Ever had a home appraisal for a refi?

scottyboy76

I think i am finally ready to have debs name taken off the last legal document, our little home loan.

Im going to refi, to pay off the credit card bills, some leftover medical bills, and have a little to put aside for that rainy day.

About the last thing im able to find to be paranoid about is how tight is the appraiser going to be.

Everyone is telling me an appraiser is nowhere near as thorough as an inspector, and for our first loan, we never knew the guy was here, but that was in 07, with countrywide.

My credit is excellent, income and if approved for loan, debt to income ratio would be well within range according to online reading.

So if you have any experience, especially relatively recently, please share.

BTW, Im eligible for a va loan, are their appraisals different?

Being a refi, the no down payment benefit would not be a plus if going with va.

payneinthe

scotty, first of all, I'm sorry for your loss.

Second, I did a refi very recently (December). The appraisal originally came in quite low. In our area, inventory is low so comparables are hard to come by. We were able to find some comps on our own and the appraiser adjusted his report to include them. I'd recommend having a list of the comps you want him to use printed out and give it to him when he comes.

None of this matters too much unless you're near a cutoff for LTV ratio for the loan you want. If you've comfortably got more than 20% equity, then the appraisal is pretty much a non-issue.

scottyboy76

Thank you payne, for both.

Where would i find a list of comps, It might be difficult to find good comps, being in a rural area, both as far as spacing of houses, and people not really buying and selling a lot up here lately.

Sorry to ask so many simple questions, but i have never dealt with any of this before, countrywide basically did a liar loan in 07, thankfully, we werent lying about anything, but we basically filled out the app, and showed up to sign the papers later.

I and everyone around here, friends and family feel very confident the value will be at least where it needs to be, im just paranoid that he will try to point out issues that i know good and well affect many houses that were basically self built, albeit well built decades ago around here.

in 07 the house was valued at roughly 10 grand more than the highest i would need now, and the loan we have now is way less than half that value.

Thanks again,

scott and deb

Gaara

Scotty, just to be clear, an appraisal and inspection are two totally different things. An appraisal is for the bank to determine the value of the property, and this amount is used as the basis for the loan. This is based on the property itself, the area, and by looking at recent comparable sales. An inspection is for you to get an independant assessment of the property (issues, concerns, etc), and is a much more detailed look.

The appraisal for a VA loan should be the same as a regular loan, but it depends on the bank. The appraisers are goverened by USPAP, which specifies information to be gathered, determining value, and how to report upon findings. As such appraisals shouldn't really vary much, and should be an accurate representation of the value of the property. If your worried then check what the town/city appraised the property at for a ballpark figure.

As for the VA loan, some things to consider would be PMI if LTV is over 80%, upfront fees for a VA loan, max loan amounts, max incomes, etc.

payneinthe

scott, I've found zillow to be a good source of information about nearby comparables. The Zestimate they have is worth paying attention to, as well. It's always wrong, but somehow the appraiser's first report always matches it exactly. I suspect a lot of lazy appraisers cheat and use it.

scottyboy76

thanks, ill check that

jflail2

So, is your LTV currently below 80%? Are you worried that you'll be over that with the refi?

The Zestimates are OK, but appear to be consistently below market value, at least for houses in my area.

JerryR1verz

My recent appraisal was quick (didn't seem thorough because it was so quick) and came in exactly what we expected. Very different from the inspection as others have pointed out.

scottyboy76

Thanks everyone, good info.

JFlail, the current loan is well under half what the appraiser from countrywide said the house was worth.

At that 2007 value, even the amount im eyeballing, with a generous amount figured in for bank fees and everything, would possibly still be low enough to avoid pmi, even though that would not make my payment unaffordable.

scottyboy76

Dskip,Maybe im thinking of something different, but the tax assesor value on our taxes each year, as well as our home on the county website are terribly low, i was always told they use a low percentage of real value for tax purposes, i will look for any other site or county record.

scottyboy76

Thats reassuring jerry, about your recent appraisal, I have no worrys about this home serving me well to my last day, its a good home, and im probably just being paranoid, as i have always heard the appraisers job is,yes,dont overvalue a house, but also dont screw up the loan for the bank.

Gaara

scottyboy76 wrote: »

Maybe im thinking of something different, but the tax assesor value on our taxes each year, as well as our home on the county website are terribly low, i was always told they use a low percentage of real value for tax purposes, i will look for any other site or county record.

There is an appraised amount and an assessed amount. The assessed amount is 70% of the appraised amount (at least in our area) and is used as the basis for your taxes.

scottyboy76

AHAH, that would explain it, thanks D

tonyb

DSkip wrote: »

In Texas, the appraised amount is the assessed amount. This varies by locale.

Really ? Here in tax me more Illinois, the assessed value is about one third of market value. Now, seeing that taxes are based on assessed values, when the market took a dump in'08 and market values fell tremendously, the assessed values didn't budge. State didn't want anyone paying less in taxes because their values fell like a rock.

If the last time your home was appraised was 07....your in for a surprise. Every state is different in how they calculate markets and what ratios are acceptable for loans. Zillow, as mentioned is a good base line for an idea of comps in your area. Pay attention to foreclosures too, that can have a very negative impact.

scottyboy76

I apparently have 6 months to find out about these things because of title seasoning.

If your name has just been placed on the paperwork, they wont touch you for 6 months.

I knew quicken loans had that, I just got a call from united community bank and bb&t locally, and they do also.

I hate it simply because of interest rates being so low, and the extra that i will be paying on the credit cards for those months, but god has taken me this far, and the bible tells us many times "Fear not"

scottyboy76

Just checked the assesors valuations on ours and others in this area, they are definitely way off.

Not sure what percentage of the actual value they use, but some of these houses nearby are deluxe, and the values are goofy low.

jflail2

scottyboy76 wrote: »

Just checked the assesors valuations on ours and others in this area, they are definitely way off.

Not sure what percentage of the actual value they use, but some of these houses nearby are deluxe, and the values are goofy low.

Where I live, that's a good thing. Like Gaara mentioned, the assessor value is what our taxes are based off of, so I hope mine stays low for quite some time.

I'll have an appraisal run about 4-5 years from now, when I am pretty confident my LTV is below 80%. As soon as that happens, I can stop paying the PMI, which would save me a couple hundred a month. I just didn't have 60k to put down on my house unfortunately, so I'll have to live with the PMI for a few more years. But the rates were so low last year, I still came out ahead in the long haul.........I hope.

gudnoyez

On my first Home Loan, and on the refinance I got better rates from non VA loans, I have heard that from a lot of veterans also. Best of luck on everything lots of memories for you there, hope everything goes smooth for Ya!

scottyboy76

Thank you steve, Im kinda thinkin other than the no down benefit, that i wont need, theres probably not a lot for the va compared to regular.