Appraiser Hated my house. Did I handle it well?
Hey BP,
So in May I bought a property that was a 5-bed, 3 bath Single Fam House when I bought it, but has now been converted into a 4-3 with an in-law suite built in. I am going for a refi now.....We ordered the appraisal and the guy came out to take pictures and see the house. He goes in the larger piece of the house and takes pictures. Then when he sees the in-law suite he literally says out loud "OH NO", stares at the in-law suite for about a minute and proceeds to tell me that if he knew that the house was non-conforming like this he would not have taken the assignment to appraise this house. While I understand this might not be an easy appraisal for him, what I am hearing him say is "All of my appraisals are really easy to do, and now that I have one that is a little harder I'm not happy about it."
He literally asked me as he was leaving what I expected the home to appraise for, and I explained my process of my rehab and how I would value the particular property. My numbers were very reasonable. The exact model house with no upgrades whatsoever are selling for $270k. When I told him I am expecting it to appraise around $290k, he seemed relieved.
Am I wrong to think that this appraiser needs to suck it up and do his job? Did I handle this situation well in explaining my evaluation, or should I have requested a new appraisal? I'd really like some insight from some more experienced investors than me.
Thanks in advance,
Matt Nico