I’ve done several pre-listing appraisals recently and I got a question the other day that I wanted to share with you. The homeowner wanted to know if a pre-listing appraisal could be used by the buyer’s lender to get their mortgage. The short answer to this is “no”, however this was not always the case. Before the HVCC (Home Valuation Code of Conduct) was enacted it was possible for a pre-listing appraisal to be done on a house, and then when it sold the bank would ask the appraiser to do an update on it for the mortgage. The update would consist of the appraiser re-inspecting the home and looking for more recent sales since the initial inspection. This could often be done at a cost savings.
As I stated previously this is no longer possible. New laws require that the buyer’s lender order an appraisal from their list of approved appraisers. The appraisers on this list are typically “rotated” after each assignment. The rotation was put into place so that there would be no actual or perceived fraud between the loan officer and appraiser. It is possible for the appraiser to be on the approved appraiser list of the buyer’s lender, however they would have to be next up in the rotation to get the job.
This should not be perceived as a “deal breaker” in deciding whether or not to get a pre-listing appraisal. The buyer pays for the mortgage appraisal so this does not affect the seller any differently than it did before. The bottom line is that a pre-listing appraisal can help you save money by 1) Getting the maximum selling price for your home based on current market conditions, and 2) Preventing your home from being listed for an extended period of time. I’m sure you’ve heard the old saying that “time is money”, haven’t you? Well the longer your home is on the market the more you pay in advertising and marketing expenses. The bottom line is that the return on investment of the appraisal is greater than the cost. Do you currently have your home for sale or are you getting ready to list it? Has it been on the market for and extended period of time? Please let me know if I can help you.
If you have any real estate appraisal related questions you can call me at 205.243.9304, email me, or connect with me on facebook.
Good article Tom. This is a common question and many homeowners do not know that even though an appraisal has just been done, the buyer’s lender will order an appraisal from their list of approved appraisers.
Thanks Bryan.