Appraiser came back at $107/Sq ft for a house that is bid at $140. Comps that he used ar 11 years old and 2 eight year old homes.

This is for a new build in Brazos County

Do you have an agent? I'd fight like hell on that one.

I'd be curious to hear your guesses.

We are trying to build on our own lot in an established area . we have asked the appraiser and the guy that he contracts under to reevaluate with no luck. They stand by their appraisal.

For new construction, he/she should be using some new comps and some existing sales. The existing sales should be close in age if possible.

I would file a rebuttal based on the age of the comps. Work with your realtor and find the best new construction comps in your area. The ones that are most similar to your home. They need to be sales. An appraiser can NOT use comparables that are build jobs on buyer owned lots. The land and home have to have sold together.

Send them the 3 or 4 best sales in your area (that support your position) and point out that they are more similar in age and however else they are better comps (same quality, more similar gla, more recent, more similar lot size, etc).

If the appraiser won't reconsider, I'd pursue getting another appraisal.

ChampsAg said:

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I'd be curious to hear your guesses.

We are trying to build on our own lot in an established area . we have asked the appraiser and the guy that he contracts under to reevaluate with no luck. They stand by their appraisal.

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They are not going to just "reevaluate". Give them better comps than what they used. Do what I said in the previous post.

Write it up and point out that they neglected to use sales that are similar in age when they are actually available.

Be professional and avoid being snarky.

Say something like this.

Please consider these comparable sales. 1., 2, 3, 4. We realize they are slightly farther away than ideal (assuming they are and there aren't sales in your immediate area), however ,they are new construction and are of similar quality to the subject.

You can go into other points like quality, size, lot size or whatever you and your realtor feel are obvious problems with their comps.

Also, ask the builder what he paid for the lot (or if you bought it yourself, get that paperwork). Compare that to the price that the appraiser gave to the lot. It's been a few years, but I had a new build in CS come in low, and the discrepancy between what the builder paid for the lot vs what he valued it for was the ONLY thing that he was willing to adjust the appraisal for.

I'm wondering if you're thinking of the person who appraised one about 2 years ago. Comps were so strange - first time I had ever experienced a lender flagging an appraisal.

Clients were nearly homeless and the hoops we jumped through to get that closed could have been in a circus act.

Did he do a cost approach? He should have if it was new

11 and 8 year old comps? wow. Are you building a very unique home type or anything? And I bet I know who did that report as well.

Appreciate all the feedback.

We bought and own the lot.
The bank sent it out for appraisal, the appraisers apparently are chosen on a rotating basis.
We have sent in a rebuttal and the appraiser stood by his original appraisal. The builder has called and talked to both the bank and the appraiser to no avail.
Called the owner of the company that the appraiser works under and he also stood by the appraisal.
Our loan officer went to her boss and he said that she can't order a new appraisal. My wife is calling him today.
Big negative is that we will have to pay for both the appraisals

Between a rock and a hard place...

I've got 4 new construction loans going in BCS right now. One in a country club community came in low. Comp 1 was a condo, comp 2 was a 12 year old house 10 miles away. Appraiser would not back down.

We ended up having to switch lenders days before we should have been closing.

I don't remember what comp 3 was but comp 1 was a condo, comp 2 an older home south of town and the subject a 4,800 SF custom in a high end CC community.

I'M going to assume that there is nothing we can do but request a new appraisal. Problem now is that the bank president that would have to approve that won't return our or the builder's phone call.

Really don't want to go to another lender but I'm afraid that we are our of options.

Did you do what Aggie Appraiser explained above i.e. provide relevant comps?

We did. They continue to stand by the original

If you don't get it worked out, give us a call. 979-775-0404
Ask for Brad or Denise.

Wife just said that the bank refused to order another appraisal

Amen. Quality of work doesn't seem to matter.

Champ the lender can't just order a new appraisal because it didn't make value.

change lenders or pony up the difference.

If the bank refused a new one, then maybe the house isn't worth as much as you think it is.

They followed guidelines about a second appraisal rather than refusing to order another.

my boss is refinancing right now and his appraiser is being a ****** as well. Though his got his feelings hurt, so now he keeps adding in snarky comments to the report, and underwriting keeps kicking it back.

appraiser said he needed to vent his crawlspace (his crawlspace isnt really a crawl space, as it is open to his basement and holds the venting for his HVAC). Lender argued on this and won. Appraiser then said his foundation was failing. This area is known for crappy soil, they had engineer write report saying settling is a known issue here, and in his expert opinion, the house was structurally sound.

Appraiser got mad. report has now been sent back 4 times.



tldr: everyone is hating appraisers right now everywhere.

jac4 said:

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Don't consumers have a right to know who the crappy appraisers are?

Can any of y'all with specific bad experiences post the names?

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The consumer is the lender not the buyer... So the banks do know who the crappy appraisers are.

Also, I always understood age of home factors little to nothing into an appraisal but condition was a big deal.

DallasAggie0 said:

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Did he do a cost approach? He should have if it was new

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Not enough info to really make that call.

ChampsAg said:

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Wife just said that the bank refused to order another appraisal

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Use another lender, how much time do you have until closing?

I have apparently left out some key information and I apologize for that.

My wife and I own a lot in Brazos County. We have our plans finalized and havery been working on getting the construction loan. Found a bank we liked, filled out paperwork and were told we could start building as soon as the appraisal came back.

Rest if the story is as stated. WE are currently looking at other lenders. WE now know that we can request the list of appraisers and scratch any we know about that have a history of coming in low.

And for everyone wondering I believe the company was Paramount in CS

Wife corrected me!

ChampsAg said:

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WE now know that we can request the list of appraisers and scratch any we know about that have a history of coming in low.

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Assuming what has been in this thread is true, the problem is not that the appraisal came in low, but that the appraiser selected comparable sales that do not accurately reflect the subject property. I assume you are building in an existing subdivision and they used comps from the immediate area. The logic would be that they are pulling comps from your immediate market area and that is the best indication of your value. On the other hand, comps should be similar in age and quality if possible.



Regarding some of the comments about having a condo or a manufactured home used as a comparable sale for a site built home, it's hard to believe those things happened. I have never seen it done or even heard of it happening. Things like that need to be investigated.