All Forum Posts by: Patrick Britton

@Logan L. Yeah you're missing the most important part: ignore "rules" created by others to overly simplify a process that is highly personal and subjective.

It doesn't matter if your property doesnt meet the guidelines others use. The only thing that matters is whether it works or not for you. Don't forget the real numbers are going to look very different from your numbers on paper.

@Chris Shue all of us are CRAZY busy so i am not surprised when it takes 3 weeks to get a report back AFTER the inspection has been completed.  This is the sort of wait and hassle that comes with too few appraisers and too many deals.  

@Vincent Donofrio  sounds like you were dealing with RCN Capital.  

Remove the idea from thought.  It is IMPOSSIBLE to become an appraiser because no appraisers want to train a new person, even if you paid them.  

It is not worth it.  

Has anyone come across a financial institution that will do home equity line of credits or smaller cash out refinances under $50,000?  The property is owned outright, worth about $110,000 in the South side of Chicago.  

thanks! 

@Kris Lamb   "My question is why would an appraiser come to such a lower number then all the comps pulled and every report we pulled?"  Likely the comps require certain adjustments which brings their net sold price down.

"Is it worth disputing since everything I read says VA appraisal won't change and is an uphill battle." VA appraisers (like those who can perform FHA) are difficult to come by since there are so few (relatively) of them. They tend, on average, to be older, more stuck in their ways, less educated and indifferent to the needs of buyers, sellers, lenders, etc. Therefore, next time don't consider offers that require VA (or FHA) financing. Frankly, I would consider YOUR timing and whether or not you can wait for the reconsideration of value to yield anything. Disputing a VA appraisal is definitely tough, but not impossible. Unfortunately it would require looking at the appraisal to determine if it's worth fighting.

"Will we be entitled to the earnest money? I’m sure they did order the appraisal and inspection on time in good faith. The inspection was 8 days and appraisal 11 after the 10 days. But they where both completed past the 10 days in our contact says they are to be completed."      Most likely, your contract stipulates that the appraisal needs to be ORDERED within a certain timeframe, not that the report has to come back by a certain timeframe.  i would check that and speak with your realtor.  

"I feel they could have pushed both to happen with in our 10 days and all they did was order it and never followed up to make them happen in the 10 days."    What actual evidence do you have to support your feeling?  Being unhappy with the result doesn’t necessarily mean the other side did not do enough, do something wrong, or made an honest mistake.  

@Alecia Loveless "I just had my 3 unit that I’m buying that was originally listed at $295,000 which is what the appraisal was ordered at and is on the appraisal (but was dropped to $200,000) come in at $234,000 by an appraiser who has been a thorn in my side for years. He once ruined a sale for me by appraising something $295,000 less than the list price and after that it took me 3 more years and a loss of $335,000 to get it sold again. I will definitely go back to my practice of stating as a stipulation in my contracts that this particular man, and list his name and company can not do appraisals on my properties that I am buying."

While I am very much in favor of blacklisting individuals for various things, you're not going to have any success here. Believe me, I have tried and it never works. It's like saying that you're not going to work with somebody because they don't give you what you want.  

It doesn't matter if you're right or justified in your action, lenders don't care, Especially now that real estate has reached stupid and insane levels of craziness. Lenders are looking for excuses to not lend out money so you're not going to get any help from them.

@Hady Farag "Appraiser used comps of 5 recently sold homes from $425 - 500k yet there 16 more comps in the area that were sold for 585k and more"

"Granted, it is a newer build compared to the property I’m looking at (2006 vs. 1918) but from what I understand that shouldn’t have much of an impact on the appraisal."    

You think it's reasonable to compare brand new construction with something built over 100 years ago? As an appraiser I will tell you that is a massive issue. Massive. Whatever anyone else tells you in biggerpockets know only this, that is your problem. Appraisers are required to adhere to the uniform standards of professional appraisal practices and one of the biggest impacts to value are the effective and actual ages. have a close look at that because I think your answer is quite obvious.

@Peter M. I will second with Peter said. Most sellers are idiots and always accept the highest offer and that will often put them in very difficult positions down the line when the buyers can't close for one reason or another, usually because of the appraisal or some kind of financing issue.

There's no way to guarantee a value but you could always hire a private appraiser to get a rough idea, but whatever financial institution you're going to end up using is going to hire their own appraiser.