SFR Appraisal cost in Seattle area through the roof

Investor · Redmond, WA · Member since 2016 · 267 posts · 110 votes

Looks like SFR appraisal costs are through the roof in Seattle area. I am financing two houses (SFR) in Pierce county and bank appraisal costs for each house $1k. These are regular non-expedited appraisals.

Want to hear peoples experience from the area.

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Alex Chin

Seattle, WA · Member since 2015 · 500 posts · 243 votes

Doesn't sound quite right. I had a duplex appraised last year in Tacoma, it was an expedited job and cost me $1,100. Non-expedited would have been about $650.

I did recently have an inspection of a 6-unit apartment building run me $1,500; that was quite the hit but would have been worth it if the seller had been willing to compromise on price as it would have basically given me a complete scope of work to give to the GC for repairs.

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Sarah Ziehr
Real Estate Broker · Chicago, IL · Member since 2015 · 531 posts · 266 votes
9y
Thats high, in Chicago they are more like $500. I would check with a different bank.
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Angelo C.
Real Estate Investor · Palm Harbor, FL · Member since 2016 · 91 posts · 43 votes
9y
Hi Rudy,
It does sounds a bit too high, unless they are complex assignments. In Central Florida they are around $450-$550 for standard SFR.
Best wishes.
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Alex Chin
Seattle, WA · Member since 2015 · 500 posts · 243 votes
9y
Doesn't sound quite right. I had a duplex appraised last year in Tacoma, it was an expedited job and cost me $1,100. Non-expedited would have been about $650.
I did recently have an inspection of a 6-unit apartment building run me $1,500; that was quite the hit but would have been worth it if the seller had been willing to compromise on price as it would have basically given me a complete scope of work to give to the GC for repairs.
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Patrick Britton
Ann Arbor, MI · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 997 votes
9y
@Rudy Manna yeah that seems way too high. Total price for both should be $1,000. Have you asked the lender what's going on?
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Ben Lukes
Investor · Seattle, WA · Member since 2015 · 90 posts · 13 votes
9y
I ordered an appraisal a couple/few months ago on a 4-plex in Tacoma that came in at $750. I also just had an appraisal done less than a month ago on a condo in Bremerton that ran $700. Neither appraisal was expedited. Hope that is helpful.
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Rudy Manna
OP
Investor · Redmond, WA · Member since 2016 · 267 posts · 110 votes
9y
@Ben Lukes
@Alex Chin
Which banks are you using?
It seemed high to me as well. Bank tells me it just went up few weeks ago.
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Alex Chin
Seattle, WA · Member since 2015 · 500 posts · 243 votes
9y
I was working with Freedom Mortgage, but do not recommend them and intend to refinance to move my account to another lender in the spring.
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Chris MasonPro Member
Moderator
Lender · CA · Member since 2015 · 9k+ posts · 10k+ votes
9y
Good.
Appraisal fees need to go up.
I hope they go up in the Bay Area too.
Appraisal income hasn't been tracking with inflation or CPI for some time. As a result, no young person with an IQ over 75 is getting into residential appraising. And yet we frequently hear complaints about the quality of appraisals.
Can't have it both ways.
We either pay appraisers a respectable living wage appropriate for their education, training, and licensing requirements, and the work it takes to do an appraisal up to Fannie/Freddie standards, or all y'all's BRRRR deals are going to blow up during the refi appraisal.
Pick one.
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Rudy Manna
OP
Investor · Redmond, WA · Member since 2016 · 267 posts · 110 votes
9y
Originally posted by @Chris Mason:

Good.
Appraisal fees need to go up.
I hope they go up in the Bay Area too.
Appraisal income hasn't been tracking with inflation or CPI for some time. As a result, no young person with an IQ over 75 is getting into residential appraising. And yet we frequently hear complaints about the quality of appraisals.
Can't have it both ways.
We either pay appraisers a respectable living wage appropriate for their education, training, and licensing requirements, and the work it takes to do an appraisal up to Fannie/Freddie standards, or all y'all's BRRRR deals are going to blow up during the refi appraisal.
Pick one.
I am not trying to make a determination on how much they should be paid.
All I am trying to understand is that if I am paying above market rates, i.e, what others are paying.
On another note the appraisal rates were $400-$500 in 2012, which almost doubled in 4 years, so they aren't tracking CPI isn't right. Whether its enough or not is another question.
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Ben Lukes
Investor · Seattle, WA · Member since 2015 · 90 posts · 13 votes
9y
@Rudy Manna Those were with Movement Mortgage and Penrith Home Loans, which are both mortgage companies rather than banks. I think you should be able to find better rates. I had been told appraisals would cost me much more before I went through the process with both of these lenders.
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Russell BrazilBusiness Member
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Real Estate Agent · Washington, D.C. · Member since 2012 · 17k+ posts · 30k+ votes
9y
On properties $650k and below I typically pay about $600. Above that level it usually tracks with the price of the property. $800k property $800 etc. However to expedite them, Im typically looking at $200 to $500 more. This is the DC metro area.
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Justin Murray
Tacoma, WA · Member since 2018 · 24 posts · 21 votes
7y
just to give an update on this old thread, I just paid for an appraisal in tacoma for a refinance on $750,000 house and it cost me $860
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Aaron NelsonBusiness Member
Real Estate Agent · Seattle, WA · Member since 2016 · 307 posts · 191 votes
7y
@Justin Murray - That seems about right. The last few my clients have had done are +/- $100 of that amount. I have noticed that a lot of small multifamily appraisals seem to be taking longer but nothing like it was a couple of years ago.
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