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how to talk with appraisers

6 ways to have a more valuable exchange with appraisers during the inspection

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If you meet appraisers at your listings, do you feel like you have a valuable exchange or are you simply handing over a stack of comps?

Help for Agents: Today I want to give some quick tips to help facilitate better interactions so real estate agents can communicate well about their listings and appraisers leave with a deeper understanding of the property and transaction. I realize that some appraisers are pretty much non-communicative, but even if that is the case, you can still get across good information by following the tips below.

how to talk to appriasers - image by sacramento appraisal blog

  1. Prime the Meeting: When setting up the appraisal inspection, let the appraiser know you have a packet and you hope to have a quick market conversation during the inspection. Also, ask the appraiser if there is any information he or she needs during the inspection. Remember, a conversation goes two ways, so don’t just talk at an appraiser. An experienced appraiser will be able to offer market insight or even answer some of your questions.
  2. Leave Your Baggage at Home: Treat each meeting as a new opportunity. If you felt the last appraiser you encountered was a dimwit, leave that in the past. It can be easy to bring baggage, anger or frustration into new situations, but that’s hardly ever helpful for the present. In short, be professional and emotionally fresh for the new situation.
  3. Image-purchased-at-123rf-dot-com-and-used-with-permission-14688774_s-smallerAdvice on Giving “Comps”: If you do provide sales and listings to the appraiser, make sure they are actually competitive (similar) rather than the highest sales in the neighborhood that happen to meet the subject property’s contract price. I recommend providing a full detail MLS print out too (including the other agent’s information) so the appraiser does not have to re-print your sales to get the full scoop. This saves paper and time. If you want to go the extra mile, take a few minutes to write notes on the top of each sale to help highlight differences between the subject and other sales.
  4. Focus on Insider Details: Help the appraiser understand how the market responded to your listing. How many offers did you have on the property? What price levels were the other offers? Why was there a change in listing price? Why did the seller accept the particular offer instead of others? What have you noticed happening in the neighborhood market? This sounds like quite a bit of information, but it’s really only a few sentences. Rehearse answering questions like this so you can quickly tell the story of your listing.
  5. Info Sheet: Give the appraiser an information sheet that has already been filled out by the home owner (or you). I created the following form to easily provide more information about recent updates, the neighborhood or anything else that might be relevant. Remember, value is often found in the details. DOWNLOAD HERE for free as a PDF or WORD document. I recommend saving the Word file to your desktop. Feel free to edit the form to your liking.
  6. Quick Tour: Don’t hover over the appraiser, but do point out anything that helps the house stand out. What has been attractive to buyers? Is there anything different about this house that is more or less appealing than other homes in the neighborhood?

It’s easy to let these details slide because life is busy, but taking time to prepare to meet the appraiser is definitely something worthy of building into the rhythm of business. Every other detail in the transaction is handled with great care and attention, so it seems fitting to do the same with the appraisal inspection too.

I hope this was helpful. Any stories or questions? Comment below.

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Talking to appraisers in today’s changing real estate market [infographic]

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It’s easy to see change when looking in the past. Let’s take the real estate bubble burst, for example. We can all glance back and now sound so smart and polished when discussing rapid appreciation, inventory levels and a massive decline that ensued in the Summer of 2005. However, hardly anyone was talking about the market declining right when it began to happen. Why? Because it’s difficult to interpret trends when you’re right in the middle of change.

Can you see the market? Let’s fast forward to today’s market. We are experiencing something different, and it’ll be much easier to explain this market in a year from now when we’ve seen it play out a bit more. Inventory has been hovering around one month of housing supply in the Sacramento area. Multiple offers and offers over asking price are commonplace. The foreclosure rate has seen a decrease over the past year. Unemployment is down from the high of 13.2%, despite still being at 10.5%. And there is talk of having “reached the bottom” (be careful what you say though).

We are in the middle of change, and it’s frankly not an easy market to interpret for anyone – appraisers and agents alike. This means it’s supremely important for communication to flow more readily between appraisers and Realtors.

Infographic: I’ve given many tips for real estate agents for talking to appraisers, but today I want to share an infographic I created. As you can see, specific and detailed information helps appraisers form an opinion of value. Having solid data and a thorough understanding of the neighborhood market will only help boost accuracy in appraisals.

Tips for talking with appraisers - by Sacramento Appraisal Blog

If you are an agent, which questions do you wish appraisers would ask you? What would you like to say to appraisers? Do you find yourself sharing this type of information with appraisers?

If you have any questions or Sacramento area real estate appraisal or property tax appeal needs, contact me by phone 916-595-3735, email, Twitter, subscribe to posts by email or “like” my page on Facebook

Quick tips for agents for talking to appraisers

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In a post-HVCC world, there is both confusion and frustration regarding talking to appraisers. Agents can no longer directly choose an appraiser for most of their deals, so sometimes it seems like appraisal quality is left to chance. Maybe the appraiser will understand the local market or maybe he won’t. Of course the hope is the appraiser is a local expert who will do a thorough job and also initiate contact with the listing agent to ask questions about the subject property too. But that’s just not going to happen in all cases, so it’s important to be ready to talk with appraisers when you can. And yes, you can still have conversations with appraisers about your listings and the neighborhood market – just don’t pressure to “hit the number”.

Tips for talking to Appraisers:

  1. Meeting: If you can’t meet an appraiser at an inspection, be available by phone or email.
  2. List of Updates: Provide a detailed list of all upgrades to the appraiser (with costs if possible).
  3. Background Stuff: What helped you establish the listing price? Or why did your buyer choose this specific property and pass on others? Bring market research to the inspection to help show how you arrived at your price level. Don’t tell the appraiser which comps to use and how to do his job, but rather share information to illuminate your perspective on marketing. Say something like, “here is some market data I used in my research” as opposed to “here are your comps”. You can always share this information on the phone or email too.
  4. Offer Activity: Were there many offers or showings? What were potential buyers attracted to? Let the appraiser know things like, “I had 14 offers all above asking price in two days” or “No showings at the original list price, but then I lowered the price and had 12 showings in 4 days and 4 offers.”
  5. Inside the Neighborhood: Is there something you know about the property, neighborhood, street or market area that might be helpful and contribute to the overall value? If the property is selling high above all others, why is that? Are distressed sales selling for less in the market? What are the features in the neighborhood that buyers are willing to pay more for? Share your hyper-local insight and any resources you might have.
  6. Play Nice: Some agents never return phone calls or act impatient when an appraiser calls. My advice? It’s nice to talk with personable communicators.

Things NOT to say to an Appraiser:

  1. Deal Killers: Talking about another appraiser that “killed your deal” doesn’t help the current deal or paint a professional image of you in the mind of the appraiser.
  2. Do your job!: “Here are the best comps” (sounds like you are trying to steer a value conclusion)
  3. Higher please: “Get the value as high as possible”
  4. Lower please: “Get the value as low as possible” (yes, I do hear that one)
  5. Make it Happen: “Is this one going to make value?”
  6. The Real Hope: “Is it going to appraise for at least the sales price?”

I hope this was helpful. I’d love to hear any tips you have too. What has worked for you? What has been frustrating for you when dealing with a post-HVCC world? Do you find most appraisers to be open to conversation? Do they ask you questions?

If you have any questions, or real estate appraisal or property tax appeal needs in the Greater Sacramento Region, contact Lundquist Appraisal by phone 916-595-3735, email, Facebook or subscribe to posts by email.

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