EXTRA! EXTRA! HOT REAL ESTATE NEWS IN DENVER-You have all heard about how hot the Denver Real Estate market is unless you have been living under a rock! What else is going on, well those whacky low-interest rates are making it hard to pass up refinancing for existing homeowners. So, In a hot real estate market, it creates a mass influx of appraisal orders. What does this mean and how can it affect you if you are selling, purchasing or refinance a home? It means the time has come to slow the roll! Have realistic expectations and timelines because appraisers are treading water right now.
Right now some appraisers are currently turning away orders because they have too much on their plate! This means that current appraisal orders can take longer that the typical 10 day turnaround time. In some cases, they are taking up to 3 weeks and in some locations longer (foothills and Summit County can be 6 weeks ). We have even heard of some people paying willing to pay higher amounts just to get an appraisal back in two weeks! One appraiser told an AMC if they paid him $7K he would accept the order. Bear in mind an appraiser can decline an order at any point in the process per DORA.
If you are looking to buy a home, sell your home or refinance, you need to prepare yourself and be mindful and realistic of timelines. Right now it would be very difficult to have a closing completed in less than 30 days. While this is something we do, it is not the norm. While we can have your loan approved and done, if the appraisal is not back then you can’t close. If you are purchasing a home, it is critical to have good communication with your lender and your realtor in order to not jeopardize your deadlines and/or delay closing. This should be discussed before writing a contract. A good lender will review the dates when they get a contract and bring up concerns on potential appraisal, loan objections, and other timelines upfront (a good real estate agent will inquire about acceptable deadlines before writing a contract, since the lender is responsible for loan approval and your docs being sent in a timely fashion to close).
Remember as a buyer you have to sign your Closing Disclosure (CD) 3 business days before closing, so the appraisal plays an important role, and needs to be approved by an underwriter before this happens.
As a seller please help by being accommodating to the appraisers schedule by allowing them access to the property as soon as time will allow.
Knowing that you are all on the same page and the lines of communication are transparent will help everyone with the expectations. If you have any questions please contact us.
