This appraisal thing has me furious!!! - Posted by The Baze

Posted by Mr Donald (NORVA) on October 24, 1998 at 17:30:11:

Apologies accepted.

Remember, revenge is a dish best served cold. So temper your teutonic angst, and wait until after your deal closes.

Then a few weeks later, start making discreet enquiries to the appropriate agencies and licensing boards. It’s much better to take care of this when the appraiser least expects it - and actually far more satisfying too.

This appraisal thing has me furious!!! - Posted by The Baze

Posted by The Baze on October 23, 1998 at 19:50:19:

For those that don’t remember or didn’t read my post about lousy appraisals, my house that I know is worth at least $53,000 appraised for $38,000. Knowing this to be wrong, I hired a new appraiser and it came back at $54,500. So I send a copy of the new appraisal and a nice (for me anyway) letter to the first set of morons explaining that they were wrong and if they want to avoid some unpleasantness,(no, I didn’t threaten them) they should give me my money back. They faxed me back basically telling me NO! Now I’m really angry. So someone please tell me how to do this the peaceful, civilized way. This isn’t about the money. It’s about someone who refuses to be held accountable for their failure to do the job properly. Is there some licensing board appraisers have to register with? Is there someone I can take this to before resorting to the judicial system? This may seem trivial, after all it’s only $300. But to me it’s the principle of the thing. I cannot tolerate someone thinking they won’t be held accountable. If a contractor failed to fix my house properly, I wouldn’t pay him. Why then should I have to pay for an appraisal that wasn’t done correctly?

Tom Bazley

GET OVER IT !!! - Posted by JohnG

Posted by JohnG on October 25, 1998 at 21:25:07:

If you let such a small item as this get you down then you may not be suited for this business.
There are so many situations out there that you will have to deal with on a daily basis when you are working full time on this business that you had better develop a tough skin or you will not last.
Let me share some of my weekend off with you.
Saturday, I have plans with the wife and kids to go out and enjoy the fall air and walk the dog etc.
I get an 8 am call from my lawyer - a purchaser who was to show up to sign papers didn’t show and my lawyer came in early on a Saturday - boy is he mad.
At 9 am, I am dealing with a buyer from hell - who is getting a great deal on a 15 suiter I own and now he is trying to grind me for nickles and dimes on some other stuff after the deal is done.
At 10 am I get a call from a tenant from hell who is not satisfied with just making life miserable for my new resident manager - but now she has to call and make my life miserable.
At 11 am I dealing with a buyer for a SFR who has lied about his credit rating and there is no way I can get him financing and HE is mad at me. Hey I didn’t get the R-9 on my bureau by not paying my bills.
At noon, I get a call from another property I own and I am now the proud owner of a new boiler - after I just had the present one inspected before I bought the building.
At 1 pm I am on the phone to another resident manager and it seems that we have a problem with tenants and their habit of not paying rent and there is nothing I can do. This property is 3000 miles away and the laws are soooo different over there.
Hey, its 1pm. I’m supposed to meet my wife, kids and dog and go for that walk … Another day , just like a whole bunch of other days.
If you are going to pursue this business full time and with passion (personal power was my guide in 89)
then, as my friends, the Eagles say, GET OVER IT .
Go for it and treat every obstacle big or small as a minor irritation that will be gone by noon. An obstacle is something you see when you take your eye off the goal.

Re: This appraisal thing has me furious!!! - Posted by JPiper

Posted by JPiper on October 24, 1998 at 17:19:03:

Invariably when I have these types of feelings, my first reaction is similar to yours.

At these times I try to remember to step outside myself, and take a look back. It always amuses me. Here I am furious over what in the scheme of things is a somewhat small matter that I?ve already worked out.

This situation isn?t bothering anyone but you right now?.certainly not the appraiser in question. You?ve spent days now being possessed by this thing. I wonder what other productive things you might have accomplished if you weren?t quite so possessed? Or perhaps the few moments you might have enjoyed pondering what appears to be a very nice transaction.

At this point the appraiser in question really has you in the ultimate ?gotcha?. Not only did he give you a bad appraisal, but now he has control of your feelings as well. I?m not trying to invalidate your feelings?.I think they?re valid. But take a run around the block. Thank your lucky stars you?re smart enough to have solved this problem. Thank your lucky stars for this deal, and the fact that you?re putting money in your pocket. If you want to rectify the ill?s of the RE business you?re going to be quite occupied doing a lot of time consuming and nonproductive work.

Well I?m off to beat the tar out of that Realtor that won?t call me back!!

JPiper

Re: Cost of doing biz - Posted by Mr Donald (NORVA)

Posted by Mr Donald (NORVA) on October 24, 1998 at 14:45:38:

$300? It’s the cost of doing business. At least your worst fears WERE NOT confirmed…that the 1st appraisal was actually correct.

So you got what you wanted, and you know whom to play with, and whom to stay away from in the future.

For $300 on a $54,000 house, I’d relax and enjoy it.

Read my post earlier on how to avoid this situation. It’ll skirt the grey line - but as they say: Seek and ye shall get.

Put it behind you… - Posted by Soapymac

Posted by Soapymac on October 24, 1998 at 14:00:48:

and remember their name.

