[Mike47]

If you are going to refinance your home via Quicken Loans to get a better interest rate and to pay off some bills. Make sure you get an Appraisal company that knows the Villages and how to get information via the Villages on homes sold in the Villages. Our understanding is The Villages does not provide information to MLS. Which means the Appraisal company using only MLS will not get ALL the information on homes sold near you. They will only have home sales from OTHER real estate companies outside the Villages who use MLS, and some of those are foreclosures which reduces your home appraisal value. Well the Appraisal company Quicken used was called Tolle Appraisal Service Inc out of Crystal River, FL. Not only was the appraisal well below what it should have been, and their workmanship was in opinion sloppy, they did come out and take pictures, measure, etc. But only checked the MLS for sales in our area, and did not even list the home sold across the street two months ago. I would NOT use Tolle Appraisal Service Inc and I would tell the refinance company you do not want this business to appraisal your home. Check the BBB of Florida too.

[BK001]

That's a shame. But I need to ask were they hired by Quicken? And if so, do you think if they are "the company that Quicken uses" that you would have been able to convince them to change to a different appraiser?

It's good to hear your experience and opinion of this company but I'm not sure how one could avoid this in the future. And since The Villages does not participate in MLS, how would any company be able to do comps differently?

[Carla B]

An appraiser could look at the house, note addresses of similar properties in the area, then look up each address on the appropriate county's property appraisal website and Voila! there are the sales figures and much more, including square footage. Not at all hard to do.

[kstew43]

If the homes do not show on the MLS then the appraiser has no comparables to use. The appraiser used SOLD homes and not Forsale homes.

The VLS does not allow access to realtors..beyond there salespeople so this does complicate things.

If you check zillow/Realtor.com or any other site, you will see that the homes for sale/sold by the VLS realtors do not show as for sale.

[billethkid]

And even more precisely because of the exact models being sold can be compared to other exactly the same models except for location and modifications.

There are some very questionable appraisers out there. Completely unqualified and incapable that make use of already established information in TV and charge significant $$ for no value added except fullfilling the lending institution the paper work.

We had one done a few years for re-financing that was a joke done by an elderly couple barely able to walk. No measuring of rooms. No asking of questions. Took a couple of pictures. I protested to the lender and got a second one done by someone capable. The second one came in $30,000 higher!!!

The lower one would not have affected the transaction, but it was the point they were not doing the job.

[BobnBev]

Originally Posted by kstew43

If the homes do not show on the MLS then the appraiser has no comparables to use. The appraiser used SOLD homes and not Forsale homes.

The VLS does not allow access to realtors..beyond there salespeople so this does complicate things.

If you check zillow/Realtor.com or any other site, you will see that the homes for sale/sold by the VLS realtors do not show as for sale.

Zillow shows mine, and was sold through the VLS.

[VillagerNut]

Exactly what happened here is why we stress that you need a local mortgage company to do your mortgage. But every appraisers use the county property appraiser website not just the MLS! But you have to realize that if the home across the street is not the same square footage or extremely close in size they cannot use it! You cannot pick the appraiser but you can ask that they be from within 15 miles of your home! Yes there are bad appraisers out there just like every other profession. Also the point about Zillow was the fact that Zillow does not show a VLS listing for sale since the developer is not Realtors. It does show after the sale is complete! But the appraiser only cares about completed sales!

[goodtimesintv]

This is why it's wise to use Citizens First Wholesale Mortgage right here in The Villages.

Out of state lenders have mucked up the works in every case I know of because they do not know the unique market in TV.