VA Appraisal Came In Unrealistically Low

[Lon Williford]

So what I'm seeing is the dishonesty I was talking about. I'm just a hard working industrial electrician. I don't understand your methods. I don't know if you try to justify a price or look at how cheap you can make a house. All I know is that two groups really want an agreed upon price to work so that one can move on and one can move in. They both really want it to work and then you get to come along and destroy their hopes. Remember there is always a human side.

 

[sandpiperapp]

We don't do any of that negative stuff. We just try and report what the market tells us. When what we have to report does not meet the expectations and hopes of the buyers and seller, it is not done to hurt any one. I was a framing carpenter before I got into real estate, and believe me lugging 2x12s was a lot easier than having to determine the data just does not support the sales price.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

Why would the lender not want me to see the appraisal report and not be willing to allow the VA "reconsideration of value?"

The borrower can share the report with you if they wish. They can ask for a ROV, not the seller. The seller is not an intended user of the report, VA is. It is their call. It's called privity. And they may not want you to see it because they don't want their appraisers subjected to unwarranted complaints from people who are not "intended users". When I use that term, it is not an invention of VA or the appraiser. It is federal law regarding appraisers via USPAP- we are required to identify the client and intended users. I know you don't like the outcome, but the borrower, OTOH, might not see it that way if they think the appraiser is right and they were on the verge of over-paying. All you really can do is go on and wait for the next opportunity. Two appraisers can get totally different results. It happens. But normally their is a fairly small range within where they will value a property. It varies with the area, and the amount of data available. When part of a house is old and part is new, the complication of actually determining an effective age impacts the value significantly. If 50% new and 50% old, is the effective age 25? 20? 15?...it is a judgment call.

For the ROV to succeed the agent or buyer would have to submit sales that were at least as recent, proximate, and similar to the property as the comparables used. And the fact is 99% of the time, the comps used are either much larger, newer, or far more distant...i.e.- outside the defined neighborhood. Kingwood isn't the same market at Friendswood even when similar dwellings.

 

[sandpiperapp]

Due to the Tidewater Initiative, the VA typically does not do Reconsideration of Values.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

All I know is that two groups really want an agreed upon price to work

If the market value is determined by you and the Realtor prodding the buyer to buy (since he does have a dog in the fight) then why do you need an appraiser to rubber stamp your dreams and ambitions? Gee, the Realtor has no incentive price the property at the max the buyer can manage to borrow in that case. We are not rubber stampers. We look at the data and determine what the market value should be. To accuse us of dishonesty because we look at the historical prices paid in recent weeks and months and determine your agreed sale price is too high??? Is that dishonesty? Really? Isn't it more dishonest of a person with a commission hanging on the line to promise the world to the buyer and seller so they can make more and larger commissions? If Realtors were paid on a flat fee, you'd see more truth in RE listings.

 

[jay trotta]

So what I'm seeing is the dishonesty I was talking about. I'm just a hard working industrial electrician. I don't understand your methods. I don't know if you try to justify a price or look at how cheap you can make a house. All I know is that two groups really want an agreed upon price to work so that one can move on and one can move in. They both really want it to work and then you get to come along and destroy their hopes. Remember there is always a human side.

Do not know your market area or appraiser's in that area; that said, there are Guidelines that we all adhere to across the country which are required on both the Fed & Banking side's, they seek the market reaction, thru a process. As someone noted earlier, there is a process that was followed (apparently) to see if anything was missed or may have resulted in a greater value, nothing apparently was found to support the value within the Guidelines that are required.
The simple answer would be, if the support is not there via the required guidelines, there is not much that can be done, as of the effective date of the report. That said, within the next 30-60 days some New Sales may come to pass that will support the figure your discussing. Most appraisers take pride in their work, because the quality of their work is the driving force of their existence or they would be out of business. The Lender, is also attempting to make money via the Loan, so I am having a hard time with your, "Dishonesty" remark. Is the Buyer a 1st time Buyer ?

 

[Lon Williford]

We don't do any of that negative stuff. We just try and report what the market tells us. When what we have to report does not meet the expectations and hopes of the buyers and seller, it is not done to hurt any one. I was a framing carpenter before I got into real estate, and believe me lugging 2x12s was a lot easier than having to determine the data just does not support the sales price.

When you were a framing carpenter were ALL the other framing carpenters honest. Did they all work as hard as you? No they ALL didn't. I'd imagine some appraisers are lazy and some are crooked. You might not intend to hurt someone but when you don't really look hard at the data so you be sure there's no way that the contract price is realistic or that you can't come close to the price, you hurt someone with laziness. You have a job that is apparently important to someone. If I don't do my job 100% I can cause someone's death. So I double, triple, and quadruple check my work. And I just don't think that VA appraiser even double checked his work. You don't have to defend every appraiser. I know there are a lot of lazy crooked electricians out there that don't care if they get someone killed.

 

[sandpiperapp]

Lon, the lazy dishonest appraiser always hit the number because it is the easiest thing to do. Not bringing in the appraisal at the sales contract price is more work and more aggravation than hitting the number. So the good appraiser does not bypass a problem, he or she points it out, even if it means everyone is going to accuse them of being lazy and dishonest.

 

[CindyR]

Due to the Tidewater Initiative, the VA typically does not do Reconsideration of Values.

Yes VA does ROV's and has instructions and procedures to do them. The Tidewater is executed before the appraisal is complete; ROVs are submitted after the appraisal is delivered. The TW often prevents the ROV but ROVs still occur occasionally.

 

[Dublin ohio]

In my neighborhood 2 houses about 100 sf less sold for 106 psf and in a neighborhood less than a mile away two more at about 300 sf more for 106 psf

$106 psf x 1196 sf =$126,776. So what makes yours worth $120 psf?