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Appraisers Need to be from Our Local Area...like Ann Arbor....not S.E. Michigan

Appraisers need to be from our local area's like Ann Arbor and not S.E. Michigan. They don't know the area, the school districts or how we handle square footage. The problem is exacerbated with the Data Sharing.

Appraisers need to use the MLS that the listing originates from.

Why?

Data Sharing...is when the data from one MLS goes into the feed to another MLS. Not everyone uses the same fields so not all the data is transferred the same.

In the Ann Arbor Area MLS we have a field for Square Feet, (ok everyone does) but....here is how it is different from the Realcomp board and the problems it can cause.

Realcomp uses Square feet like this:

Upper______

Main_______

Basement_____

Total Finished Square Feet________

Ann Arbor only does this:

Square feet___________ Source____________

Now in the source field we can put: "Per owner, per assessor, per appraisal." However many agents in the Ann Arbor Area add the basement square footage in to make the home seem bigger. So they will say: S. F. 3000 Source Inc 1200 in LL

The square feet is really 1800 square feet NOT the 3000.

Now all of us in Ann Arbor, both Realtors and Appraisers can add and subtract so it is not a huge problem. However, if an appraiser is located out in the Realcomp MLS area, then the data imported only comes in at 3000.

NOT GOOD.

I have a headache

I found out last night one of my homes did not appraise. The buyer agent called me and I quickly went to our MLS to refresh myself on the comps that the appraiser would have used. No problem...there are 5 of them.

I wait and the buyer agent sends me over the Appraisal and I go through it to see if I can see how she came up with this house not appraising.

OH NO, SHE USED THE BASEMENT SQUARE FOOTAGE AND GAVE IT THE SAME VALUE AS THE UPPER AND MAIN LEVELS.

After I had gone through it and the buyer agent went through it, we met at his office and compared notes. He found the same errors that I did.

If an appraiser had used our Ann Arbor Area MLS, they would have known this included the finished basements.

We will get it worked out, but this should not have happened.

A local appraiser using our MLS would have seen the TRUE SQUARE FOOTAGE.

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Posted by Missy Caulk-Ann Arbor- Realtor(R)- Ann Arbor Real Estate on 10/14/2009 07:48 PM

Comments (23)

Appraisers in the ActiveRain Channel

appraisers, data sharing, ann arbor area board of realtors

Originally posted at: Ann Arbor Undressed : Appraisers Need to be from Our Local Area...like Ann Arbor....not S.E. Michigan

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23 Comments on Appraisers Need to be from Our Local Area...like Ann Arbor....not S.E. Michigan

OCT

I dont believe we are still fighting this after all these months. Wow.

Our square footage fields are set up the same as yours plus the basement square footage can be added in if it's walkout, so we have to be extra careful with the comps we use. It must be apples to apples.

Hi Missy, I'm a Realcomp member. When I pull up a listing it has 2 fields for square footage, above grade and finished basement. If the house doesn't have a finished basement, there is no reference to square footage for the basement. Realcomp rules also state that finished basement square footage can't be included in the overall square footage. Any misrepresentation is fineable. I wonder if there is a problem with the data transfer. It certainly creates an additional layer of work when the issues of appraisal come up. I do agree that it's better to have an appraiser that's familiar with the area.

Missy,

I commonly get calls from appraisers who beg for the data, as they are out of the area. And sometimes so far, that I can't believe that they could pop up on anyone's radar

The data does not transfer properly. She should have used the public records to verify. She used the walk-out LL in the comp then added another 18,000 on each house for the finished LL so a double wammy.

The data fields for Realcomp and Ann Arbor are not the same, we are changing ours in Ann Arbor, met with 3 appaisers a couple of weeks ago for the MLS committee.

Hear hear, couldn't agree with you more, always stay within your area of expertise even with appraisers!

I think it's just ridiculous that this is even allowed. Talk about a broken system. We need local appraisers MORE THAN EVER, I think. Seems like we get thrown from the frying pan into the fire more often than not lately, doesn't it?

BTW: How the heck are you? I've been MIA all summer, but I"m back :) Missed seeing all of my friends!

Good luck....this is thanks to the New York Attorney General and WAMU

Missy- Don't even get me started on this subject! You know how I feel about this! Katerina

Hi Missy - Another reason to have local appraisers: Recently on two occasions I have been asked by appraisers to meet me at the property and bring lockbox key, copy of the MLS listing and the contract, and any comps I used to determine the proper sale price. After some chit chat, I found out that neither of them had access to our MLS or data because they were from another county and couldn't be expected to keep up with everything in all of the counties they cover! At least the properties did appraise, since I provided all the supporting docs and walked them through the houses, pointing out the upgrades that the comps didn't have.

