Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
If you are selling a home and want to get an appraisal first to determine how it list it, then choose your own appraiser.
If you are buying a home, then the lender will choose the appraiser. Each lender has their own independent appraisers, house appraisers or appraisal management company appraisers they will use. They won't accept an appraisal from every appraiser out there. To hire your own appraiser in that type of situation is just throwing money away as the completed appraisal may not be accepted.
If you're looking at home and want to have an appraisal done first, just for informational purposes, before you make an offer, then by all means hire your own appraiser. Just be aware that you may have to have another done by the lender if you do go to contract.
You might be able to talk a lender into using your appraisal. However, two things will happen. The appraiser has to change from being your client and then making the lender his or her new client. He or she is going to charge to do that. Also keep in mind each lender out there has their own stipulations as to what they want on an appraisal report. Your appraiser is also going to charge if there needs to be additional work above and beyond what was in the original report. Hopefully, the lender would pay for it.
But basically it's easier, if you're the buyer, to just stay out of the way and let the lender hire and take care of the appraisal.
If you still want an appraisal and don't know of any appraisers in the area, by all means ask your realtor for recommendations, but get a few and pick from there. Don't take the chance of illegal collusion by using just the one person a real estate agent suggests.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.