Disaster number one. A Baltimore appraiser came down to do an appraisal in Olney. They came in 100k under value. This is according to the underwriter on the loan. Not according to the loan officer but the neutral 3rd party underwriter. When he requested additional comps they argued with him and didn’t want to provide them. Frame of reference; the property is in Olney and they went to Gaithersburg and Derwood for comps. If you don’t know why this is stupid just stop reading now, there is no point.
One more thing, when you go to the appraisal companies website they don’t even list the county where the appraisal was performed as one of their service areas. Think about it. It’s no wonder they delivered a poor appraisal.

Story #2. I ordered an appraisal last Wednesday and as Friday afternoon not even a call. As of Tuesday still no appraisal. The appointment has finally been sent though. Under the old system I would have already had the appraisal back to me. These delays will cost borrowers alot more than $500 though. Wait until rates are rising and loans are delayed becuase of the cumbersome appraisal process. It’s bound to happen.

Of course we don’t know if the home will appraise to meet the lender guidelines. We don’t even really have a clue. Either way the client has already paid and then we will find out of they wasted their money or not. VERY customer unfriendly. I never get to see the appraisal so I don’t know if they did a good job or not. Hopefully they won’t be from 3-4 counties away with zero knowledge of the area like the above case.