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Mommy2Boys
My Boys!!!!
Member since 6/06 14437 total posts
Name:
C
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Has anyone appraisal come back for the EXACT purchase price? LONG
Here is a little backgroun info...We bought our house 2 1/2 yrs. ago at the height of the market  wheneveryone was taking advantage of home buyers. My real estate agent referred me to a loan officer from Countrywide (who happened to be the branch manager). They did a lot of swapping business. My real estate agent I also found out after our closing, was not only a friend of the seller of our house but worked in the same real estate office  Anyway, our appraisal came back for the EXACT price that was agreed upon between us and the seller. Obviously, everyone knew what the agreed upon purchase price was.
To make a long story short, after closing I started working for Countrywide in the same office I did my loan through and my loan officer became my boss. After watching him work and the other loan officers in our office, I realized that they all speak with and are "friendly" with the appraisers...this is a BIG no-no. Kind of "you rub my back, I'll rub yours". This is when there was a lot fo pressure to close loans and people were getting loans that shouldnt which is why we are in this crisis now. I heard with my own ears the loan officers say things like "I need this house to come in at X amount".
Now that I would like to refinance b/c the rates are so low, I am wondering if this can cause a problem for me now. I know the prices of houses have come down but I am wondering if maybe looking back, our house wasn't worth what we bought it for in the first place. Without the appraiser coming in with that number the house could have never been sold to us. I have a feeling my loan officer at the time (who became my boss) "fixed" the appraisal to get the loan b/c it was a big loan and he would make a lot of money off of it.
This was not the only illegal practice that took place in this office. The loan officers used to fax copies of clients credit reports to real estate agents whcih is also a big no-no. But at the time it was all about the $$$ and realtors didnt want to bother with people who werent going to be able to get a loan and make them $$$.
I doubt I have any recourse now 2 1/2 yrs later, but just wondering if this happened to anyone else? Maybe it is not as unusual as I am thinking.
ETA: Not sure I made it clear...the appraisal did NOT come in for original asking price...it came in for the exact agreed purchase price which was about $18k less than original asking price.
Message edited 12/17/2008 7:59:59 PM.
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Posted 12/17/08 7:48 PM  |
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Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate
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-Lisa-
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Member since 5/05 6530 total posts
Name:
Lisa
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Re: Has anyone appraisal come back for the EXACT purchase price? LONG
As an appraiser, I can tell you its not at all unusual for an appraisal to match the purchase price. There's a good amount of "wiggle room" in most appraisals (they are after all just "opinions" of value), and its not odd to pick the purchase price as the appraisal value when its priced right and properly supported with comps. After all, doesn't it make sense that the house is worth what someone is willing to pay for it? - thats the definition of market value!
If you think your house was priced fairly, and was worth what you paid for it, then I wouldn't worry about an old appraisal. But even if your house was worth what you paid for it 2+ years ago, its likely that the value has dropped and that may prevent your refi now.
(unfortunately, its also not unusual for shady appraisers to inflate values because of pressure from loan officers. There's been a lot of change in the last few years to prevent that. ALL our orders are automated now with NO contact with loan officers.)
Message edited 12/17/2008 9:47:04 PM.
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| Posted 12/17/08 9:45 PM |
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Kelly9904
Mommy to 2 amazing little boys
Member since 5/05 9306 total posts
Name:
Kelly
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Re: Has anyone appraisal come back for the EXACT purchase price? LONG
Message edited 1/30/2009 2:51:26 PM.
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| Posted 12/17/08 9:58 PM |
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Erica
LIF Adult
Member since 5/05 11767 total posts
Name:
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Re: Has anyone appraisal come back for the EXACT purchase price? LONG
Posted by jellybean1420
This was not the only illegal practice that took place in this office. The loan officers used to fax copies of clients credit reports to real estate agents which is also a big no-no. But at the time it was all about the $$$ and realtors didn't want to bother with people who werent going to be able to get a loan and make them $$$.
Our REA told us to use her broker to get a pre-qual or pre-approval (I forget which one), but we knew we were using a certain bank and connection. The broker not only called me up and yelled at me about not using her, but then she called the seller's agent and told them that we could not afford the house!! Our bank officer called them and told them that we already had a commitment letter and therefore this was untrue.
It's awful what people will do!
now that we are going through it again (for the third time - the first was OOS and SO much easier than NY) we are looking at things very cynically.
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| Posted 12/17/08 11:29 PM |
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BlueDiamonds
mommy to 3 boys
Member since 2/07 3885 total posts
Name:
proud mommy
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Re: Has anyone appraisal come back for the EXACT purchase price? LONG
Our house was appraised for the EXACT purchase price and it's not really an even number. I totally thought it was fishy.
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| Posted 12/18/08 11:43 AM |
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-Lisa-
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Member since 5/05 6530 total posts
Name:
Lisa
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Re: Has anyone appraisal come back for the EXACT purchase price? LONG
Posted by BlueDiamonds
Our house was appraised for the EXACT purchase price and it's not really an even number. I totally thought it was fishy.
I've done the odd numbers, not often, but a few times. I did it when I felt the house was at the uppermost limit of what I would consider an acceptable price for the house (usually when concessions were built in). I didn't want to screw with the loan numbers by rounding down, but I also didn't want to give $1 more to the value.
But I know there are appraisers out there who ALWAYS appraise at the purchase price, whatever odd number that is, as long as its in the acceptable range of value for that property.
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| Posted 12/18/08 12:57 PM |
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Tine73
Member since 3/06 22093 total posts
Name:
*********
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Re: Has anyone appraisal come back for the EXACT purchase price? LONG
Our original appraisal was the same as the purchase price when we bought.
Now it's $50k less. 
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| Posted 12/18/08 2:15 PM |
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ckone
LIF Adult
Member since 8/06 3014 total posts
Name:
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Re: Has anyone appraisal come back for the EXACT purchase price? LONG
We bought out house for $427K and guess what it appraised for???? $427K exactly. I want to refi too but the value is more than we paid and probably what our mortgage is...so we are %$&( out of luck I am sure. Oh well. I kinda knew when we bought the house it was priced a little high.
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| Posted 12/18/08 8:59 PM |
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ave1024
I Took The Wrong Road
Member since 12/07 6153 total posts
Name:
That Led To The Wrong Tendencies
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Re: Has anyone appraisal come back for the EXACT purchase price? LONG
Posted by jellybean1420
Now that I would like to refinance b/c the rates are so low, I am wondering if this can cause a problem for me now. I know the prices of houses have come down but I am wondering if maybe looking back, our house wasn't worth what we bought it for in the first place. Without the appraiser coming in with that number the house could have never been sold to us.
What the house apprised for years ago really doesn't make a difference.
The appraisal is there to make the banks feel better about loaning out money.
The bottom line is the house is worth what somebody is willing to pay for it. Will you have trouble getting a refi now? Maybe. Maybe not. The only way to find out is to apply.
And yes many appraisals come in at purchase price because of the reasons you stated.
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| Posted 12/18/08 9:25 PM |
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