Has a low appraisal destroyed one of your deals this year? We’ve been hearing so much about how real estate appraisers are “killing escrows” ever since the Home Valuation Code of Conduct came into effect last year. I’ve read and listened to countless horror stories from brokers, real estate agents, loan officers, and publications.
I’m not saying there aren’t legitimate complaints to be had about HVCC or certain appraisals. I simply want to provide a helpful resource to maybe clear things up a bit about what type of value appraisers are looking for in the market. My hope is that this article (linked below) will shed light on the appraisal process and give insight into the appraiser’s mind. It’s a good thing when appraisers and local agents can understand each other’s roles and mutually benefit one another.
PDF file: “Closing the Gap Between Sales Price and Appraised Value”
This article was published with permission and comes from Patrick Egger, a Certified General appraiser in Nevada with 35 years of experience in valuation, consulting and real estate studies. Comments are welcome below.
I have yet seen one Realtor® or Lender or Broker provide legitimate statistics of “bad appraisals” killing their deals. Oh, I’m sure deals are getting killed. But that doesn’t make the appraisal or appraiser bad.
When I see the results of independent reviews of these alleged ‘low-ball’ appraisals, I will believe it.
Until then it’s only so much whining about not being able to twist the arm of the appraiser to hit a target value.
You’re right that it is not the appraiser’s fault if market value is actually truly lower or different than the sales price. It’s not the appraiser’s job anyway to meet the sales price or make sure that the loan works out. At the same time, there really have been some shoddy appraisals out there for a number of reasons.
Any agents out there have some stories? Please share and let us know too about any “low appraisal” situation you have had and why you think market value was actually higher than appraised value. (and please read Patrick’s article in this post…. it’s helpful for the real estate industry).