Are you aware that the cost of appraisals just went up May 1? Not the cost of the appraisal itself but because of HVCC, the new Home Value Code of Conduct, which mandates that appraisals now have to be order thru a "clearing house." Up to April 30, your lender would engage a local appraiser thru a simple phone call, and in a couple days, would have the appraisal. Well today, that same lender, and all lenders, have to order and appraisal thru this clearing house, which then blindly and randomly selects an appraiser.
The intent is noble: provide some separation between lenders and appraisers, builder and appraisers, etc. and prevent the cooking of appraisals. But wasn't that already being down with the tightening of appraisal guidelines. Weren't we already experiencing that?
A lender who spoke at out team meeting today expects this process to add up to 1 week to the closing cycle. What that means to us here in Texas is, instead of writing in a 30-day contract-to-close time frame, we should write a 37-day time frame. And here's the clincher, the clearing house service is expected to cost anywhere from $75-$125, most likely passed on to your buyer.
This is another example of government getting in the way ... and inadvertently raising the cost to the consumer. The market was already correcting itself but somehow or another, there are those who think that the only solution to any problem is another government program.
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