[Gen-X-Dad]

Your radar that something is up with appraisers is dead on. I got into it with appraisers for a refinance deal and learned the following:

1) The mortgage lender picks their appraiser and disregards any other appraisals, even if it was done in the last six months. The mortgage lender will most likely bring in a national appraisal company so local appraisers cannot skew the appraisal in the property owners favor.

2) The appraisers are to be left alone, no arm twisting or complaining by your brokers to get the deal done (very common in the past according to my broker).

3) The appraisers will only do comps that are less than six months old and within a few miles of your property.

4) The appraisers have been given marching orders to drive the market prices down. I discovered this by calling them out on my appraisal for picking comps that were not physically close to my property and for adjusting the square footage spread very unfavorably for my property (their excuse, we can do whatever we want so take a hike).

The nature of unintended consequences is that the “new” appraisal approach will protect banks from bad future loans but is going to kill the existing market for refinances and selling of old property (like yours) and will eventually impact the tax revenues of local communities when every one uses their “new” appraisals to reduce their taxes.

[illiac]

As for me, I have never been given marching orders to drive prices down. If this is happening in your area, contact the state board for appraisers and ask them how to file a complaint.

[illiac]

As far as using their “new appraisals” to reduce tax burden.....if a property owner obtains a copy of an appraisal done on their home, it is illegal for them to share the results of the appraisal with any other person than the client (the entity ordering the appraisal). These appraisals are, in essence, copyrighted material by the appraiser, and, as such, cannot be distributed indiscrimanently. There have been lawsuits in which Realtors and homeowners who have shared their appraisal with other parties. In every case, the homeowner or Realtor have lost the case.

[Mr Rogers]

“...impact the tax revenues of local communities when every one uses their “new” appraisals to reduce their taxes.”

Not in Pima County, Arizona. They just raised taxes to compensate for the fall in house values...