Appraiser tryna screw me?

[Jonathan Perez]

So I was considering selling my duplex. I got with an agent and she referred me to an appraiser. I gave the appraiser my PM info and he was to schedule a time and day to go out and look at the duplex. He calls me on the day after he had already left to tell me that the PM never showed up to meet him at the house. He says that he did walk around and measured and did half of the appraisal but that for him to come back out he would have to charge me. I asked him if he gave the PM a call when he got there and he said no. I asked why didn’t you give them a call? I mean I get that that didn’t show up but a simple “Hey where you at?” Is all you could’ve at least done. So because of that he ONLY did the outside and didn’t get to go inside either unit. He then says he can go off of what I tell him the inside is like but I prefer he goes in and looks hisself since he’s the appraiser and I don’t want ANY thing to be misinformed.

So I was going to go with someone else instead because to me that shows a lack of integrity.

He texts me this morning asking if I got another time for him to come out and told him I was all all set. Sure enough he asks if I’m going to pay for what he did. I say what did you do? He says basically that he did the appraiser. My question is, is it really an appraisal if he didn’t go inside the unit? I mean that’s where most of the upgrades. What do you guys think?

The appraisal initially was going to be $450. So if I let him go back out to look at the inside, he says he’s going to have to charge me another $50. I feel like he’s trying to cheat me.

[Bonnie Low]

Hi, Jonathan - I don't know if the appraiser is trying to screw you - but he definitely sounds very unprofessional to say the least. Were you getting an appraisal to find out how much your property is worth so you could decide whether or not to sell it? In other words your agent couldn't give you an ARV based on all the work you did so you wanted an independent appraisal in order to understand how to price it? I ask because usually the lender is the one who arranges for an appraisal, not the agent. That's the person I would be looking at in this deal - why can't your agent give you a value and does he or she understand this appraiser isn't very professional? I have never, ever heard of an appraiser saying they can give you a value based on what you tell them the inside looks like. That's a red flag for sure. Maybe call the state board that regulates appraisers and ask them what they think of this practice and what recourse you may have.