are appraisers forced to lower prices

Hi Amparo,

It's good to know that you have excellent credit. A drive-by appraisal is faster and cheaper to getting your property appraised. Perhaps the bank is not convinced about your home value and that's the reason he has asked for a full appraisal. You have ask the bank directly and clarify your doubt.

"are appraisers forced to lower prices"
At times, appraisers are asked to determine the home value such that it is in accordance with what the lender is comfortable dealing with.

Thanks

Usually there is 3 reasons to do a drive by appraisal.

1. appraisal is not a determinning factor in the loan (the loan to value ratio is low or the file is extremly strong )
2. its cheaper (some banks whould alow it but its less so nowdays)
3. something is wrong with the inside of the home ( a natural default by an underwriter if something seems wrong with the loan)

In most cases nowdays such an appraisal whould not holdup and bank will ask for a full appraisal. It surprises me your broker/loan officer whould do it in the first place.

Thanks for the the factors. I always wondered what brought the appraisal down.

having only just stumbled upon this post, i feel the need to chime in on the comment by james hogg, to wit: "At times, appraisers are asked to determine the home value such that it is in accordance with what the lender is comfortable dealing with."

no lender should ever request an appraiser to meet a specific value - this is one of the issues many lenders are being faulted for at this time, with "steering" of appraisers to come in at a specific number so the loan "would work."

beware of anyone who claims that an appraisal can be done that will allow for the loan to be made as requested. it smacks of fraud right off the bat.

Hello all! To George, I don't know if I'd say that its fraud. Although in some cases it might have been fraud, the problem is that in the recent past there hasn't been an issue with appraisers estimating your value to be a little higher than it actually was because property values were always increasing.

Does that make it right? No, not at all. I personally feel that the average consumer takes for granted the equity they build in their home and use it help them live beyond their means.

As I said, I'm sure that in some cases there is actual "fraud" involved but in a lot of cases there were many appraisers just following the housing market blindly.

scott, i understand what you're saying, but i was specifically addressing the thought that jameshogg expressed - "in accordance with what the lender is comfortable dealing with."

lenders cannot make determinations as to values - that is why there is pending legislation forcing independence between lenders and appraisers.

i've been fortunate, in that i have never met one of those idiotic (can i use that word?) appraisers who didn't have enought sense not to "just follow blindly." wow...do you know how scary a thought that is?????

I understand what your saying there George. I unfortunately have dealt with this situation personally. When buying a house back in 2002 we had an appraisal done that just didn't come in as high as I would've liked because I was looking to consolidate some debt as well at the time. We then had it reapraised and with a little pressure on second appraiser we got the value that we were looking for, only to be kicking ourselves in the #!! when it came time to move and found out that we screwed ourselves over by doing so.

But what can I say, the lender even encouraged us to do so just so they could make a little more money out the deal as well. It seems the best lessons learned our those in which we learn the hard way.

scott, i took note that this occurred in 2002. back in those days, lenders and appraisers and borrowers all took far more chances than in these days.

if you find a lender doing that sort of thing in 2008, i'll be much surprised; but not so surprised if we find that lender in deep trouble shortly thereafter.

Hi Scott, pressuring an appraiser is illegal. A lender encouraging pressure on an appraiser is illegal. An appraiser that furnishes a report where they know the value is inflated, even a little bit, is illegal. They are supposed to be immune to pressure, it is in their code of ethical conduct. Unfortunately it was commonplace in our industry to find inflated appraisals. Just ask all of the banks that have been forced to buy back loans for this reason. For an appraiser to give a higher value in an upward trending market is not illegal if it can be supported, even if the comps sold for a little less it is possible that limited supply in an appreciating market can have a positive impact on value, this is not inflating the value.

You probably already know this but I just want to keep it clear for anyone in our industry that might happen upon this thread.

Best regards,

There is a change in the works to not allow agents to order the appraisals any more for just this reason.
Anyone know when that is supposed to start? I had heard the beginning of the year. After that the banks will have to order it....

Brian