Entries from Dan Melson's Website tagged with 'appraisal'

New Consumer Article: The Measurement Unit For Desirability Is Dollars

The new consumer article for today is The Measurement Unit For Desirability Is Dollars. It really is that simple. A good agent can make a difference, but a property that has more will cost more. It isn't rocket science, but...

Why Do I Have to Pay For The Appraisal When I Cancelled Escrow?

I got an ill-mannered complaint email about how an evil loan officer ordered the appraisal without waiting for the inspection to be done, and it turned out there was a minor problem that the seller likely could have had repaired,...

"I'll Pay For Your Appraisal" From a Loan Provider

This is one of those commercial gambits I keep seeing that has nothing intrinsically wrong with it, and yet it is most often a tactic employed by the more costly loan providers. In short, sharks and scam artists. The basic...

What Fees Can You Recover If Your Loan Is Denied?

"What mortgage fees can i recover after loan denial" was a search I got. The answer is basically, "None." Indeed, one of your search criteria should be mortgage providers that don't charge anything up front, except maybe a credit check...

When The Appraisal Is Below The Purchase Price for Real Estate

what happens when house doesn't appraise? I presume this question meant "for the necessary value according to the lender's guidelines". Lenders base their evaluation of a property upon the standard accountant's "Lower of Cost or Market." This is intentionally...

Appraisal Fraud

I enjoyed finding your blog today. It was enlightening, particularly in the area of real estate appraisals. Mortgage fraud is something I've been reading about lately. Since the FBI says 80% of it involves collusion and usually with the...

Loan Qualification Standards - "Loanbusters"

This is definitely not a "Who you gonna call?" I've done a couple articles in the recent past on the two ratios, debt to income and loan to value. Nonetheless, there exist a plethora of reasons why someone can be...

Appraisers Speak Out Against "Make The Deal"

Appraisers Petition Against "Make The Deal" I've spoken about these issues before in this post. I've certainly heard of plenty of abuse on both sides of this equation, and there is plenty of motivation for lenders to abuse the situation...

Buyer's Appraisal versus Seller's Appraisal

My husband and I are currently in escrow with the sale of our home in California. Our buyers have been " difficult" to say the least. The buyers appraisal of our property came in $6,000 below the selling price...

Housing Bubble

(This was originally written in July 2005, but still has a lot of relevance) On someone's website: "Besides once in California, which completely recovered in a short period of time, by the way, can someone please show me an example...

How Easy Scams Are

Hi, my name is DELETED, I need help. I bought a house (a few months ago) because my boyfriend persuaded me to. This was supposed to be a real estate investment between us. I put the house in my...

There's No Real Way to Take The Complexity Out of Real Estate

Every so often I get e-mail asking why real estate transactions are so complex. The answer is, "Because they're for a lot of money, and because there's a lot of money involved, con artists and other people will make a...

Money You Spend Before You Buy Real Estate

Before you even make an offer, you should be aware that you're going to spend a significant amount of money well before the transaction is consummated. There are methods of avoiding it, but they're a good way to get yourself...

The Appraisal and Appraisers

Of all the issues having to do with a mortgage, the appraisal generates more overblown problems than any other part of the process. It's also one of the most critical areas to handle correctly. There are reasons for this: It...

Removing Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI)

"How do I remove PMI?" First off, a definition. Private Mortgage Insurance, often abbreviated PMI, is an insurance policy that the bank may make you buy in order to get the loan. It is a monthly surcharge based upon a...

Misplaced Improvements in Real Estate

Every so often I'll say something about misplaced improvements. You may be wondering what a misplaced improvement is. Simply put, it's something that stands out above the surrounding properties so far that they pull it down. Like having a mansion...