Effective May 1,2009 the rule on how appraisals are ordered is changing. In the past the lender might ask the selling agent and/or the buyers agent who they wanted to use for an appraiser. As long as their was an agreement, and if that appraiser wasn’t too busy at the time, the lender would order the appraisal.
The new rule is federally mandated and is meant to keep any conflict of interest on the part of the appraiser out of the transaction. Lenders are creating different systems to deal with the new change. Some lenders will “out-source” the appraiser selection a bid system on the Internet, which is how Wells Fargo currently does it. Some lenders will simply rotate through an “approved” appraiser list. This is the way the VA does it now. This way the agents never know which appraiser they will get on a transaction…they simply get the next person in the rotation.
The system doesn’t reward appraisers who work harder or faster by giving them more work, unfortunately. And there are some appraisers who are known as “specialists” on certain types of property. The new system won’t allow Realtors to choose someone who is particularly knowledgeable, but basically lowers the bar and assumes all appraisers are equal. I’m sure the lenders are trying to err on the side of conservative to insure the values and property condition are met.
Kristi and Cody, biking
My wife, Kristi and son, Cody and I have been riding our bikes….finally. This was a particularly beautiful evening. Check out the mountains behind Kristi and Cody! Spectacular. Cody is nine and is getting to quite a competitor on the trails! I’m thinking this might be the last year I might have a chance to actually beat him in a race!
Now the Work Starts!
A real estate transaction that has the most protection for a buyer and a seller has many participants. Usually there is a “buyers” agent representing the buyer, and a “sellers” agent representing the seller. The buyer usually gets a home inspection so there is at least one inspector representing the buyer. Often times, depending on the house, there might be additional inspections, such as a heating contractor to do a specific furnace inspection. Once the transaction gets past the contract being agreed to and the inspection negotiated a lot of people start adding to the transaction. For instance, the buyers lender will order an appraisal. The appraiser isn’t representing either party, but making sure the property value is adequate for the buyers loan and the lender’s security. Then a title report is ordered to ascertain there is clear title. Possibly a new survey will be done which will require another professional work.
Once the loan is approved, the closing or loan settlement will be scheduled. In Alaska where I work, the title company meets with the buyer and seller separately and to explain the paperwork and get their signatures. If both parties sign, then another person takes the completed paperwork to the recorders office to be recorded and make the entire transaction official.
So you see, there often are many different participants in a real estate transaction! As your real estate professional we are coordinating it and making sure each step happens on time and correctly to meet your goals and get the job done.
- Spring on Cook Inlet
I took a hike along Cook Inlet yesterday. You can’t see them in this photo, but the air was full of the sounds of geese honking and flocks of ducks flapping their wings.
I love spring and summer in Anchorage!
Last month’s volcanic eruption laid down a fair amount of fine gray colored sandy ash over much of south central Alaska. Now with the snow leaving, homeowners are discovering how pesky the stuff is to clean up from all outside flat surfaces like the roof, window ledges and driveways. It’s heavy, so when you hit it with water you have to move continually flush it and at seems to keep coming back after the water drys. It’s persistent! Pets walk it in the house, and vehicles carry it into the garage.
Gardeners say there is nothing better for your garden, however. My understanding is that ideally you would work the ash into your garden 6 or 8 inches into the soil. The result would be lighter packed soil, more air for roots and the soil would hold water longer. Farm soil, where the produce is taken away to market year after year, loses its mineral nutrients. It is hard to replace minerals and nutrients into large fields. Volcanic ash is the one of the finest, most complete fertilizer you can find, and to think nature provides it!
So while you are grumbling about how difficult ash is to clean up, think about how green our grass will be and how large Matanuska Valley carrots will be this fall!
My wife and I took a vacation last November to Hawaii. Because I am a realtor to the bone, I couldn’t help but wonder what property costs were for different property types. When I “google” searched for property, I came up with many agent sites that would require me to sign up before I could get the information I was looking for. The other little annoying thing is the little pop-up ads that keep coming up. I know the owner of the site must be selling spots to offset his costs, but the advertising is still annoying.
Being a realtor, I understand why you would want someone to sign up to recieve information from your site, but looking as a consumer, I knew I was not a buyer, only curious about the cost of property and I didn’t really want to take the time to explain that to other realtors.
Anyway, long story made short, I made a website where buyers can simply look at homes in the MLS without registering or without any sponsoring or other advertising. Check it out! “www.AnchorageMLS.net”
This is a free search to find active real estate listings in Anchorage, Eagle River, Matanuska Valley and neighboring communities throughout South-central Alaska. There is no advertising and no tracking of your selections.
I hope you enjoy it. Please give me your feedback.
Sometimes I meet with home owners who are considering selling and am told they already know their homes’ market value because they had their home appraised for a refinance last year. I wonder “How come a refinance appraisal often seems to have a price that I may not be able to sell the home for”?
The difference is that the refinance appraisal is mean to be high enough to allow the refinance of the existing debt, and sometimes to cover other debt in the refinance.
Both types of appraisals have intended uses, the appraiser completing the assignment basically performs the same market research and analysis in determining credible results. An appraisal used for refinancing is typically used to secure the lender’s collateral.
An appraisal used for selling is used to determine if the home may be over priced or under priced compared to similar homes in the market. After a home has been “tested” on the market and available to any “ready, able and willing buyer” the market may indicate a more conservative number.
It is “normal and customary” for buyers to hire qualified professionals to inspect and investigate properties after a contract is agreed to. The inspection is meant to be for things that aren’t noticeable to the buyers when they first looked, but not meant to be for cosmetic things such as cleaning carpet or painting. These inspections are normally done within the first week after the basic purchase terms are agree upon between the parties.
The seller agrees to make the property available for all inspections. The buyers inspection may include anything including structural, plumbing, pests, heating, appliances, insulation, electrical, roof, soils, drainage, foundation, any mechanical systems as well as possible environmental hazards such as asbestos, mold, urea-formaldehyde, radon gas and any other substances or or products. Many times there are more than one inspector in the house, depending on the buyers concerns and the subject property.
Any of the above items can certainly be “on the table” to negotiate. Sometimes a property is priced taking the condition into consideration, which is fine if everyone agrees. The exception to this would be if the property had “health and/or safety” concerns. Often times the lender will require health or safety repairs regardless of what the buyer or seller think. The lender wants to insure that the work is actually done before they will fund the loan.
Every year I get email and calls from past clients asking me to help them get a perspective on the price the city assessor put on their house (assessed value). I usually can pull the most recent sales in the subdivision. Most of the time, the city’s value was lower than the seller would be willing to actually sell for, that is the muni assessed value was lower than fair market value.
The last few years this has changed in Anchorage. The assessor has been trying to get the tax value up to fair market value. At the same time, the market has been fairly flat or even declined in some price ranges. Very commonly we see houses on the market priced under assessed value.
With the city running a budget deficient, they are obviously trying to squeeze every dollar out of the property owner by pushing assessed values. In fact many services that you could get a few years ago for either free or nominal charge now have steeper fees involved, but that’s not really the subject I was talking about here.
Anyway, beware! Your local assessed value may fair market or actually higher than you could sell your property for!
In these difficult and sometimes turbulent financial times, there are people who are struggling to make their house payments. If you, or someone you know, might be struggling to make their house payments due to a change in circumstances, it may be possible to convince the lender to allow you to the sell the home for less than the loan payoff, and avoid an ultimate foreclosure.
We have recently obtained a certification called “CDPE” which is Certified Distressed Property Expert. If you are, or know someone who is, between the proverbial rock and a hard place financially, it may be advantageous to look at your options.
