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APPRAISALS vs. BPOs: Can we please put an end to this insanity?
 
Today I want to address a question that I have long wondered about and have no good answer for, and that is why are BPOs ordered by lenders for short sales instead of appraisals?
 
Let’s think about this, and look at a few examples. When an investor, such as Fannie Mae, "invests" in a mortgage loan, they won’t accept a loan without an appraisal. Similarly, before a lender approves a loan, they don’t order a BPO, they order an appraisal. The most puzzling and irrational example is when the buyer and seller have the same lender...which is common with the larger lenders. I have seen the same lender, in the same transaction, order a BPO on the seller’s side, and then turn around and order an appraisal on the buyer’s side. Of course the BPO is always inflated, and somehow the same property has suddenly lost $50,000 in value in the weeks it took for that lender to approve the short sale. Why do BPOs even exist as the deciding factor on a short sale transaction?? Why can’t appraisals be ordered by all sides? Some can argue because they save time and money, but do they really?
 
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