I'm not an appraiser and I don't play on on TV but I feel fairly confident of my ability to value property pretty fairly.  Granted, sometimes the Seller wants a little more and over prices the listing.  If they don't I usually feel we'll make it past any appraisal.

It seems, though, that appraisers are really reveling in their new found independence.  I also hear that a lot of appraisers are getting the short shrift, money wise, from all these third party clearing houses that lenders have to go through to order an appraisal.  So, I can see where appraisers may feel a tad resentful and also feeling their wild oats a bit.

Recently, I was listing a home in a neighborhood that could reasonably be called "moderately priced". There was a mixture of short sales, foreclosures and "plain vanilla" sales in the area so I had to really think about it but I came up with what I thought was a reasonable value.  The Seller want $10K more. So be it.

Amazingly (to me), the house had 27 showings and 4 offers in 2 days.  The Seller was sure we she had under priced her house and was having all kinds of second thoughts. However, she moved forward with one of the offers which was both reasonable and realistic. 

Fast forward to the appraisal.

The appraiser calls and says she wants to come by that day.  OK, I'm thinking to myself.  I have the key and it was the same key 27 Realtors used to show the house.  I set the appointment to meet the appraiser.  Lo and behold, the Seller had locked a top lock to which I had no key.  I couldn't get in.  The appraiser couldn't get in.  She was a little miffed.  She said she would call "when she was coming back to the area." OK.  Works for me.

Now, it turns out the appraiser isn't coming back (VA, by the way) and she isn't stepping foot inside the house. She's sending her appraisal to the lender and the buyer's agent called me to tell me it might come in low. The buyer's agent doesn't know how much lower than the contract price, what comps were used or anything.

So, I wait. An irritated appraiser who could care less if the seller, buyer or lender are affected one way or the other.  An appraiser that won't put the fact of multiple offers into the equation.  A VA appraisal that, for all the appraiser knows, may or may not have conditions that need to be addressed. An appraiser who comes from God knows where into a neighborhood she may or may not know anything about.

I sent comps to the buyer's agent but I suspect the buyer's agent probably doesn't care how low the appraisal comes in.

Hey, if it was easy, anyone could do it, huh?