Yep that was on the appraisers report.  An entire neighborhood in Woodbridge is built on a toxic waste dump.  What does the lender do with this little piece of news? 

It is just one of the new twists that we are seeing when appraisers who may be unfamiliar with a neighborhood head out to provide the lender with a value on a home.  Now anyone who is familiar with the neighborhood in question knows that there isn't now or has there ever been toxic waste associated with the site.

After weeks of back and forth, a significantly delayed settlement and a frantic first time homebuyer the issue was resolved.  What did it take?  A new appraisal to refute that the neighborhood wasn't contaminated with some strange combination of chemicals sure to cause a nighttime glow and mutated mosquitos and of course the buyer had to pay for it!

Then yesterday while anxiously waiting for the appraisal results on another property the word came down that the assigned appraiser was on vacation and wouldn't be getting to the property for another few days.  Okay so why don't you assign another appraiser?  Just not the way the new system works is the reply.  But our anticipated closing is a week away.  So that isn't our problem.

Don't get me wrong I think appraisers are a key piece to the puzzle and if we had some stronger regulations when the market was going crazy we might have kept some, not all of today's mortgage mess from happening.  But the newest wrinkle with the HVCC has come at a time when we need appraisers to know the area they are assigned as well as the agents who list the homes.

I'm sure at some point we will all look back on these days with a better feeling that what we have now.  For the moment the sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach over multiple appraisals being delayed and coming back with strange notations is keeping me from having a balanced perspective.