An Appraiser Bites Back!

Mike Lefebvre, a licensed real estate agent and certified residential real estate appraiser recently reviewed a very controversial Real Estate Radio USA interview with Realtor Jennifer Allan. 

I've listened to the entire interview (click here) and overall the investor-interviewers were very pro-appraiser as the interview turned from "How do you justify your listing commission?" to "How do you price a home to sell?"   Kudos to Mike for trying to set the record straight!

Here's a small portion of Mike's article:

The conversation eventually turned to pricing properties and appraisers and then the fangs came out. To be honest, I wasn’t prepared at all for what I was about to hear. It was appraiser hate-speak! I’m sure Jennifer would tell us that “some of her very best friends are appraisers” but I certainly wasn’t feeling the love yesterday afternoon.

• Jennifer claims that appraisers can or do not factor in things like “appeal, smells and the ugly house next door.”
• She also said, “The appraised price is irrelevant to the market value of a home.”
• Jennifer went on to say, “An appraisal is a justification of the sales price.”
• “I don’t think appraisers have any business pricing homes for market.”

You'll want to read Mike Lefebvre's full blog post (click here) as he Bites Back!

Mike Lefebvre, The "Uncommon Agent", is a Massachusetts licensed real estate agent with Century 21 Commonwealth, New England's largest C21 firm. In addition, he is also a certified residential real estate appraiser and the owner/chief appraiser at MeetingHouse Appraisals. Mike wields a double-edged sword, combining his appraisal expertise with his sales and marketing prowess to maximize benefits and profits for both his buyer and seller clients.