You are in for the long haul…I can tell… and over the years, NOT using this firm will save you a tremendous amount of money.

I can picture it now…you are talking with another invester and he asks you about this firm. Without getting in the rant and rave mode of talking, just relate in a dispassionate tone of voice what happened to you…and why you do not use them anymore.

In New England we have a phrase for what you just did to that firm. It’s pronounced “come uppance.” An Olde English term for the modern day “gotcha!”

Cordially,

Soapymac

Re: This appraisal thing has me furious!!! - Posted by Randy

Posted by Randy on October 24, 1998 at 10:58:15:

If the appraiser that you used was licensed or certified then they are required to abide by the rules of USPAP. If these rules are not upheld, then the appraiser is subject to stiff fines, revocation of licensure, or even jail time. These standards require that an appraiser NOT prepare an appraisal report based on a preconceived value, minimum valuation, the occurrence of a subsequent event in order to recieve compensation, or the need to approve a specific mortgage loan. Your appraiser was hired to prepare a report and to give an expert opinion.

I am the first one to say that improperly prepared appraisals should be reviewed through proper channels. An appraiser should not “come in” too high or too low. The appraiser should, and is required, to review and study the market to come up with an accurate reflection of the current market trends and values. Who knows? Your appraiser may be wrong, in which case the report should be reviewed.

The ONLY way to actually PROVE that a property is worth $XX, is to put it up for sale at an arms length transaction. When it sells, you have concrete proof in the form of $XX. Kind of a “See, I told you so” thing.

I would flip the property for whatever price you can get and just eat the $300. Call it the cost of business. With the numbers you have given us, $300 isn’t going to break your deal. I would spend $300 to earn thousands of $ and to learn a lesson any day. It seems that you have already found an appraiser that thinks like you anyway.

Just my .02

Randy

Re: This appraisal thing has me furious!!! - Posted by Eduardo (OR)

Posted by Eduardo (OR) on October 23, 1998 at 22:43:46:

Baze–

Just a couple of points not on your main question. You don’t say if first appraiser was a bank (or any lending institution) appraiser. It is a well known fact that several appraisers (I’ve worked with appraisers on the valuation of over 4,000 properties in the past 5 years) can come up with different values on the same property and if they are within 5%-10% of one another they are all considered to be right. For example, if three appraisers came up with $95,000, $100,000 and $105,000 on the same house, they are all within an “acceptable” range, and the value can be set at any of these figures (but would more likely be set at the average). Secondly, it is also a well-known fact (although many appraisers would, quite naturally, argue this point because they, by law, are required to value property honestly and fairly) that lending institution appraisers tend to value property conservatively, that is tend to the lower end of an acceptable range of value. They do this because they are hired by financially conservative institutions that don’t wish to take risks–they want there to be as much equity in the property over the loan amount as possible, a prudent concern for any business. (The general public sometimes believes that the opposite is true–that lenders appraise high in order to loan more money. This is definitely not the case if you exam the data.) I don’t know why the discrepency is so large in your case, just wanted to inform on these two points. --Eduardo. P.S. As we all know, in every city there is at least one appraiser who will do appraisals to order if you pay him enough money. Been there, seen that.

Regulatory agenct - Posted by PBoone

Posted by PBoone on October 23, 1998 at 20:28:59:

Tom,
In Oregon the appraiser have to answer to the Department of consumer and business. the web address is www.cbs.state.or.us
The or in this address represents Oregon maybe you can replace it with your state abbreviation.
Pat

Good one Jim - Posted by The Baze

Posted by The Baze on October 24, 1998 at 19:37:44:

Jim,
I tried to stay angry, but the last line of your post cracked me up. You’re right, of course. As a Personal Power student, you’d think I’d be better at taking control of my own emotions and not letting them control me. I guess I needed something to snap me out of my funk. Thanks.

Tom Bazley

Re: Cost of doing biz - Posted by The Baze

Posted by The Baze on October 24, 1998 at 15:57:57:

Remember, I said this was not about the money. I can eat the $300 without a great deal of hardship, but what I can’t stand is the AUDACITY of these people to refuse to be held accountable. There is NO WAY on earth they could have come up w/ that value if they had done the job properly. Like I said, I own the house across the street, and I’ve dealt in that area (ON THAT STREET, to be more specific) in the past, and I knew going in what the value is. This has become personal. I know, most of you will say “Get over it and move on,” and you’re right, I should. But I live by the motto of being accountable for your actions, and the fact that these jerks are refusing to do so infuriates me beyond words. I will not let this go. If I can’t resolve this by peaceful, civilized means, then I will resolve it my way. But understand this, IT WILL BE RESOLVED!!!

Tom Bazley

I shouldn’t have said that - Posted by The Baze

Posted by The Baze on October 24, 1998 at 16:06:00:

Sorry, I shouldn’t have come across like that. I’m having a bad day, and being reminded of this situation brought out the worst in me (German temper). Please don’t go thinking there’s a nutcase on this board who’s going to resort to violence to solve this problem. I will not do that. I just had to vent some frustration and this was the forum that was there at the moment. I offer my aplologies.

Tom Bazley