Good Appraiser/Bad Appraiser

Today I spoke with the loan officer working on the loan for the house we just sold (he also happens to be the son of the lady who is purchasing the house). He had an appraiser come and do an appraisal a week ago but she wasn't willing to do any work. She thought she could just take some measurements and do a quick internet search. She could only find one "comp," one we were familiar with just a few houses down the street. It sold for several thousand less than ours, and as we knew from talking to the buyers, it was lower for good reason! Although we provided her with their phone number and asked her to just give a quick call to verify it, she told us that she wasn't required to do any more work and promptly turned in a low appraisal.

After her appraisal came in low, I talked to the loan officer and gave him the number of an appraiser that is willing to do some leg work to find out what a house is really worth. He investigated the comparison house and found that the house I am selling is almost identical in size and floorplan, a legal duplex that consists of a downstairs apartment and a regular house on top. But that is where the similarities end. The house down the street sold in seven days on the MLS. It was listed in good condition and rented but in fact was vacant and destroyed. The carpet had to be replaced because of rodent feces, cat puke, and other unbelievably disgusting things. Several windows were broken, there were holes in the walls, and everything had to be repainted. The home I am selling on the other hand is in perfect condition including a year lease on the basement apartment! Because the first appraiser wasn't willing to talk to the people who purchased the house that she was using as a comp to find out the real condition and only relied on the MLS listing without any verification, she ended up with a very unprofessional comparison. The second appraiser on the other hand was willing to actually do his job and find out why I had my house on the market for less than 24 hours and had an offer, a back-up offer, and four people that wanted to be called if the first offer didn't go through!

Needless to say, once the work had been done the appraisal came in right where it was supposed to be. Now I just need to find a place to live! I am working on a short sale and I will write more about that when I am closer to getting it finished (hopefully soon since this house should close within the month).