Appraisers' Free Forum

I hope you guys don't mind if I rant a little bit. My supervisor is reviewing an appraisal that got rejected by a lender, and thought it would be a good learning experience for me to take a look at it, and see if I could find what was wrong (if anything).

OMG, I was shocked, and then saddened. This kind of work is what is giving appraisers a bad name. I know I have a very long way to go, and much to learn, before I would call myself a good appraiser. In fact, the more I learn, the more nervous I get about what I don't know. But this report is deliberate garbage, in my opinion. Some lowlights:

1. She's an AL, appraising a property at $1.4 million, with no Certified or General signing off on it.
2. She's located in Fairfield, Ca (about 500 miles away from the subject), which brings up geo competency. Now maybe she used to live here, but if she did, she'd know that comparing houses in Clairemont, southeast of Balboa/I-5 with houses in Pacific Beach (near Mt. Soledad), northwest of Garnet/I-5 wouldn't be kosher, at least without having a very good reason, adjusting for it and explaining it.
3. The house is undergoing renovations (flooring, counters torn out), with no mention of it in the report, though she did mark it "subject to" completion.
4. Comp 1 by is by an award-winning designer with very high-end features (Viking, Sub-Zero, etc.) as seen at http://www.3560shawneeroad.com/features.html. Most comps are clearly superior, with no adjustments. Two of the comp photos don't match any of their listings in the MLS.
5. "None noted" for all 6 comp sales concessions.
6. Comp sales from almost a year ago with no time adjustment.
7. Subject lot 6,300 s.f. - comps with up to 16,800 s.f. and no adjustment.
8. Subject has bay/city lights view - 3 comps with no view and no adjustment.
9. Built 1956 (effective age 1) - comp ages 17, 27, 44, 50, 54 - no age or condition adjustments.
10. The ONLY adjustments in the grid were for 1/2 bath difference and GLA difference - subject has 3 BR - one comp has 3 BR, the 5 others have 4 or 5 BR.
11. Cost Approach has $325/s.f. citing Building-cost.net as the source. I plugged in the numbers at b-c.net, using the highest ratings possible, and came up with $102.62/s.f.
12. No description of the subject property, no explanation of how the conclusions on market data were derived (Stable, In Balance, 3-6 mths checked), yet in the Summary of Sales Comparison on pg. 2, she states "property values are increasing with some signs of stabilization".

There's so much more, but you get the idea. Is there anything that can be done?

Thanks for letting me rant.

Cindy Elam

Yeah .... review ... report ... support .... and shut her down ....

Obviously the lender had similar concerns .....

You can cite violations of standards or regulations, lack of support and error that leads to lack of report credibilty. Let the better equipped decide about the intent and criminal issues. It undermines our credibility when we conclude things that we aren't empowered to. And when our credibility is undermined the profession is weakened further. Watch your biases, sitck to the facts and do not go out on limb. Make sure there is market support if you get into the adjust this and that or this and that comp is bad. Facts, facts and more facts not opinions.

Oh yeah, and no Scope of Work, no 2006 USPAP compliance addendum, the list goes on and on. And completed it for a measly $350.

Cindy E wrote:Oh yeah, and no Scope of Work, no 2006 USPAP compliance addendum, the list goes on and on. And completed it for a measly $350.

Clear and convincing results of the pursuit of cheap and fast. Them that demand the cheap and fast should be tarred and feathered right along with them that do 'em.

Write a solid review for your client and send it to the state.

Also send it to Pam

Annemieke Roell wrote:Write a solid review for your client and send it to the state.

Don't send your review to the state as a complaint. Write up a separate letter of complaint with specifics of the errors, misrepresentations and other facts.

If you send your review to the state then, in most cases, they are bound to also review your review and you could find yourself getting a letter from the state.

I wonder if the appraiser is actually the one who did it?

Stolen and forged license comes to mind.

Pretending to be positive today!

hallmac wrote:I wonder if the appraiser is actually the one who did it?

Stolen and forged license comes to mind.

Pretending to be positive today!

That's not for us to decide. We're just to report the facts. The big dogs can determine what is what and who is who.

Cindy E wrote:Oh yeah, and no Scope of Work, no 2006 USPAP compliance addendum, the list goes on and on. And completed it for a measly $350.

No SOW is a problem, the 2006 USPAP compliance addendum is a POS and I do not, would not, use it. Do you know the transaction value? May be over the licensee's limits, might not be. $350 for 1.4 mil sounds like a 'lectric chair offense, of course the average sale in my home county is around 100k.