My Appraisal Blog

Appraisers should consider source of money in comp sales price.

Dear Florida Realtor Editor,

In an earlier letter (http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/article.cfm?id=230629) I discussed the problem of using the appraisals of distressed properties for normal sales.

My main point is that appraisers should specify if the property in question has received subsidies from banks and the government. This is not finger pointing, saying the appraisers are at fault (they are not), but to recognize the causal effects from such appraisals because lenders use them to approve or disapprove a mortgage.

In a recession, of course, everything is affected and values go down across the board. While the government is trying to help people with distressed properties, we should not forget sellers who, apart from being affected by the recession just like anyone else, are affected further by the process: Even when they have willing buyers who want to avoid distressed property hassles, they can’t close unless they lower their price to the appraisal value.

Just as help for distressed homeowners came from the government, we should ask the government to recognize this problem and its skewed effect on normal sales, and its potential to pull more homeowners into foreclosures, thereby prolonging the housing meltdown.

The sooner the government helps rectify this situation, the better the outcome, not only for sellers and buyers of normal sales but also for the economy.

Le Anh
Charles Rutenberg Realty
Orlando

http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/article.cfm?id=232067