Owner Ordered Appraisal

[Mike Kennedy]

49erGirl, can you please confirm whether or not the appraisal report was completed and delivered on a Form Report with FNMA and a form # number on the bottom right corners of the pages?

 

[leasedfee]

All these companies were the top listed and top rated when doing a Google search and most of the others didn't have working numbers or seemed to go out of business. I checked this guys license prior and he's been doing it since the 80's with a clean record, no complaints and all CEUs are current.

It is impossible to vet appraiser quality using online metrics. Many excellent appraisers have no/little online presence. Only appraisers and attorneys know who is good and who is a skippy. Bankers used to know but no longer. The Great Divide (you divide; I pick) is an excellent way and is well predicated on mathematical game theory. It ended the squabbles my brother and I had over the last piece of pie. It also worked well for the Elghanayan billionaire brothers who had to split three ways a very complicated NYC portfolio (NYTimes).

 

[chad hampton]

I would contact the appraiser with the questions/concerns you have that appear to be factually incorrect. I've never met an appraiser who doesn't want to have his report be 100% factually correct. And I've also never met an appraiser that doesn't make mistakes. We're all human.

He may very well have cloned a report he did recently in that same area, not wise thing to do as it easy to overlook something simple (like your subject is now a ranch and not a 2-story (I'm assuming the subject does not have a finished area over garage?).

Filing a complaint with the state is bad advice. The state isn't there to correct reports. There are much easier ways to solve the problem. If the appraiser isn't willing to explain his report, then you can look at other options.

 

[Carnivore]

WOW sounds like a mess. I like Denis's advice the best. Certainly a 2nd appraisal seems to be the only answer at this point.

his referral link to find another appraiser is spot on.

What raised my eyebrows was the accumulation of factual errors. I think we all would agree that this is the biggest red flag.

No one here likes to make any error., multiple errors is just plain sloppy and goes directly to credibility of the entire report.

Well I hope it all works out for the cat n dog, or is it two dogs or two cats.. LOL

 

[leasedfee]

never met an appraiser who doesn't want to have his report be 100% factually correct.

I've met several who dryly remarked they don't give a damn, and they're a pump and dump skippy. Such people don't come to Appraiser's Forum as their appraisal career is only about dollars.

 

[Carnivore]

I've met several who dryly remarked they don't give a damn, and they're a pump and dump skippy. Such people don't come to Appraiser's Forum as their appraisal career is only about dollars.

I have known a few and met way to many over the years. Frankly I never say anything but it disturbs me at the lack of work ethic. Like it or not we are a service business.
When you don't do the right thing it reflects badly on all of us. This is true in any profession. I sometimes I think we will show up on one of those list with Used Car Dealers and others that always seem to be complained about or have greatest mistrust by the public.

 

[TRESinc]

I have known a few and met way to many over the years. Frankly I never say anything but it disturbs me at the lack of work ethic. Like it or not we are a service business.
When you don't do the right thing it reflects badly on all of us. This is true in any profession. I sometimes I think we will show up on one of those list with Used Car Dealers and others that always seem to be complained about or have greatest mistrust by the public.

our profession is not different than any other - we have some good, some bad and a lot in the middle.

true story. many, many, many moons ago when i was a wee apprentice taking classes i ran into someone i had worked with prior at a bar who was taking a class with me. we got to talking and they bragged about having 9 apprentices working for them covering 14 counties. my mind was blown. when i inquired as to how this was possible i was told that 2 licensed appraisers were selling their signatures, at $50 a use, and they were being applied to the reports and sent in. no review, no supervision, no nothing - just their digital signature file being used by one unlicensed appraiser on 9 other unlicensed appraisers' reports. yep, straight up fraud.

another true story. met a very intelligent appraiser on this board who lived on the other side of the country from me. talked many times on many appraisal issues. great conversations and some great advice. one day i happened to be on the other side of the country and we set up a lunch. conversation during the meal was just as good, if not better for being in person, than all of our previous times.

like i said some are good, some are bad, some are in the middle. no different than doctors, lawyers, teachers, etc etc.

 

[residentialguy]

i was told that 2 licensed appraisers were selling their signatures, at $50 a use, and they were being applied to the reports and sent in. no review, no supervision, no nothing - just their digital signature file being used by one unlicensed appraiser on 9 other unlicensed appraisers' reports.

