Harney: Appraisal delays gum up home sales

Take this example provided to me by a mortgage broker in the Seattle area. Matt Culp, owner of Bainbridge Lending Group, says clients who urgently needed to close on a newly built house — and to move out of their rented dwelling — were squeezed into paying $2,000 for an appraisal that normally would cost $625.

An appraisal management company had said that the quickest the valuation could be delivered was Oct. 6, weeks after their hoped-for closing date. Waiting that long, however, would have cost the borrowers their favorable rate lock and forced them to pay another month’s rent. But when Culp inquired about a rush fee, the appraiser agreed to a $2,000 total fee — $1,375 more than the earlier quote. For the extra money, the appraiser would put Culp’s clients at the top of the to-do list. The buyers agreed. The extra $1,375, charged to the borrowers’ credit card in advance of any work performed, was “extortion,” Culp told me. But it was less expensive than the alternatives.

Here’s another example, this time from the perspective of an appraisal management company. Brian C. Coester, CEO of Coester Valuation Management Services in Rockville, Md., said a lender in Nashville recently was willing to pay appraisers $1,100 for work that normally would have cost less than half of that, but still had difficulty finding takers. Coester’s firm, like other management companies, helps lenders link up with appraisers around the country. For its services, it takes a piece of the appraisal fee.

Appraisers have complained for several years that management companies are themselves a big part of the problem because they pay low fees to the appraiser and pocket 25 percent to 30 percent or more of what homebuyers are charged. Plus they have unreasonable expectations about how quickly appraisers can churn out reports. Management company executives like Coester deny they underpay appraisers and instead suggest that there is an underlying “shortage” of appraisers caused in part by the aging of members of the profession, tougher qualifications and regulations, and by fewer new recruits coming in to replace them.

The Appraisal Institute, the profession’s largest trade group, confirms that there are fewer appraisers active today than in previous years — the ranks are down by 22 percent since 2007 to a total of 76,800 as of Dec. 31. But J. Scott Robinson, president of the group, told me one of the key reasons for the dwindling numbers is that management companies and lenders aren’t paying adequate fees to retain experienced appraisers or attract newcomers.

Jonathan Miller, a prominent New York-based appraiser, wrote in a recent blog that “there is no shortage of appraisers. There is a shortage of appraisers willing to work for half the market rate” — which is what he believes many appraisers get when they work for management companies as opposed to directly dealing with banks.

Whatever the causes — whether there is a true “shortage” or simply fewer appraisers willing to work for low net compensation — appraisal delays, combined with requests for “rush fees,” are realities in the marketplace. When setting contract deadlines for your closing, ask your real estate agent about conditions in your area. The more realistic the settlement date, the lower the likelihood you’ll be charged extra to get the work done.

Kenneth R. Harney of the Washington Post Writers Group is a past member of the Federal Reserve Board’s Consumer Advisory Council and is currently on the board of directors of the National Association of Real Estate Editors. Reach him at KenHarney@earthlink.net.