is a B I T C H.