Introduction
Sixty-five-year-old cross dressers? Bombs? Venomous snakes? Murderers? Charging bison? Who would have thought the life of an appraiser could be so full of adventures?
When most of us hear the term, real estate, we think of realtors, banks and mortgage lenders. The appraisers are those non-descript people who carry a clipboard and measuring device, look into your closets and underneath sinks, and tell you your house isn’t worth anywhere near what you think it should be. Right?
In my fifteen-year experience as an appraiser I’ve generally found many misconceptions not only with the homeowners, but the mortgage officers and realtors. For example, nobody can agree on how square footage, or GLA, as we call it, is determined. Homeowners can’t understand why we appraisers can’t use a house that is twice the size with three times the upgrades to compare to their own. And realtors, in general, seem to think they can choose the comparables for the appraiser and get away with it. Mortgage lenders in New Jersey haven’t a clue that a town of 150 residents in the middle of Wyoming won’t have a sale within fifty miles of the property, and certainly won’t have one within the past six months. So as an appraiser, I finally got wise and began taking photos of the population signs upon entering those tiny towns.
Suffice it to say, appraisers take grief from all sides: lenders, homeowners, loan officers and realtors. Most of us don’t care; we just do our job even though it makes us unpopular. We duck through crawl spaces and spidery attics; disappear into sinkholes of mud up to our knees; and receive little in the way of appreciation. We measure a house with thorny bushes planted all the way round but it’s not easy. And how do you explain to a homeowner that although he just spent $30,000 on a new swimming pool, that pool is now considered a liability and he would have put the money to better use updating the kitchen?
Regardless of the issues, what most people fail to realize is that, like other high-risk jobs, we enter the homes of strangers without a clue as to what we may encounter. We drive into inner cities, and remote ranchland rich in wildlife, and meet characters of all sorts, good and bad.
Here is a unique look at the life of a real-estate appraiser from the inside out. I hope you enjoy the adventure.
Sixty-five-year-old cross dressers? Bombs? Venomous snakes? Murderers? Charging bison? Who would have thought the life of an appraiser could be so full of adventures?
When most of us hear the term, real estate, we think of realtors, banks and mortgage lenders. The appraisers are those non-descript people who carry a clipboard and measuring device, look into your closets and underneath sinks, and tell you your house isn’t worth anywhere near what you think it should be. Right?
In my fifteen-year experience as an appraiser I’ve generally found many misconceptions not only with the homeowners, but the mortgage officers and realtors. For example, nobody can agree on how square footage, or GLA, as we call it, is determined. Homeowners can’t understand why we appraisers can’t use a house that is twice the size with three times the upgrades to compare to their own. And realtors, in general, seem to think they can choose the comparables for the appraiser and get away with it. Mortgage lenders in New Jersey haven’t a clue that a town of 150 residents in the middle of Wyoming won’t have a sale within fifty miles of the property, and certainly won’t have one within the past six months. So as an appraiser, I finally got wise and began taking photos of the population signs upon entering those tiny towns.
Suffice it to say, appraisers take grief from all sides: lenders, homeowners, loan officers and realtors. Most of us don’t care; we just do our job even though it makes us unpopular. We duck through crawl spaces and spidery attics; disappear into sinkholes of mud up to our knees; and receive little in the way of appreciation. We measure a house with thorny bushes planted all the way round but it’s not easy. And how do you explain to a homeowner that although he just spent $30,000 on a new swimming pool, that pool is now considered a liability and he would have put the money to better use updating the kitchen?
Regardless of the issues, what most people fail to realize is that, like other high-risk jobs, we enter the homes of strangers without a clue as to what we may encounter. We drive into inner cities, and remote ranchland rich in wildlife, and meet characters of all sorts, good and bad.
Here is a unique look at the life of a real-estate appraiser from the inside out. I hope you enjoy the adventure.