I'm going to club a guy over the head with a jug of antifreeze.

[Rain Man]

Given the low interest rates in these days of financial turmoil, I decided it was a good time to refinance my house. So we did. Easy.

As part of the process, we had to get an appraisal of the house, and the lender had it done. It came back and we were like, "What the -?".

I know that home prices are low right now, but this was ridiculous. So we started looking at the details. It turns out that the guy used a square footage that was 700 square feet smaller than our house, and somewhere along the line he also lopped off a bedroom and a bathroom.

Our house is three stories, and it was obvious that he had excluded the third floor from the square footage. I don't know what happened with the bedrooms since that hasn't changed for 100 years. We added a third bathroom twelve years ago.

So I sent the guy an exceedingly polite e-mail and said, "Hey, I think there's an error. You can go to the county assessor's web site and confirm the correct statistics on the house. Would you fix it, please?"

That was two weeks ago, and I got a call today from some low-level dweeb who said, "You're not right. We used public records to get our stats." I argued with said dweeb for a few minutes and finally said, "Give me your boss."

The appraiser got on the line and I asked what public records he used. He said he'd used MLS listings. He was quite defensive, and I said, "Dude. Seriously. Go to the assessor's web site. Look at the numbers. Your square footage isn't even right."

He said, "The lender is my client, so go through them if you want me to redo it. But I'll need to do a much more thorough interior appraisal."

Aha. So you undervalue my home and now you want me to go demand a bigger contract for you to fix it. I understand your game.

I said, "I can go to your client and embarrass the hell out of you, or you can fix it now. What do you want to do?" He said to go to his client.

I don't think his client is going to get the letter that he's hoping for. I'm turning that SOB in, and he's going to come out of it wishing that he had died in a fire.

Are assessors licensed? Maybe I'll write a letter to the state, too.

What has happened to this world? Does this guy think he's not going to get toasted over this? It's open and shut. It's not even like there's room for argument.

[ChiefaRoo]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

I've got it on good authority (the Wall Street folks who told me about Wachovia, Lehman, etc. going under months in advance - the thread is in DC) that interest rates this summer will be at a record all-time low.

So ask them what MGM is going to be at by this summer?

[Cornstock]

Originally Posted by Iowanian

Maybe its different in other places, but Assessors and Appraisers are not the same thing here. There are appraisers that work with assessors, but they serve different functions.

If they're govt assessors/appraisers, there will be a conference board whose job is to keep them on the up and up...they answer to that board.


if its an indepent appraiser, who values properties as a mercenary for banks....I'd look into his certifications and the organizations that hired him.

He had his chance to make it right. Any honest business man would have corrected the problem asap, given a heartfelt appology for your inconvenience...free of charge for the correction.....to the point the guy brings over 2 large boulders for bRainman's back yard.

Its common business sense.


I guarantee any work I do, and if a customer ever complains about an error or wasn't happy, if its even remotely my fault...I'll fix it, make it right and make them happy.

A small business cannot survive having very many bRainman, INC's rubbing their reputation with a dirty toilet brush for shoddy work.


We should add this to the other 2 companies previously guilty of wrongdoing to the threadstarter and punish them via google for all time.

Thats how we do in Iowa

[Mr. Flopnuts]

Originally Posted by Luke

We had a very similar experience 2 years ago. We were looking to refinance, had just had new furnace and roof installed. Also added central air. The asshat kid the company sent out actually appraised the house for less money than we paid for it.

I called the owner of the company to see if there was some kind of mistake and was told that all appraiseals are "opinions". After some research I found out that the jerk didn't even compare our house to similar properties.

Found the address of the company and told the boss to schedule an appointment to "discuss" why the opinion was so much lower than it should have been.

Long story short, asshat kid was terminated, our house was appraised for it's worth, and I told the finance company, WaMu for what it is worth to stick it. Sold the property and moved to present local.

I feel your pain.

I'd say. I mean you average 20 posts a year. Hope it all worked out.

[ClevelandBronco]

You gotta ask yourself what an unemployed guy such as, say, Mike Shanahan would pay for that house.

That's the real market price.

[Rausch]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Really? I didn't know that.


