Washington Mortgage Appraisal Changes affecting the Lynnwood Area

I have enjoyed working in mortgage origination for the last eight years along the I5 and 405 corridors.

On May 1^st, 2009 a new appraisal guidelines known as Home Valuation Code of Conduct or HVCC were enforced and I would like to share with you what changes to expect when applying for a home loan now.

The first major change of HVCC is that anyone involved with loan origination or production cannot order appraisals. This means that pricing breaks and speedy service can no longer be guaranteed. Expect appraisals to take around fourteen days from ordering to completion. Because Lynwood is the crossroads for Highway 99, I5, and 405 expect a wide range of different appraisers with different turn times to be selected to do appraisals.

The second major change is that the borrower or mortgage broker may no longer pay the appraiser. Instead, the borrower has to pay a third party or the lender who then forwards the payment to the appraisal company. Loan originators will now be asking which credit card you would like to place the appraisal on.

The third major change is that ten percent or a sizeable sample size of all appraisals must be "quality control tested." This change will result in delays of days to up to a week for up to 10% of all loans, determined randomly. Quality control testing will significantly impact unique or different properties often found in Lynnwood. We have far more custom built houses here and it is not uncommon for "quality control testing" to ask for closer comparables to custom houses then what exists on the marketplace.