What typically leads to a second appraisal?

A close study of property appraisal trends in NY in recent times have indicated that instances of second appraisal are on a steep rise. That is, in various deals, the property on sale is being reappraised. In fact a lot of times our NY property appraisal agency has been contacted by lenders and financing agents to execute this task of second appraisal. We closely read through these special cases and attempted to ascertain the reason for this repeat appraisal trend. Here is what we found out.

1.     Second appraisals were demanded in cases where the first appraisal report was prepared by an appraiser who did not belong to that area. For example, one of our clients in Nassau was adamant that we send over a Nassau appraiser to evaluate the property he is interested in buying. His logic was simple – how can an outsider judge a property in an area that he knows nothing about.

2.     Another case of second appraisal was lack of enough data to support the findings. For appraisal purposes, the property’s condition and technical facts are taken into account and additionally, recently completed comparable sales are considered. If during the preparation of first appraisal report, there weren’t enough comparable properties, the parties involved demand a second appraisal to reconfirm the findings. Likewise, if any other appraisal guidelines were not attributed due relevance by the first NY appraiser, another professional is hired.

3.     Another common situation is one where owing to average credit score of the borrower, mortgage lenders seek a second appraisal report. Now because the borrower isn’t in a very stable situation, lender gets apprehensive. In such circumstances, to eradicate possibilities of flawed appraisal report, second property appraisal in NY is often sought.