Lania- I have seen that as well. Nobody wants to step up. They want to play it safe.

Right Mark...and in this case "playing it safe" is low balling equity. It's just as wrong as inflating equity. It's worse in my opinion because it's taking value that IS THERE away from someone for no good reason.

Lania, I am an appraiser and I only speak for myself on this (or any topic).  I can tell you that I do not fudge the wrong way, below value as you are suggesting.   I try to do my home work on each property and come up with the most probably sales price the subject would command as compared to sales in the subject's market area....the theory of substitution.

 Right now with so many markets declining we are seeing lender guidelines changing often.  Many of the banks are asking for at least two comps of the 3 closed sales to be less than 90 days old and we are being asked to provide at least 1 or two pending sales or active listings that support the value. 

In many cases I am seeing better indication of value from the active market than from closed sales especially if the closed sales are 4 or 5 months old.  If the market is declining then value is more likely to come from the lower range of value indicated by my comps rather than the high side. 

Am I trying to be conservative? No, not really, I am trying to give my opinion of the most probably price the subject will sell for and if the market shows a downward trend well I have to take that into consideration.

That said, I am sorry you have had trouble -- it is not easy these days. 

Alright Alisa...I'll give you that, but if you and everyone else does what you are describing, won't it be virtually IMPOSSIBLE to ever see the values go up again? Someone has to "take the leap" and actually say what the value of the home is based on other factors as well.

I think that unfortunately, there was a lot of pressure put on the appraisers during the housing boom. Otherwise, how could people have possibly bought the houses at those prices?

Lania, not impossible at all.  This is not our first downward trend and prices managed to escalate to stellar heights after the last cycle.  Those prices were brought about by many things including multiple offers.  Once the market turns around then prices will start rising again and the trend will be recognized and reported by appraisers.

Alisa...I know that and I was being facetious. Multiple offers STILL have to appraise if they are not cash offers and WHO are these appraisers who use the approach YOU described and are still able to come in at those values? It would be virtually impossible using the data you just told me you use. Someone has to put on their thinking cap and evaluate the amenities and the upgrades, the situation and size of the lot...YOU KNOW, THE ACTUAL VALUE OF EACH PROPERTY.

I think you hit the nail on the head. "Once the market turns around then prices will start rising again and the trend will be recognized and reported by appraisers."

THAT'S my point. Real Estate Brokers and Salespeople recognize and report market trends. That's what a CMA is about. It's a rough guestimation of what a Seller can market their house for or what a Buyer can expect to pay. You don't need a Certified Residential Appraiser or a Registered Appraiser to do that. The reason for having such a designation is that it is supposed that an appraiser has the knowledge, education and tools needed to calculate the actual value of a property using more than MLS comps. Heck...we can do that...

Lania, sorry I did not catch your sarcasm.  Please, I did not once say that I ignore upgrading and amenities.  I take them into consideration with every property I evaluate and I don't know of any appraisers who don't.  The ones who ignore them and do not adjust for upgrades may end up in trouble in the long run.  ( And if you are an agent who is very descriptive in your listings and include a lot of photos of the interior and exterior then I say "thank you"... )

We do use more than MLS comps to determine value which is why market trends come into play....paired analysis of comparable sales, adjustments for location, gross living area and amenities, external factors such as nosie detriment from freeways, busy streets, airports, etc., ...these are all considerations and just a part of the process in addition to segments already mentioned.

My original comments were not describing the entire appraisal process but were offering a point of view as to why an appraiser might give a lower value than a model match comparable sold 4 or 5 months earlier. 

It took me a month to find a new brokerage after a year with my first company. I left because I was showing a home that was listed by an agent in our office and I clearly saw the square footage she had listed and was reality was different. I even measured to make sure.

When I brought up to the other agent, I was told to mind my own business and let the bank decide if the home was worth what they had it listed at and she wasn't about to change the square footage.

I brought this up to my principle broker and they just told me to find a new home for my clients and move on. At this point, I knew that if they were will to go along with fraud, then this wasn't the kind of company I wanted to work for.

Congrats Todd! You don't want to be affiliated with an operation like that! They will reap what they sow for sure. You keep your integrity and God will bless you! Best in all you do!