Appraisals

Appraisal (typically required by lender)

In real estate, an estimate of the quality or value of property (the fair market value); the process by which conclusions of the value of property are assessed; also refers to the report setting forth the estimate of value together with the basis for such conclusions.  For VA appraisal - Certificate of Reasonable Value - Commonly referred to as a "CRV". Veterans Administration's certified appraisal of value of real property.  For Commercial property , an Environmental appraisal is often required as well.

The appraisal report

Must include a legible copy of the license (with renewal card, if applicable) of each appraiser who signed the report, current as of the date of the appraisal and issued by the state in which the subject property is located. The license (with renewal card, if applicable) must clearly specify the appraiser's name, license number, license classification and expiration date.

In addition to the requirements outlined above, MTG requires the following guidelines to be followed when selecting an appraiser:

1. You must use a Licensed, Certified Residential, or Certified General Appraiser for appraisals on all 1-4 unit residential properties.
   

2. You must use a Certified General Appraiser for all Commercial properties.
   

Appraisers

An appraiser assigns a fair market value to a particular property, based on analysis of the property in question, and the market conditions in the area, and recent sales data of comparable properties in the area.

• A state-licensed or state-certified appraiser, not currently suspended by MTG (or any of the agencies with which we do business), must appraise the property. 
  

• The appraiser's license must be of a type deemed acceptable for federally related transactions and the appraiser must be a member of the National Registry. 
  

• Appraisers with training licenses (i.e. "transitional", "provisional", "registered", "temporary", etc.) may NOT appraise property (may authorize if the appraisal can be signed by a state-licensed or state-certified, supervisory appraiser not currently suspended by MTG or any of the agencies with which we do business).

NOTE:  Many lenders require that appraisers be certified with their lending institution (i.e. various expanded criteria programs such as NINA & SISA loans must be lender certified).  With these loans, certification for the specific lender must be verified by the lender (just because an appraiser has appraised conforming loans for a certain lender in the past, does not mean that, that appraiser or their company is approved or certified to appraise expanded criteria loans).  

Appraisal Waiver
A waiver means no appraisal is needed. The lender will evaluate a comp (comparison report) of closely matching properties as described above.

Typically, an appraisal is good up to a year and the home owner is requested by the lender to obtain a new appraisal to ensure the home is still in as good or better shape than the last appraisal. It is also good for the lender to know the Fair Market Value (FMV) of the neighboring properties and an economic evaluation of the immediate community.

When the lender waives an appraisal, the value of the property is typically consistant with the County Assesor's value.