I went to a purchase inspection. The house was vacant so I was measuring and taking photos. Suddenly the agent shows up out of nowhere and is like, "hey I'm here to drop off some comps." So I took them and he came up with 14 comps.....Would you address each one in the appraisal, or just not even mention them? Some are really bad.
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Realtor handed me 14 comps.
- Thread starter Trihard
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Mike Ault
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I had one realtor send me 2 pages of comparables when I was appraising his sister's overpriced townhouse. I can't remember the exact number as this was many years ago but it took me less than 5 minutes to come up with the following email "Thanks for the information Leonard! You just sent me 54 additional reasons why that property is not worth what you sold it for". The reply back was "I know, but I had to try". As a practical matter though, many lenders want to know if someone tried to influence your opinion of value and to be on the safe side I would make a simple statement similar to "realtor comps were provided during the course of completing this assignment, however none were deemed more suitable than the ones employed in this report".
Fernando
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In the past, some agents would give me a list of sales. I don't mind because I already knew some of the sales and agent was kind enough to print them out for me to see if any were good comps.
When you're the appraiser, you decide what comps to use in the report.
When you're the appraiser, you decide what comps to use in the report.
Tom D
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It's the realtors job, but not your concern. It's fine to be polite, don't need an angry realtor. I would only look at them if the sale price was an issue.
I'm friendly to any realtor who shows up, very few do.
I'm friendly to any realtor who shows up, very few do.
George Hatch
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When there's lots of data to consider I often set forth my search parameters for the comparable selection I'm using, and then comment that I researched and considered to one extent or another a total of 45 (or whatever the number actually is) listings or sales transactions before narrowing to the 4 or 5 that I consider to be the most comparable.
Assuming that's what you actually do: look at the many before narrowing to the few. Which if you aren't already doing then you should be doing.
If a broker hands me a list of properties to consider then I disclose that along with the factual observation that most of those do not fit my search parameters and cannot be considered as directly comparable to my subject as the ones I presented. If 2 or 3 of those sales already appear in my report I point that out. If all of my comps are on that list then I point that out, too.
The vibe we're going for is that our analysis covered a lot more sales transactions than just the ones being presented as being "most similar", and that even the ones that aren't as directly comparable can still contribute context to our analyses in which to analyze the smaller subset of comps we're using in the report.
There are too many appraisals being performed where the appraiser is picking by price and not even looking at anything else. The numerical conclusion that results from that can be okay but the point remains that its still a more superficial analysis than when an appraiser is looking at a lot of data before narrowing the few for their report.
It's when the reader gets the idea that the appraisal is based solely on the few sales in the SC that they can alter the outcome by swapping a couple of comps. The appraiser who is only looking at a few sales will be more vulnerable to that type of appeal than the appraiser who used a more comprehensive analysis and actually knows what they're talking about.
Assuming that's what you actually do: look at the many before narrowing to the few. Which if you aren't already doing then you should be doing.
If a broker hands me a list of properties to consider then I disclose that along with the factual observation that most of those do not fit my search parameters and cannot be considered as directly comparable to my subject as the ones I presented. If 2 or 3 of those sales already appear in my report I point that out. If all of my comps are on that list then I point that out, too.
The vibe we're going for is that our analysis covered a lot more sales transactions than just the ones being presented as being "most similar", and that even the ones that aren't as directly comparable can still contribute context to our analyses in which to analyze the smaller subset of comps we're using in the report.
There are too many appraisals being performed where the appraiser is picking by price and not even looking at anything else. The numerical conclusion that results from that can be okay but the point remains that its still a more superficial analysis than when an appraiser is looking at a lot of data before narrowing the few for their report.
It's when the reader gets the idea that the appraisal is based solely on the few sales in the SC that they can alter the outcome by swapping a couple of comps. The appraiser who is only looking at a few sales will be more vulnerable to that type of appeal than the appraiser who used a more comprehensive analysis and actually knows what they're talking about.
Last edited:
George Hatch
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I actively invite people to submit whatever they want to submit for my consideration. Write a love letter about the property and tell me how special it is. Send me whatever sales you think are relevant. I'll look at anything from any source. But the choices I make from there will be my own, not theirs'.
We're in the business of developing an informed opinion on these values. There's almost no such thing as too much information. I never want to get accused of blowing off their data or their input, just like I don't want to conclude to a value until I get all the way through to the end my process.
YMMV
We're in the business of developing an informed opinion on these values. There's almost no such thing as too much information. I never want to get accused of blowing off their data or their input, just like I don't want to conclude to a value until I get all the way through to the end my process.
YMMV
Vermonter
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Agree. More than a few times I've been notified about off MLS sales before by local agents that turned out to be excellent comps.
George Hatch
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Yeah, but more common for an appraiser to know of a lot more comparables than 90% of the brokers they meet. We should be that far ahead of them, anyway. Valuing properties via research and analysis is the only thing we do.
Surf Cat
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^^^^ This is what I do. I put extra sugar on it though.... especially if the Realtor's pretty. I'll give a big smile and tell her "thank you, I really appreciate it!" I'll also congratulate the realtor on the sale and hope they have a great day....
There's no benefit to being rude and telling a realtor to "talk to the hand.... I already have my comps!"
Being kind, and professional has benefits. Endorphins are released in the brain during acts of kindness, creating a natural mood boost often referred to as the "helper's high." It's science.