With a gradual increase in home prices and values, in Amarillo and surrounding areas in Texas, there appears to be an increasing problem with the valuation consulting process. A 2012 survey by the National Association of Realtors has noted that this has had a very profound impact on the ability home buyers have to close the deal on the homes they want to buy.
The result is actually a positive – a closer working relationship, with some real estate agents now supporting a pre-sales appraisal which is more scientific than a BPO or Broker Price Opinion based on a a ballpark look at the comps (comparable sales). Real estate agents have found by working closely with appraisers, they can get the information they need in order to successfully support a reasonable listing price.
Drawbacks of ballparking it with online consumer valuation tools can include:
Leaving it to a 3rd party can involve: Using inexperienced or out of town appraisers who would not be familiar with local market conditions; and
A significant drawback to non-collaboration between appraisers and Realtors is: Long turnaround times from both appraisers and lenders, which ultimately leads to delays in closing the sale.
In looking at these issues, you can see how a collaborative relationship between a real estate agent and an appraiser is a critical adjustment in trend to ensure that the appraisal process runs as smoothly as possible and that a fair appraisal results from the process.
A real estate agent is a strong source of overall neighborhood info. To ensure there is a steady collaboration, real estate professionals should consider giving the involved appraiser all the information they can about the neighborhood, the home itself and local real estate market trends. This will go a long way towards ensuring that the information the appraiser has is accurate, and this will also allow the appraiser to have the appropriate tools for an accurate, fair appraisal.
Create an Appraiser's Package: Designed to keep the appraiser fully apprised of the ins and outs of the property and neighborhood, an Appraiser’s Package might contain surveys, deeds, covenants, HOA documents, floor plans, specifications, comparables of a similar quality, inspection reports and other similar documents. A real estate professional should also allow the appraiser the required space and time to allow them to do their job, and to do it well. If there is limited documentation about the unique features of the property, real estate professionals should consider a meeting with the appraiser to inform them of the unique features of the property or neighborhood. In short, every effort should be made between the appraiser and the real estate sales professional to keep the appraiser very well informed about the ins and outs of the property and the surrounding neighborhood in order to ensure a fair appraisal process.
It’s also important to remember that appraisers deal with facts and logic. Assessment, valuation and numbers are their game, not emotional appeals. If ever there is a situation where a real estate professional wants to challenge the appraisal value that comes in, it is important to appeal to the appraiser’s logic, not the appraiser’s heart. In challenging an appraisal, real estate professionals should look at the facts they can provide appraisers in order to give the appraisers as much information as possible to ensure that the appraisal has as much detail going into it as possible. The more information and detail an appraiser has about any given property means the appraiser will be able to come up with a fuller picture about the exact value of the property in question, rather than relying on partial information.
Real estate professionals should also ensure they have the appraiser’s business card, including e-mail and mobile contact info Appraisers, like real estate professionals, are very busy individuals, and as such, may sometimes send a staff appraiser for the initial visit to assess a property’s value. If there's a question about the appraisal, it will be the senior or supervisory appraiser that should take that second look.
It’s important for the real estate professional and the appraiser to have a positive collaboration throughout their relationship. Without it, there are very real possibilities that a property value may come into question, and deals may fail to close. It’s important that the real estate professional does what he or she can to ensure that the appraiser is well informed about all facets of the property they are looking to value. To ensure homes are fairly valued, appraisers need to have all the information they can have at their disposal, and real estate agents should look to a collaborative approach and prefer a full appraisal over a BPO for getting homes sold faster.