How To Get Your Property To Appraise: Class Notes From Joanne Curtin

Recently, I interviewed another top realtor in my office on the subject of how to get your house to appraise. Here are my class notes from fellow listing agent Sherry Ajluni.

Watch my video interview with Sherry

DS Murphy & Associates teach classes on appraisal values and Sherry is the one who collects appraisals. She says: after closing, ask your buyers if they mind sharing it with you so you may review it to learn the adjustments for values. In the olden days market, we used to get homes to appraise for 10 percent more than the last sale simply because of a better lot or nicer upgrades.

Sherry says that a great agent must know what adjustments they missed or got incorrect. It’s important to know what appraisers pull for comparables; you can also split levels comp to split levels; ranches to ranches; plus, keep the comps within a one mile radius of the same school district if possible. Remember that one comp must be within the last three months; other comps can be in last six months.

Appraisers consider active sales not sold yet. Refuting or prepping an appraiser requires you to use actual square footage from RedLink—not tax records.  It’s important to make sure the appraiser speaks with you instead of calling the owner directly to make the appointment. In this case, consider yourself the gate keeper.

A brief review ready for the appraiser before they access the home is definitely a benefit for both you and the appraiser. The review should explain:

• Why the neighborhood sells so well. Share why low comps that may be used are invalid or why another is a better comp.
• Point out if the same developer also created other high dollar properties in further out areas than the one mile radius of schools.
• What very good is vs. good. This is appraiser lingo to rate homes that are most subjective; so use it to your advantage. Condition “Very Good” means highly upgraded (include recent upgrades with the approximate value of each one specifically).
• Don’t do so much in the initial pre-appointment review so that you’re doing their job. Just keep it a brief review.

Appraisers are to interpret value not set the value; so remind them it’s not an exact science. Ask for the appraisers email, and if they are from the area, remind them of key points and email them information that will help explain other comps.  That way, they don’t have to research them so much and risk being refuted by you. This would create a situation where they must be reviewed in the future for errors.

How to refute a wrong appraisal after the fact: have a list of errors the appraiser made (remember, appraisers must re-do appraisals if an error is found).  Call the listing agent personally on comps which you feel may have an error; you can see if RedLink is wrong for the square footage (it happens). Add a dollar amount to show the appraiser that you know front porches are a valued at $3-$5,000. Or, that a fence or dog run on a .25 acre is not valued at $10,000.

It’s important to always send the buyer’s agent the contested report to show it was a mistake. Everybody makes them!  Great agents must have buyer and buyer agent on your side in order to be successful. Some banks/appraisers request that the refute be sent from the buyer directly in some cases.

Ironically, banks and appraisers look at a realtor’s refute, but no another appraisers report strictly because the seller had paid for it. For errors in your appraisal look at lot, condition and upgrades.

Lastly one signature will show more tenure on an appraiser (five years or more) because no one is signing off on them. Two signatures show that they are a new appraiser in training and therefore must be signed off on by another mentor.

Here’s what Sherry says about having an upfront appraisal: 

Click here to watch my video interview with Sherry

Neither Sherry or I have lost an appraisal (knock on wood) in this sobering shifted market, so just knowing we share that commitment to each listing keeps me following her best practices.

After the class I asked Alan Daniel (my preferred local appraiser) directly if there was anything more I need to consider. He had this to say: “In my opinion the biggest problem right now with the appraisal industry is the AMC’s which are profit driven resulting in the use of non-qualified appraisers that are not competent in the areas they are chosen to appraise in.  AMCs were set up to drive a divide between the lender and the appraisers and they were successful for the most part in doing that, however I think the concept has backfired and we have a new problem of unqualified appraisers being chosen based on fees or partiality.

For example, certain price ranges in certain school districts in North Fulton and East Cobb are surprisingly strong, however an appraiser coming from Stockbridge may not realize this and may not place certain importance on school districts and price points. It’s really up to the individual company to take the initiative to geographically orient themselves so that each appraiser become truly professional in a distinct marketplace.

It’s probably a good idea to ask the question when the appraiser calls to see where they are from and what markets they typically work.  After the appraisal is completed it’s an uphill battle. If you truly feel you have an appraiser who is not qualified in your market then the lender would certainly agree that someone should be chosen who is.

I could go on for hours but I think you get the gist.”

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