How to get the BEST APPRAISAL

Let's face it, for mortgage lenders this is critical. I'm certainly not saying it isn't important for the client or the Realtor,but here's the issues I face when preparing their mortgage.

I'm not an expert with assigning a value to a property. Without a doubt, the Realtor is much better prepared for this than I. Certainly if your home is being sold, one of the first items they provide you is a CMA to price your home. But what if we're doing a refinance?

I have been requesting a preliminary value from the appraisersI work with. Respectful of their time, I don't like doing this for more than one Appraiser. I want to work with 1 that is available and I trust. If we value to high, the Underwriter is going to cut it back. This just happened to my borrower in a Forebearance Agreement. Imagine how excited we were to think we could save his home and equity, only to find the Underwriter wouldn't accept the value. EVEN WITH THE EXACT FLOOR PLAN NEXT DOOR JUST SOLD FOR THE SAME PRICE!

Zillow is clearly not a reliable source. Clay & Kathie Kimeof Fairfax, VA wrote a blog recently, To "Zillow" or Not to "Zillow" - that is the question. (I'ts nobler to use a Realtor(R)). They pointed out some clear differences in actual sale prices.

I want to provide the best service to my clients available. This does not include chasing Appraisers until I find one to give me the highest value on a home. I find value in the team of professionals I work with so that we all agree we've done our best to be fair to the client before submitting to a Lender for final approval. The last thing we want to do is disappoint our client by misleading with a false home value.