Missey - I agree with the need for a local appraiser. Some agents as well as appraisers don't understand (or care to learn) the boundaries of our city neighborhoods. Many city neighborhoods sell at premiums over other neighborhoods - even though they are just a block away. They simply do a radius search or an MLS area search. If you don't know the neighborhoods (and sometimes even the streets), you can really screw up an appraisal.

I just had a recent problem appraisal for a FHA loan where the appraiser got just about everything dead wrong and almost killed the deal. The appraiser said common areas/units weren't complete, there was a second phase and that we were pre-selling units in the second phase. ALL OF THESE ITEMS WERE 100% INCORRECT. The worst part was that the appraiser assigned an FHA number to the file and wouldn't change the appraisal even when presented with information that showed his appraisal comments to be incorrect. I don't know how the lender got the deal approved with such a lousy appraisal - but it took almost 3 months to get the deal closed.

Missy... this should be common sense. It shouldn't matter if it's an appraisal ordered through an AMC company just because of the HVCC issues. Even when I do loans out of state, an appraiser is chosen from the same town/area. But then again, I have seen some local appraisers get some things wrong. In regards to your blog, where was this appraiser from? And secondly, was it a local lender? Out of state?

jeff belonger

Missy, I had a short sale that I had to fight the value on all the way up to the CEO's office because the appraiser from out of the area utilized comps that were so far off, I could have done a better appraisal, which is unacceptable, as that is his area of expertise!!!!!!!!

Missy - I agree, we get appraisers from out-of-the area frequently, or review appraisers. They expect to have a lot of comparable properties in close proximity to the property. With the number of properties sold and the large area in our MLS, it can often be 15-30 miles between comparable properties.

Hi Missy, That was brilliant and I will bet half the people on here never thought of that. Thanks for making me smarter when discussing the different MLS's and how data shared could affect value.

Missy,

"Per owner, per assessor, per appraisal." However many agents in the Ann Arbor Areaadd the basement square footage in to make the home seem bigger. So they will say: S. F. 3000 Source Inc 1200 in LL"

Forgive me, but when the listing agents can't determine the square footage, it hardly seems fair to ask the appraisers to do it them selves.

As a listing agent I always measured myself. I did the same when appraising as an expert witness. As a lender I always checked th SQ FT in the listing and appraisal against the assessor, if they varied we normally had an unpermitted addition or an incompetent fool,or two. We prayed for the fool, it was much easier to correct.

Locally they do the same thing, if it's not on the assessor's site they say it's unknown. One house I was interested in the agent claimed it was indeterminable, when I looked at the house it was a 20 X 50 box! Talking with he agent I discovered she couldn't do the math. God help us.

It doesn't matter where an appraiser comes from with few exceptions, if they're competentand inspect the properties. We can't except much form one incompetent who depends on another!

Bill

OCT

Local appraisers should be the only game available. They have already been placed at a degree of separation from the actors in the transaction.

A typical example of government regulatory overkill.

Jeff, she was from one county over and uses a different IDX that we share data with. The fields don't match up.

William, we "can" measure but it in not required. Many brokers don't want the liability of their agents measuring. In our MLS we can add the basement square footage but must say it is added. That comment field doesn't transfer over, so it messes up the data if they are not using our MLS.

Heather, good job...I can't get past my negotiator on a short sale I am "trying to do".

Susan, I take the LB off until I get them out there and meet them. This was a no brainer, so I didn't.

Missy,

How sad!

They should instill and insist on competence and invest in a good E & O policy. Appraisal services should do the same! Maybe like the news media we should preface every statement with "allegedly!"

Bill

Missy, I've taken to meeting appraisers with a package of info and offering to help clarify anything they might want more info on. Not only do we need to be familiar with our MLS database but now we need to know how others in the state function! Thanks for providing a great example of why!

Missy, This is wonderful information and comes at a good time for me. I noticed that my square footage had increased...as well as my taxes. It seems the Village decided to re-evaluate my home from the OUTSIDE after all these years. I'm going to fight it...and now I know what to look for. Thank you.

OCT

Another good reason why appraisers should be in the market area that the home is located in!

Boy do I hear you here. One of my sales recently had an appraiser from a county that does not even touch ours - way out of area. The MLS he used had very few sales in our country so he missed several comps. Luckily it was an FHA so we could contest.

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