Can you show list of comps to the appraiser? Standard to ask a realtor to prepare one?

[Anonymous]

I am doing a refinancing and an appraiser will come in a week or so. Naturally, I would like the appraisal to be as high as possible. Can I prepare some comps and hand that sheet of paper to him when he walks in my home? Can I ask a realtor (someone that I have never used but whom I have been in contact with and whom I would definitely consider to hire as my seller agent when the time comes) and ask him as a courtesy to prepare a list of comps? Is such request customary?

Thanks

[Anonymous]

I don't know, but it's an excellent idea to try and prepare your own comps. I have posted previously about being screwed on the comps on my last two re-fis. The appraiser used comps that were far from our house (i.e. farther from the metro) and/or didn't reflect that our house was improved, etc.

My advice? We did re-fi deals that were not appraisal-contingent. As I understand it, the house has to appraise at a certain amount so you don't have to get PMI (you need to have a certain amount of equity in your home). That I wasn't worried about, but we did talk with some banks that would only give us a certain rate if our home appraised at X. DH wisely went with a different bank without this requirement, and are so glad we did.

[Anonymous]

You can try, but it might not work. I don't think it's customary, per se, but it's not crazy either.

[Anonymous]

We just did exactly what you are suggesting. Had our realtor put together some comps and I handed the info to the appraiser.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We just did exactly what you are suggesting. Had our realtor put together some comps and I handed the info to the appraiser.

Thanks. The only thing stopping me from asking this realtor to do it is that he is technically not *my* realtor. I have never used him, but we have a developing relationship -- He has come to my place to give me a rough estimate of it value when I was considering selling it (which I ended up not doing), and I would certainly be happy to use him as my realtor when the time comes. In other words, I have not yet had a formal relationship with him. Is it OK to ask him nevertheless?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We just did exactly what you are suggesting. Had our realtor put together some comps and I handed the info to the appraiser.

Thanks. The only thing stopping me from asking this realtor to do it is that he is technically not *my* realtor. I have never used him, but we have a developing relationship -- He has come to my place to give me a rough estimate of it value when I was considering selling it (which I ended up not doing), and I would certainly be happy to use him as my realtor when the time comes. In other words, I have not yet had a formal relationship with him. Is it OK to ask him nonetheless?

[Anonymous]

Absolutely OK. He will see it as new business development..........

[Anonymous]

In my experience if the appraisal amount is going to be a reach, and/or your home has some unique attributes which might make it different than a home across the street which recently sold, absolutely get your own comps and provide to the appraiser.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We just did exactly what you are suggesting. Had our realtor put together some comps and I handed the info to the appraiser.

And was it successful? For a re-fi, the home owner wouldn't have a realtor, but could do the legwork herself using Redfin etc.

[Anonymous]

if the appraiser is not familiar with the area maybe. otherwise, I don't go to your job and knock the squeegee and spray bottle out of your hand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We just did exactly what you are suggesting. Had our realtor put together some comps and I handed the info to the appraiser.

And was it successful? For a re-fi, the home owner wouldn't have a realtor, but could do the legwork herself using Redfin etc.

NP - We have had a few refi's over the past 5 years. Many of the banks - particularly - large ones, after recession, bring in appraisors who don't know the area. We had 2 appraisals done in past 3 months that varied by 55%. One used comps on our street, the other miles/neighborhoods away. Even the mortgage broker at bank thought the low one was done completely wrong. We always prepare comps - some completely ignore, some use. We never use a realtor - just maintain a list of recent sales and pull info. We also make sure they have correct square footage for major areas. We renovated and if they pull up old records, they would come up with wrong results.

While maybe we are helping others do their job, we've seen too many really jobs.

[Anonymous]

Shouldn't the appraiser be gathering comps/recent home sales in the neighborhood anyway?

I asked our appraiser about the comps in our subdivsion and he said he already had them in the file. He said the only thing he had to do was drive around a little to confirm the amenities (pools, tennis court, tot lots, walking trails, etc.).

[Anonymous]

We did a refi several years ago (another house), and the appraisal came back low. We were shown the comps, which had been pulled by the appraiser, who clearly didn't know the area well. So, I provided the lender several other comps that I thought were a better match to our house. The lender sent them to the appraiser who evaluated them and raised the appraisal figure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We just did exactly what you are suggesting. Had our realtor put together some comps and I handed the info to the appraiser.

Thanks. The only thing stopping me from asking this realtor to do it is that he is technically not *my* realtor. I have never used him, but we have a developing relationship -- He has come to my place to give me a rough estimate of it value when I was considering selling it (which I ended up not doing), and I would certainly be happy to use him as my realtor when the time comes. In other words, I have not yet had a formal relationship with him. Is it OK to ask him nevertheless?

Beta.

[Anonymous]

do it yourself, use redfin.com
hand it to him to use in addition to his team's work.