San Diego Appraiser

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San Diego Real Estate Appraiser for your home appraisal
Being a Real Estate Appraiser, it's my life. I started in Real Estate in the beginning of 2005 and therefore I have been through an upward market and a downward market since then. Now we are facing the collapse of financing institutions. How did we get here? I'll tell you exactly how! To explain how, I think I need to start by explaining what it has been like to be a Real Estate Appraiser during these good times and bad times.The biggest problem is the deceptive concept of Loan Officers asking for "comp checks". Let me explain what this is first before we continue. Instead of asking for an Appraisal, most Loan Officers ask for a comp check first. A comp check is when a loan officer wants to get a value range from the Appraiser. The Appraiser checks all similar homes that are close by and choose the most similar closed home sales and give a bottom range and a top range of the supposed comparable properties in the area. This range is given to the loan officer and if the range is within the value that the loan officer needs in order to close the loan, then the loan officer will order the appraisal, from that same Appraiser.First off, how would the Appraiser know what is similar to the property without viewing the outside or the inside? Just from tax records? I think not. At the very least that Appraiser should be on the phone talking to the home owner for more information on the condition and amenities of that property. Giving an opinion of value IS an appraisal, so how then is the Appraiser able to give any value at all even if it is a range when the Appraiser has not performed the necessary work to get a grasp on the situation of the property? Sounds like the Appraisers that are performing these comp checks are breaking Appraisal regulations to me. Wouldn't you say? Appraisers are not supposed to give a value unless that opinion of value is credible and a value cannot be credible without the correct amount of research to insure accuracy. I think you get my point on this one. In other words, they shouldn't just be slapping something together as quickly as possible and handing it over to the Loan officer..and they are!Secondly, why don't Loan Officers just order a full Appraisal instead of haggling over the value with the Appraiser? Some give the excuse that they do not want to waste the borrowers money, but I have found this not to be the truth. In most cases, it's only an excuse to get what they want. Well, what DO they want? As an example, a Loan Officer can usually find an Appraiser who is willing to perform a comp check, but if that comp check doesn't come in with the value that is needed, what is stopping this same Loan Officer from calling Appraisers one after another until he finds the value that he wants? I think you are starting to get my point on this one. Fraud! No? Then what is it called when they telephone 30 Appraisers and find only one of them who thinks it might be worth more then the rest of the Appraisers and order the Appraisal anyways even though they know for a fact that the property is not worth that much? And guess what, they rarely get caught doing this, because there is no way to track them while utilizing this method. This creates loans that are backed by insufficient collateral. In the cases of foreclosure, the bank cannot recover the payback of the loan.Thirdly! Yes, that's right. There is a "thirdly". What if the Appraiser gives a range of numbers and then in the process of actually going through the motions of the Appraisal and determines a definite value that is outside of the original range given to the Loan Officer before the Appraisal was ordered? Wouldn't you think that the Appraiser would feel at least a little bit pressured to bring the value up a little higher? You bet! It should never get to this point though, because an Appraiser by law (by law, I mean appraisal regs) is not supposed to except an Appraisal assignment if such is also agreeing to a predetermined outcome. So why are Appraisers still to this day performing comp checks? Actually, I think there are two reasons for this.Reason 1: If the Appraiser does not perform a comp check, the Appraiser does not get the work and the work is given to the next Appraiser and the opportunity does not want to be missed to make money. Yes, that's right. The all mighty dollar!Reason 2: Comp checks have become so common in this industry that it almost seems like there is nothing wrong with them and that they are expected as a normal course of business. This was the main reason when I first started to Appraise Real Estate that I performed this "normal" comp checking duty. But once I realized just how evil this practice was, I started to tell the Loan Officers just where to stick it. I have been suffering in business ever since then. It has been a year since I have received an Appraisal order because of it (kidding about the year part). Imagine that..someone admitting to doing something wrong and actually doing something about the situation to make it right!I do not understand, after letters to representatives why this comp check scheme has not been outlawed.I think the whole comp check practice is doing exactly what it was designed to do; make the Appraiser feel pressured about value before the Appraisal process has even started..just another "tool" for mortgage originators to close their loans and get their commission.Admittedly, I have noticed less and less requests in the last six months for comp checks. I am starting to think that more and more Appraisers are starting to wake up to the fact that they were never intended to comply with every whim of their client and that they are actually in place to protect the assets of banks and not to win over the loan officer.To be objective and never to be one sided is the real job of the Real Estate Appraiser. This must always be one of the key elements when dealing with situations in Real Estate when everyone involved is one sided. Otherwise why other reason would we exist? We are the third party. We valuate based on our own opinions no matter how much we get yelled at for not "playing ball".For more commentary, stay tuned for more updates in the future. For more information on this author please visit the San Diego Appraiser at http://www.sandiego-appraiser.com/