low appraisal: Will Low Appraisals Become a Problem?
- 02/21/23 11:18 AM
The spring 23 market is on around Atlanta and other areas, as the market heats up so do the questions. Will low appraisals become a problem again? After the nonsensical last two years, underwriters and lenders are tightening the reins when it comes to appraisals. Low Appraisals Become More Frequent Already this year, there has been an increase in appraisal related issues. Most frequent with VA and FHA loans as underwriters get back to holding the appraisals to strict underwriting. Appraisers have been receiving updates from FNMA as well, reminding them of "best practices" as the early 2023 housing market evolves. It would be (1 comments)
low appraisal: What Happens if the Appraisal Comes in Low?
- 01/19/23 07:17 AM
The hangover from the real estate market nonsense of the last couple of years continues. Everyone needs to reacclimate themselves with accurate pricing, contingencies, contract language and the many steps of getting a deal closed. One of the most challenging parts will be appraisals and knowing what happens if the appraisal comes in low. Lenders continue to issue bulletins to appraisers reminding them that the best comps are the most current. In other words, use closed sales that reflect the changing market. Underwriting is also closely evaluating the market conditions form, appraisers are expected to accurately reflect the market, not simply rubber (15 comments)
The appraisal conundrum continues to rage, we expect this is just a glimpse of what we’ll see come spring. Continued smothering appraisal underwriting, a shortage of closed sales available for use as comps and sellers expecting higher prices due to the “improving” Atlanta market will combine for a testy spring home selling season. But the apparent disconnect between appraisers and agents need not wait for spring. Appraisals have been blamed on derailing a lot of sales in recent years. In fact, more than one-third of REALTORS® recently reported that deals were canceled, delayed, or renegotiated to a lower price due (4 comments)
low appraisal: How Many Sales are Lost Due to Low Appraisals? Depends Who You Ask
- 10/10/12 12:30 AM
The issue of “low appraisals” and deals being “lost” in the Atlanta real estate market because of poor appraisal quality is one that isn’t going away anytime soon. Agents continue to share stories of seemingly solid Atlanta real estate agreements gone bad as a result of an appraisal that failed to support the contract price. The consequences are not pleasant and some deals will fall apart, other times sellers accept less to get the deal done, buyers add cash to increase the down payment or agents might give up part of their commissions. While the idea of challenging an appraisal may (8 comments)
low appraisal: Appraisal Smoking Gun? Pressure to Surpress Values?
- 09/11/12 01:09 AM
Quality Mortgage Service believes some appraisers are systematically being pressured to use a subset of market data that skews the calculated market value of the property backing the disputed mortgage. QMS says the scheme, which it calls FRAFing, or field review appraisal fraud, is often found in appraisals when mortgage repurchase demands are pushed backed to lenders for a claim based on a field review appraisal value. “The appraiser or someone is manipulating data and/or information in sections of the appraisal to obtain a targeted value result,” QMS President Tommy A. Duncan says. “They are ignoring the higher value of comparable (1 comments)
low appraisal: Appraisers Not at Fault for ‘Low’ Home Values
- 07/16/12 09:20 AM
Intuitively we agents understand that many of the appraisal issues being experienced are due to more than "poor appraisers". Just as the sales business has agents that should be doing anything but advising buyers and sellers, so too does the appraisal industry. The major difference however are the number of influences directly impacting the appraisal industry in this current market. How many agents would thrive with underwriter and reviewer hands around their necks? With an unprecedented level of micromanagement? With being forced to accept slashed fees and increased report requirements? The Appraisal Institute finally did something worthwhile and published a short (1 comments)
low appraisal: Are Appraisers Scared to Report Increasing Values?
- 06/28/12 11:58 AM
Issues with “low” appraisals continue to haunt the real estate recovery and they remain a thorn in the side of the real estate industry. The National Association of Realtors polled its members and found that 33 percent of agents had appraisal problems during May ’12. In Atlanta, problems with appraisals are exacerbated by the constant bashing from national data services like Case-Shiller. They note that Atlanta was the worst performing city they track form 3/11 to 3/12 with a 17.7 percent drop. This is of course nonsensical as Case Shiller should not consider an area comprised of 22 counties as ONE (4 comments)
low appraisal: Appraisals Continue to Be an Issue
- 05/07/12 08:23 AM
Tens of thousands of homeowners continue to have trouble taking advantage of historically low interest rates. Real estate agents and home builders complain that between 10%-40% of their contracts either require modification or fall apart. The culprit? Real estate appraisals that fail to support value. Are appraisers told to come in low? Is there motive? No and no. The first thing to remember is that an appraiser does not set value, the market does. The indicated value of the appraised home is set by recent comparable sales in the same area, including short sales and foreclosures. Appraisers have explicit guidelines to follow (16 comments)
low appraisal: Challenging Low Appraisals
- 11/01/11 02:44 PM
As if there weren’t enough land mines to dodge and punji pits to avoid in the current Atlanta real estate market, we continue to see a steady increase in the number of appraisal issues. Low appraisals are most common with refinance loans but over the last year appraisal challenges continue to increase on the sales side. The struggling Atlanta real estate market is similar to the national one; 10 percent of the nation’s Realtors said they had sales canceled because appraisals came in below the price buyers agreed to pay, according to a January survey by the National Association of Realtors. (8 comments)
The HMT blog is written by Hank Miller of The Hank Miller Team. He is a licensed broker and certified real estate appraiser in the state of GA. Since 1989, real estate has been his full time occupation and Hank consistently ranks at the very top of Atlanta area agents in overall production. He is known as much for his attention to detail as he is for his candor.