appraisals: FAQ's: Step 8 to Finding Your Home: The Appraisal - 06/04/12 11:47 AM
If you plan to get a mortgage to buy your home, your lender will insist upon an appraisal to ensure that your home is worth what you are paying for it.  This is not a form of consumer protection to make sure you are not paying too much, but an effort to protect the bank's interests. The lender usually puts a lot more money into the home that the buyer does!
Most of the time, my clients have appraisals at or even a bit higher than the sales price.  But every once in a while, one comes in at a number … (9 comments)

appraisals: Addressing Appraisal Fiascos: Something Fishy Is Going On Here! - 07/11/10 03:34 AM
Addressing Appraisal Fiascoes:  Something Fishy Is Going On Here!
Amy Salisbury's post, Lenders & Appraisers : No More Silent Treatment! tipped me off to Ken Hearney's column in yesterday's Washington Post, To boost quality, Fannie Mae calls for experienced appraisers.  Although nothing seems to shock me any more, Ken's column did.  While all of us are painfully aware that the appraisal process is totally broken, the details in this article were pretty outrageous.
It seems that Fannie Mae has finally figured out that many lenders are using "electronic valuation systems" that are currently online to check the work of the appraisers … (14 comments)

appraisals: Funky Appraisals: The Trapeze Without a Net - 05/01/10 06:25 AM
Today, Betsy Schuman wrote an excellent post, TO APPRAISE OR NOT TO APPRAISE - THAT IS THE QUESTION?   which is an issue close to the hearts and minds of many DC area buyers and sellers, especially when multiple offers are involved.Betsy, I wanted to write a comment, but I couldn’t!  So here are my comments on your post:Betsy’s advice is exactly what I’ve been giving my clients.  If it’s a multiple offer situation and you want the house, you need to lose the appraisal contingency.  But as long as you are the only offer on the table, try to keep it.Having … (2 comments)

appraisals: This Is A "What If?" It'll Never Happen! - 03/31/08 12:40 PM
Well, it could happen.  This is a true story, and it happened to a colleague a few years ago.
She had a listing that was gorgeous, well priced and sold with multiple offers for substantially more than the list price.  The lucky winner of this bloody bidding war woke up a couple of days later in one of those "What was I thinking?" panics.  The only way out could be a short fused appraisal contingency.  
So this panicky buyer called his lender and said he wanted to ensure that the appraiser did not have any information on the selling price … (26 comments)

appraisals: Appraisal Madness? - 02/15/08 02:51 AM
OK, I know.  When it comes to who's getting the blame for the current mortgage mess, residential real estate appraisers are probably very close to the front of the scape goat line.  And we all know that the process can be about as scientific as a roulette wheel!  In this new market, I'm not at all surprised that my latest experience involved a highly conservative appraisal on a home i just sold.  But have the basic ground rules changed all that much in the last few months?
This house is in a popular close-in Virginia suburb.  It's inside the Beltway in … (11 comments)

 
Patricia Kennedy,  Home in the Capital (RLAH@Properties)

Patricia Kennedy

Home in the Capital

Washington, DC

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RLAH@Properties

Address: 2001 S Street NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC , 20009

Mobile: (202) 549-5167

Office: (202) 759-7581

Pat Kennedy -- author of The Irreverent Guide to Real Estate -- gives you a look at life on the streets as a real estate broker in our nation's capital. And her blog is peppered with great advice combined with humor!


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