Appraiser shortage guidance.

[Luke Harrison]

I am looking to refinance my single family home in Mariposa California. I have been stuck in limbo waiting for an appraisal company to accept the contract to appraise my property. I have paid for appraisal 2 separate times, and had the money returned to me, and put in requests with 4 other appraisers, still no luck. Anybody else running into this issue, and has anyone figured out a solution, or have any recommendations?

[Francis Jonas Helstab]

Hi Luke, I have to agree with Andrew, but let me add this one thought; have you spoken with your lender about the possibility of an appraisal waiver? It's possible, using certain metrics, to bypass the appraisal altogether. There are also certain lenders that are starting to create their own appraiser networks (mostly to alleviate what you're dealing with right now). This is definitely a common problem that many people are running into right now. We just had an appraisal process in Rio Rico, Arizona that took six weeks and cost close to $1600.00. Without the appraisal waiver, you are pretty much at their mercy, but I think you would be surprised how often a home qualifies for the aforementioned appraisal waiver. That's how we have been overcoming the problem. We also constantly have our eyes out for lender programs that either alleviate or eliminate the appraisal process. Hope this helps.