Retrospective appraisal problems

[Tom D]

i live in an urban area with plenty of realtors. i have always said to people who want to put their house on the market to call 3 realtors who will do a honest cma for free. if you can find 3, and you get a tight listing price from them then that is likely a better marketing listing price than an appraisal. i think realtors are more current value & market knowledgeable.
oh so long ago, in my state, you had to be a real estate broker to do appraisals. that was a very good start to learning how the market works. and also, you couldn't get any appraisal work unless your were designated. and you couldn't get designated unless you had a college degree.
and many think that 2 years of current experience make you an appraiser. just my opinion about current license requirements. that being said, i respect the appraisers on this blog as being above the average cut.

 

[ucbruin]

i live in an urban area with plenty of realtors. i have always said to people who want to put their house on the market to call 3 realtors who will do a honest cma for free. if you can find 3, and you get a tight listing price from them then that is likely a better marketing listing price than an appraisal. i think realtors are more current value & market knowledgeable.
oh so long ago, in my state, you had to be a real estate broker to do appraisals. that was a very good start to learning how the market works. and also, you couldn't get any appraisal work unless your were designated. and you couldn't get designated unless you had a college degree.
and many think that 2 years of current experience make you an appraiser. just my opinion about current license requirements. that being said, i respect the appraisers on this blog as being above the average cut.

"i live in an urban area with plenty of realtors. i have always said to people who want to put their house on the market to call 3 realtors who will do a honest cma for free. if you can find 3, and you get a tight listing price from them then that is likely a better marketing listing price than an appraisal. i think realtors are more current value & market knowledgeable."

Who can argue against the above???

 

[Michigander]

I agree getting agents for pricing is a good idea. Sometimes owners hire appraisers if they already have a buyer though, or in conjunction with.

 

[Salty]

In my opinion, in any report there should be a discussion of how each significant adjustment was derived and even include the data in an addendum. All of this should be presented in a way the indented user can understand. If a significant adjustment is necessary and there is absolutely no data with which to derive a credible adjustment, one may want to question if ultimately there is even enough data available to credibly value the property. I'm not a fan of pulling a number out of the air and saying its "based on my experience". If it is based on experience, then there must be some data somewhere to support an adjustment. Deriving complex adjustments is not for the lazy. That is why I charge very high fees for complex work and why many potential clients do not engage me.

 

[TN Pro]

Since it seems you believe the appraiser pulled numbers out of thin air for the view adjustment, I would ask your Realtor where they came up with the $25k view adjustment opinion

I hope the answer isn't just "Well, because I've been doing this for 30 yrs so...."

And if they have any sort of sales to back it up, I would offer that to your appraiser to consider

The same question i was going to pose when i got to the end of this thread

 

[Stone]

Boy, if nothing else, this thread is proof that private work certainly requires care in billing. I do half up front and half upon delivery, but the vast majority of my private work will require me to sign a form for the IRS later, so I have that as leverage if the owner decides to be a slow pay. The OP certainly has a right to ask questions and I'd always answer them if asked, but no chance I'd do so if the client still owed me money.

And, yes, if your report isn't clear enough for the intended user to understand it, then you definitely have an obligation to answer questions. But, not if they have decided to be a deadbeat about paying.

I am amused that the OP came to an appraiser message board, explained that they weren't paying the fee because they want it to be used as leverage, then was surprised that so many took the side of the appraiser who hadn't been paid yet. Huh.

 

[sputnam]

Hi, I'm trustee for my late mother's trust and recently ordered a retrospective appraisal of her residence for tax purposes, in anticipation of selling. I have some issues with both the appraiser and the appraisal and would greatly appreciate hearing the opinion of some other appraisers.

The house is in a secluded upscale subdivision, next to a forest preserve (Duval Co. FL). All lots are 1+ acre. There is no other housing in the area on 1+ acres with the exception of a few scattered houses on the opposite side of the preserve. Also, within the subdivision (42 houses) only 13 houses actually back up to the preserve, including my mother's. There are no close comparables, turnover in the neighborhood is very low. I knew this when I started talking to realtors in preparation for listing the house, and the appraiser also indicated this in his report. I met with a number of realtors and their recommendations regarding listing price varied by nearly $100,000.

The appraiser assured me he would have the report done in 10 working days. On a Friday after 15 working days had passed I still hadn't heard from him, so asked for an update. He replied he thought he could finish up by Monday. It actually took another 5 working days for him to finish, so 20 working days total. I then had a question about his methodology, which he ignored. I had to poke him with requests multiple times to get him to answer, and his answers didn't directly address my question. I've gone through 3 rounds of trying to get a straight answer from him. At this point after his delay and evasive answers I don't have a lot of faith in the accuracy of the appraisal. I haven't paid him yet which I'm sure is the only reason he's still continuing to respond (although in a delayed and evasive manner) to my questions.

My main issue is with his adjustment for the preserve view location, $5000. Based on my research regarding appraisal adjustments in Florida, and also discussion with the realtor who listed the house when my parents bought it and has continued to focus for 35 years on the limited geographic area around the preserve, it seems in this price range the preserve view adjustment should be $25,000. For a couple of different reasons I also strongly suspect the appraiser decided on value, then manipulated adjustments to back the comparables into it. I have a background in corporate financial analysis and planning and understand how financial projections can be manipulated. Maybe backing into a predetermined appraisal value is something that's commonly done, I don't know. But does not seem ethical to me.

Thank you in advance for comments.

You can't tell the appraiser how to appraise. What you can do is provide him/her with whatever data you have that supports your thinking and ask him to reconsider. If he refuses, you can report him/her to the State Apprasisal Board. You can refuse to pay his fee (in which case he/she may sue to collect). You can hire a different appraiser.

 

[JTip]

forest preserve view = TREES

four digit adjustment to recognize, five digits to market

 

[norapp]

I would be very careful about that line of thought, Phoebega. Unlike appraisers, Realtors are not held to any objective standard when it comes to the offering of price opinions. She may well be familiar with your market, but she has a LOT more latitude when offering her opinion on what the value of a home might be. Appraisers, on the other hand, are restricted to applying recognized methodologies and techniques which result in credible analysis, opinions, and conclusions.

Totally agree. They also have no idea how to do an appraisal or the guidelines we must follow. A view is one of those intangible things that unless you have something to compare it to it's really just a guess.