Posted by David Krulac on April 20, 2003 at 08:47:22:
most banks won’t accept drive bys for properties selling only refis.
Drive-by appraisal? - Posted by Donald
Posted by Donald on April 20, 2003 at 04:38:18:
Hey gang,
Does anyone get ‘drive-by’ appraisals on houses that you are selling (from a certified appraiser) and what do you have to pay for them?
Donald
Drive-by appraisal dissertation - Posted by ken in sc
Posted by ken in sc on April 21, 2003 at 14:10:38:
Yes, drive-by appraisals do exist.
Lenders want to do 2 things: 1. Speed up lending process. 2. Lower fees in lending process. The “drive-by” appraisal is one where the appraiser drivers by, takes a picture, uses tax info on the property, and puts down a value as best he can based on that limited info. Is this as good as a “full blown” (always wondered where that phrase came from! ) appraisal - NO. It could not be as the appraiser has limited info as did the assessor. But lenders are out to use the chstpest fastest appraisal possible. Lets say a bank is loaning a dentist who makes $400,000/yr $150,000 on a refinance of a house worth about $500,000. Who really cares if it is worth $450,000, $500,000, or $550,000? Nobody. So the bank may accept a drive-by. There are still rules that say a bank must have some kind of value estimate, so a drive-by will suffice. But for a 95% LTV purchase loan, most lenders still want the regular appraisal you are all familiar with.
Now, as far as why anyone would want one on a house they had for sale I do not understand.
Ken
Re: Drive-by appraisal? - Posted by eric-fl
Posted by eric-fl on April 21, 2003 at 09:48:16:
Funny you should ask… We are in the process of refinancing our primary residence right now, but only for lower rates, no equity pull-out. Seeing the lack of appraisal fee on the fair faith, I asked the MB about this. He informed me that they would only be doing a “drive-by” for this one. I had never heard of this before, I thought it fairly amusing. I guess the LTV, credit scores, or whatever make them feel comfortable enough to only do this much diligence. After all, what is a “drive-by” going to tell them? Pretty much that yes, there is in fact a house on that lot, and it appears to be inhabited, and is not too hideous from the outside, LOL.
Re: Drive-by appraisal? - Posted by IB (NJ)
Posted by IB (NJ) on April 20, 2003 at 09:38:21:
Donald, it sounds like you may be using this method just to determine if your selling price is accurate for your market place. As the others have mentioned, ‘drive-by’ appraisals are usually unacceptable to a buyer’s lender.
Anyway, to answer your question, I once (or maybe twice) paid a guy $100 for this service. However, I soon suspected that he wasn’t actually ‘driving by’ my property and instead was just pulling comps and using the information I gave him on the house. Eventually, I hooked up with a realtor (she gives me comps and I give her leads that don’t have enough equity for me) and used comps to help determine my selling price.
Re: Drive-by appraisal? - Posted by James Strange
Posted by James Strange on April 20, 2003 at 09:31:01:
Phil is correct in that the lender will decide what kind of appraisals they will want.
Re: Drive-by appraisal? - Posted by phil fernandez
Posted by phil fernandez on April 20, 2003 at 08:58:41:
Whoever is financing your buyer will determine who does the appraisal and how they do the appraisal. I can’t imagine that the mortgagee would accept just a drive by. They want the appraiser to do a full blown appraisal including looking at the inside of the house.
Maybe Ken SC can chime in here.