Did the Lead Appraiser with the National firm inform you whether they are an Independent Appraisal Company, an independent Appraisal Management Company, or a Bank-owned Appraisal Management Company?
Based on their website, they are an independent AMC.
Did he inform you the appraiser was a staff employee of his firm or a sub-contractor/independent appraiser?
The AMC's website says they have several thousand appraisers, so this is just an educated guess, I believe they're sub-contractors.
Lastly, "The home is brand new, recently completed, and never lived in, it is a C1, that was another error by the appraiser,"
How many comparables were used in the Sales Comparison Approach to Value? How many of them were "brand new, recently completed, and never lived in" i.e. C1?
IF any were "C-3", were they adjusted upward for inferior condition and age?
In the original appraisal, all homes were rated C3, even though a couple were in fact brand new as well, so should have been C1. In the revised report all conditions were changed to either C1 or C2.
I never understand the immediate reaction of buyers to a lower than sale price appraisal. Always seems like a good negotiating tool to me. If it is really as unprofessional as you claim than the loan provider's underwriters should have caught it. I'd be pursuing them.
Regardless of who should find these errors, they should have never been made in the first place. One or two errors is understandable, but the number of changes made from the original to the revised report I believe was pretty substantial, they included:
1) Changing the one grossly mis-priced comparable (which allegedly was not used in the value calculation since it is an active comparable, not a sold comparable).
2) Changing the condition of every home included in the original report from C3 to either C1 or C2.
3) Addition of adjustment for golf course view to valuation.
4) Addition of adjustment for lot size to valuation.
5) Changing the adjustment for differences in GLA from $18 per sq. ft. to $80 per sq. ft.
6) Changing age adjustment of one comparable from -2,500 to +2,500.
So, the original report had five comparables included, three closed that were supposedly the basis for the cost basis valuation, and two active listings, which I'm told are included to support the fact that the neighborhood currently supports homes of the value as shown in the report. They also added three more comps at my request from the neighborhood the home we are buying is actually located in, which I believe is a better indication of value since they include similar features and in some cases, similar views.
So, the valuation based on the three original sold comps were, and the valuation in the revised report:
$418,500 originally -> $405,700 revised
$446,600 originally -> $491,500 revised
$562,600 originally -> $595,000 revised
The three new sold comps resulted in valuations of $466,940, $489,640, and $530,776. So, the original valuation was $487,000, and somehow the weightings work out so the revised valuation comes in at $487,000.
The active listings were:
$193,468 originally -> $546,883 revised
$589,836 originally -> $583,760 revised
Again, these are allegedly not used in the valuation, but are just included for reference to meet some requirement.
I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that the appraisal is accepted and I can put all this stuff behind me.