Yeah...and you still owe me $50 btw!

 

[Deleted member 130081]

co-worker paid for an appraisal on a home he currently owns. no finance company involved or court orders...he's in the midst of a divorce and wants 50/50 split. he thinks the price is low and asked my opinon.....not that either of us are experts. In researching - I pulled current listings, recent sold listings to submit when asking for reconsideration. upon review of the report, there are NUMEROUS mistakes. not just mistakes in sq. ft or room count, upgrades but other things:

Parcel #
CC&R (report states none) which is incorrect
sq ft listed in site description under topography is incorrect although correct in other areas
site elements (report states corner lot) when in fact its a cul de sac
number of stories (report sates 2). single story

I could on and on, it's as if he pulled a copy of a previous appraisal and only changed 1/2 the information. even some pages (definitions of scope and work) the addess listed for the client is wrong.

There's abunch of other mistakes and while I feel these reports should be accurate, it's gotten to the point where I can't even tell if i'm being nit-picky and what should and shouldn't be requested when he submits an email for the appraiser to reconsider his findings.

some of the addendums are missing, it seems as this report also contradicts his reasons for the figure he came up with. And lastly, the house he weighted as 1 in relation to co-workers property was a cash sale by the kids that inherited the property. Antoher comp is from March and in my opinion, the comps i found (all within the same side of the subdivision) are more recent and relevant then the ones he used.

any suggestions or advice on how to tactfully go about getting the whole thing re-done, fixed or just corrected is appreciated

Sometimes they way things in an appraisal are reported are not what you would think, so it may be that you are not reading it correctly. However, from what you write it does sound like errors have been made. At the very least, the appraiser does have an obligation to report the appraisal in a manner that is not misleading, so if it is not understandable, you have grounds for a revision request there. However, if the report clearly has as many errors as you say (address of the client is wrong, inconsistent data, inaccurate data), I would not ask for a revision and instead demand a refund and get another appraiser. I would not try to argue with the appraiser or try to play appraiser either - stick to the simple facts of error and base the refund request on that basis only (don't try to argue rate of adjustments or the final value opinion, etc.). Tell them the series of errors erodes the credibility of the appraisal and for that reason, you do not wish to offer the appraiser a chance to fix them and simply want to get someone else - end of story. If they give you a hard time, tell them a series of errors that erodes the credibility of the report violates USPAP. If they continue to give you a hard time, threaten to report them to the state. If they continue to give you a hard time, actually report them to the state. If the report is truly that bad, there is exactly no reason you should have to pay for it. If they do promptly refund your money, I would then recommend deciding to report them or not based on how they handle it. If they bend over backwards apologizing and are clearly embarrassed, then I would hope you would let it go, because it probably was an honest mistake (sent you a draft or the computer screwed it up or maybe they just proof-read it wrong - who knows, maybe they were sick and out of their mind). If all they do is give you attitude, we don't need that sort of appraiser and reporting them is the way to go - I would. If I ever made those sorts of mistakes ( I never have to that degree, but have certainly made some), I would be so embarrassed that I would fix the report AND refund your money AND apologize. The only instance in which I might be hesitant to give a refund is if for some reason I sent the wrong report entirely and all that needed to be done was to send over the right one, which should take about 5 minutes. It doesn't sound like that's what happened here.

Online ratings/rankings are not a good source for a good appraiser - those are manipulated by pay-for-play and search engine optimization - nothing to do with the appraisal skill level. Also, many good appraisers have companies with names that begin with letters from the end of the alphabet!!! The best thing to do is pick up the phone and call the appraiser personally. You will learn more about the appraiser that way in much less time. Ask them questions. How they explain the process will reveal much about their skill level. Not only all that, you'll find out if you like them or not and get a sense of the service level you will receive.

Sorry this happened to you - good luck!

 

[J Grant]

It sounds like a shoddy report...if the owner can afford it, have them order another appraisal, perhaps help him pick the appraiser, and a source can be those on the Appraisal Institute list. An appraiser who qualifies their client can often be the better one for the job than an appraiser who just says yes without asking any questions. As others stated , if I get a call from a private party, I ask if they intend to use it for lending purposes,. If it is a divorce or estate I let them know up front I appraise for market value and not "low" or "high" to favor any party...I hope your friend has better luck next time.