What happens when a homebuyer is buying a beautiful ocean front condo for $850,000 and the appraiser (from the valley) says it’s worth $760,000? We go to work proving him “in error” (cleaned up language because this newsletter is PG).
Yes, this appraiser thought that the condo was worth the same as its sale price in 2015. He thought that comparing a beachfront full ocean view property to a condo facing a busy street (heard of Pacific Coast Hwy?) with no view was the same.
We gathered comparables and wrote what’s called a rebuttal to the AMC (appraisal management company) that let his employer know what a sloppy job he did, and why.
We got them the data on properties that are ocean front, have ocean view, and those with only views from the balcony, as well as data on the only comp that was in the center of the building, bedroom that faced not the ocean, but the walkway, and pointed out it had a bedroom where the closet had been removed. The appraiser while in the condo building hadn’t bothered to go see that unit.
When you get an appraiser who is not from the area, you can refuse to have him appraise the property based on the fact that he is not competent to do the appraisal. If he does a shoddy job, as long as you have data and are able to do proper analysis, you have a chance to get it overturned.
We got this decision overturned in less than 48 hours, saving our client from having to put another $45,000 into the property.
The seller was not going to come down on price when there was a comparable sale at $900k. Don’t go to a bank for a loan if you are buying an unusual property. You need experts like us to keep the loan on track, especially since this was a 21 day escrow.