I may also find out where he lives and do a market study that recommends putting a Long John Silver's next to his house.

Hey man, any chance you could put an Arby's next door to me?...

[KcMizzou]

Originally Posted by Rausch

Hey man, any chance you could put an Arby's next door to me?...

That'd be sweet.

[007]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

I've got it on good authority (the Wall Street folks who told me about Wachovia, Lehman, etc. going under months in advance - the thread is in DC) that interest rates this summer will be at a record all-time low.

Lower than the 4.75 I have already?

[StcChief]

They have brought the Rainman rath.... let it rain.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by Loosing

Lower than the 4.75 I have already?

Supposedly, even for a Jumbo loan (over $500k).

The only reason I'm passing on this info is that these guys have been correct about everything else this past year.

But, my advice to anyone is that if you can get into a cheap 30-year mortgage right now, do it.

No one's offering a lower percentage than what I have now (5.25% on a Jumbo), so I won't do anything until rates are lower.

[Bob Dole]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

Supposedly, even for a Jumbo loan (over $500k).

The only reason I'm passing on this info is that these guys have been correct about everything else this past year.

But, my advice to anyone is that if you can get into a cheap 30-year mortgage right now, do it.

No one's offering a lower percentage than what I have now (5.25% on a Jumbo), so I won't do anything until rates are lower.

Know anyone that will refinance anything under $50k?

[Rain Man]

I really do know why some people take guns into large companies and start shooting.

So I've been wrestling with the appraiser and he finally said that he would re-do the appraisal with the proper records. But he said that he's not allowed to because he puts the appraisal into some big computer system, and once he enters the numbers he can't change them. He said that he has to get permission from some appraisal clearinghouse who has to get permission from the lender.

So I contact the lender, and they say, "The appraisal is done." Argue, argue, argue. They say the appraisal is fine, because the appraiser used "an accepted source". THE SOURCE IS WRONG! THE SOURCE IS THE ESTIMATE OF SOME REALTOR TWO DECADES AGO! THE SQUARE FOOTAGE IS WRONG! THE NUMBER OF BEDROOMS IS WRONG! THE NUMBER OF BATHROOMS IS WRONG! WRONG, WRONG, WRONG!

She then says she can change it, but it may cost extra. Argue, argue, argue. I tell her to let me know so I can throw a screaming fit at someone higher up the ladder (my exact words).

She then says, "Why do you care? The numbers don't matter anyway. All we're doing is confirming that there's a house at that address."

The numbers don't matter? What? So I said, "Fine. Then change the number to $2 million and I'll go away." She said she'd talk to the appraiser.

What is so hard about this? The records are on the Internet. The house has been the same size for 102 years. Why can they not correct their own error without telling me it's going to cost me more money? And if the numbers don't matter, why am I paying money for the stupid appraisal? The whole thing is just a scam and a ripoff. I'll be glad when 2012 comes and all of these people are killed by Mayans.

[Iowanian]

I'll be out there next week with 4 other Iow anians if for you want for him to get a visit with whiffle bat....or carry any heavy boulders.

[Demonpenz]

That is dumb and it sucks people who are producers get screwed. Keep on fighting the fight

[Mark M]

Um ... since when are MLS listings the same as "public records" from a governmental source? The former is just a way for realtors to sell homes to each other, and the latter is an actual gov't document.

Dude should be beaten senseless just for not knowing the difference.

As far as licensing appraisers go, it's state by state. Some are more stringent than others, but regardless, a lot it is, in fact, opinion. Yes, they're supposed to use data such as the pricing of similar homes, etc., but a lot is just an appraiser deciding if he thinks your house is a flaming piece of crap.

With all that being typed, your mortgage company person is actually correct -- they don't use appraisals so much to determine what to give you so much as to just make sure there's a house and it's close in quality, size, etc., to what you say it is. It's not a hard and fast ruling on value or anything.

And with even that being typed, you're doing the correct thing. Bring the Rain down on the dude and make him wish he'd kept that job at Arby's.

MM
~~

[EyePod]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

I'll be glad when 2012 comes and all of these people are killed by Mayans.

NICE!