VA Appraisal Timeframe (day 31)

[kristhit]

Hi,

I am just from the general public, but I am awaiting a VA appraisal that was ordered on April 2nd. Is it normal to take that long? I'm worried that we aren't going to make our closing date.

Thanks!

Kristin

 

[Fritz in NY]

VA fees are a good income for a Certified Appraiser. I have to think that a) the appraiser did not get the request (internet problem) or b) value is an issue and appraiser has been waiting for the Realtor to supply comparables that would support value or C) VA appraiser has wrong contact number. I have one on my desk for 3 days, I keep calling and hear "this number can't be reached at this moment, try again". I usually turn around a non-compex VA report in 2-3 days. Somethings wrong......

 

[Kevin A. Spellman]

Did the lender order the appraisal with the order form 26-1805-1?

Is this a purchase? Has the appraiser received a copy of sales contract?

The VA does ask the appraiser to produce the report within 10 days of acceptance.

You can call the VA center in your area and ask for a status if you are the veteran.

If you are the seller or the agent involved you can only ask the lender for the status and not the VA. The VA is not required to provide information on the veteran loan status other than for the lender or for the veteran.

 

[David Beasley]

I agree. Something is amiss. May or may not be the appraiser's fault though. We can't do a lot without the proper information (phone numbers, etc) and we cannot complete a report without a contract now (on a sale) because we have to re-submit the contract when we submit the report.

I've also had angry agents and owners/sellers call and ask why I hadn't been out. Reason was simple, their lender/buyer's lender had lied to them - picked my name off an old report, and told them it was my fault. The fault laid with the fact they didn't know how to order a VA appraisal and they actually had not done so.

Kevin A. Spellman said : "The VA does ask the appraiser to produce the report within 10 days of acceptance." And that is likely correct, for *his* region. Timeliness varies by region, there is no 1 set VA appraisal timeliness standard. Even so, I do not know of a region that allows more than 2 weeks between request for appraisal receipt and submission of a completed report. My guess for the time range, country-wide, is 7-10 "business" days on a sale (weekends and holidays are not held against us). This can be suspended if problems arise, but they want them back pretty quick regardless.

The other thing could be that a genuine request was made through the VA for appraisal and never made it to the appraiser. I have lenders ALL THE TIME that think that is all they have to do. No. They have to supply us with a contract (on sales) and it is best to send a followup email notifying us of the request. The VA's web portal is notoriously unreliable and we do not always get the automated email from it telling us a new request has been made and assigned to us. I personally have gone WEEKS without getting the auto-generated email to myself from the VA - even though numerous requests were made during that time that were assigned to me. We can go check manually, of course. But often times, when we're closing up shop for the day at 11PM once again, it is easy to forget to do that.

Call your agent or buyer's lender if you know who it is, inquire as to what is happening. If that fails, call your VA RLC. Google "VA Regional Loan Centers" and find the one listed nearest you. Call the number and ask for "Construction and Valuation" - they're the oversight arm of the VA Loan Guarantee Program's appraiser functions.

 

[kristhit]

Hi guys,

Thanks for the quick replies and all the information! I'll try to give as much background as I can, I am not really "in the know" regarding the appraisal process, beyond what google can tell me.

The lender requested the appraisal on April 2nd, and the appraiser went out to the house on April 13th. I only know that because I called the realtor and asked. I have called the lender 1-2 times per week to see where we are and if she needs anything from me. I am trying not to be overly annoying. She's been doing VA loans for 36 years so hopefully I don't have to worry about her too much.

Last Thursday, she said that she had contacted the appraiser's office again and was told that the appraisal would be done by the following day. Still not done yet.

She did tell me that the last appraisal she had done by him took 3 weeks, and that was out of the norm. So we expected it to take longer, just not this long. This loan isn't for a foreclosure, the house is fairly new and the inspection didn't turn up anything wrong with the house.

I am trying so hard to be patient, yet totally freaking out at the same time.

Thanks again guys. I am going to call the VA Regional office as suggested.

 

[rcsone]

...if there is not the rare of contact problems or something, Houston expects the finished report back in five working days, From other entries on AF, regionals must vary on response directions. Houston regional has even asked why an assignment was one day late during a review. They had neglected to note the two day delay due to sales price excess(?) notification. Them and not us.....best to all...........rs

 

[Mike Garrett RAA]

Yep, thats what I would do. Sounds like something is wrong if the appraiser is taking that long. If the area is rural and there are only a few appraisers who will service the area the VA might give the appraiser a little longer than normal but unless there is a major problem the time taken is excessive.

My regional office just lowered the number of days allowed to complete the assignment from 10 to 7 working days. I received two assignment on Friday afternoon last week. Those don't get logged in until the following working day which was Monday.

The appraiser needs to have a signed copy of the contract in addition to a signed 1805 (Request for Appraisal). Other things that can slow down the process is access to the property and verification of sales by parties to the transactions. Sometimes we call a real estate agent and it takes several days before they call us back.

I wish you well.