Tag Archive for: appraisal

Borrower With Appraisal Waiver Asks For Appraisal Anyway… Bad Idea!

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Borrowers with an appraisal waiver sometimes ask if we can order an appraisal anyway. They do so for any one of the following reasons: (1) They want to make sure they are not overpaying; (2) They think they got a smokin’ deal and they want an appraiser to confirm it; or (3) they want a low appraisal, so they can negotiate for a lower price.Read More

When To Waive Appraisal Contingencies; Stupid Housing Bill Affordability Tricks

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Congress passed another ridiculous bill to address housing affordability – that will do nothing to address housing affordability (it’s just pure political theater). The bill restricts corporate investors from buying homes, but they make up a minuscule portion (0.7%) of the market – and they actually HELP the market by buying when it is very soft. The bill forces “build-to-rent” builders to sell after 7 years – and that will REDUCE the supply of housing because fewer of these homes will now be built. The bill funds grant programs – which will make housing LESS affordable by increasing demand and thus prices. And – the bill does nothing to actually fix the major problems (1) local zoning that restricts building; (2) local red tape, fees, and green mandates that massively inflate costs; and (3) inflation (with tariffs not helping matters).Read More

Get Found Online In The AI Era; Contingency Removal Battles

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A few weeks ago I wrote this blog: Your Grandma's SEO is officially dead. In that blog, I mentioned how our online lead volume plummeted over a few short months because the rules for online search optimization changed significantly and very quickly in the AI era - catching us completely off guard. Almost everything we had learned and were doing had become obsolete. I also mentioned a friend who updated his Google Business page with the help of highly trained and expensive consultants - and quickly saw his business improve (he had 6 transactions come in online in 2024 and none in the latter half of 2025). We too made significant changes to our SEO approach and saw our online leads shoot back up instantly. It was no small task though, as the realm requires a tremendous amount of sophistication. As a result, we decided to do a webinar for agents to share much of what we learned.Read More

Iran Tensions Push Rates Up Again; Dead Boomers – Good or Bad? Appraisal Waivers Saving Deals!

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Mortgage rates bottomed out at 5.99% on February 27th – the day before the Iran war started. Rates peaked one month later on March 27th – hitting 6.625%. Rates then fell steadily into April but have since been rising in response to escalating tensions and rising oil prices. I share all this because rates shot up again today in response to Trump’s latest action, called “Project Higher Interest Rates.” OK – actually it is called “Project Freedom.” It is an effort by the U.S. to restore freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz and free stranded commercial vessels. This action escalated tensions and pushed oil prices (the main cause of higher rates) higher again. Today’s average mortgage rate is 6.52%. We’re still below the peak we saw in March, but we’re getting close.Read More

Why Appraisers Don’t Appraise Over The Contract Price

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Some of our borrowers, who are well aware of comparable sales and market conditions, often become very frustrated when appraisers fail to appraise the homes they are buying for more than the contract price. SIDEBAR #1: Will Capital Investment Save The Economy? James Thorne is one of many who think it will, posting, "Ignore the bubble calls. We have a Goldilocks economy and capex super cycle.” Mr. Thorne, like President Trump, believes that the massive amount of investment for AI, energy, and the reshoring of manufacturing (by other countries) will keep the economy humming.Read More

How Much Value Do ADUs/In-Laws Add?

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Last week, an agent asked me how much value a 500 sq ft ADU would add to a home, and I was so wrong with my guess that I had to blog about it.Read More

Amazing! We Got An Appraisal Thrown Out; Carnage Stalls – Whew!

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An appraiser I knew of once added a pool to a property because he needed another $25,000 to get the value a loan officer requested. No, he did not actually add a pool. He just lied about the presence of a pool and used a pool photo from another appraisal report. Read More

Property Value = Lesser of Purchase Price or Appraisal; Gift of Equity

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This is a reminder that lenders must always use the lesser of the appraised value or the purchase price on the contract for financing and loan-to-value purposes. So, even if we have a rock solid $500,000 appraisal, if the purchase price on the contract is $250,000 – $250,000 will be the value from the lender’s perspective – no matter what. Read More

High Appraisal? Raise Price & Get A Credit

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1. If a purchase appraisal comes in high, buyers and agents can raise the price of the house and then ask for an additional credit – without having to backdate […]Read More

Why Appraising a Home For More Than Purchase Price Is So Difficult – For 12 Months

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Fed Week: Corruption or Panic on the Part of the Fed? The Fed will announce a rate cut this week, and many pundits are now predicting a 50-basis point cut […]Read More

“Rate Cut Coming” & Rates Went Up; Appraisers Correlate to Purchase Price For 12 Months; Refi Appraisals

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The Fed released the minutes from their recent meeting, and they all but guaranteed a rate cut in September. More interesting is the large number of Fed members who wanted […]Read More

Health and Safety Issues Delay & Kill Deals!

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Health and safety issues are often very similar to structural issues, and they often overlap each other. The problem is that once they are called out, lenders won’t lend against a property until the health and safety issue is addressed.Read More

Low Appraisals – 6 Options When Appraisals Come In Low

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Whenever an appraisal comes in under contract price, we work quickly to consider all options with both agents and buyers, and we can usually resolve appraisal issues within a day if everyone is responsive.Read More

Illegal/Commercial Use Of Property Is NOT A Deal Killer As Long As…

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Illegal/Commercial Use Of Residential Property We once financed the purchase of a home that was being used as an office for a large paving and concrete contractor. He had a […]Read More