Rels Valuation - Wells Fargo Rels De-Valuation Rels Valuation & Wells Fargo should be called Rels De-Valuation & Well ForgetU San Diego, California

I was trying to refi one of my houses with Wells Fargo, whom I've done business with for many years. Wells Fargo ordered an appraisal from Rels Valuation. Rels De-Valuation appraised my rental house at $60,000 below the average market value ($350,000) for my community when in fact it should have appraised at or only slightly below average value for the community.

So, based on the appraisal, Rels De-Valuation is telling me my house value only increased about 10% in 8 years? I find that extremely hard to believe. What Rels De-Valuation also said, if I correctly read their comments under one of the comps they used (8941), is that my property, inspite of me rehabbing it eight years ago (with a completely new kitchen), is in no better condition than a typical REO trashed property. (REOs are bank-owned, typically foreclosed homes.)

Appraisers can't seem to find the "middle ground" and do a consistent "good job." They are partially responsible for the financial crisis that real estate is in now because they previously "catered" to the whims of the lenders and borrowers by inflating house values. So now, to make amends for their screw ups, they go to the other "extreme" and make it harder for people, even people with FICO scores over 800, to refi. They have become a very sorry excuse for appraisers. 

Rels De-Valuation's appraiser didn't do "due diligence" for the following reasons: 

They said that a "comp" (8941) has a remodeled kitchen. My house also has a remodeled kitchen and was rehabbed after I bought it in 2001. (8941 sold for $410,000; Rels valued my slightly less comparable in size house at $270,000) Rels De-Valutaion also said that "8941 is like a "new home." Not quite; not even close. I viewed 8941 and it is NOT like a new home. Rels De-Valuation simply took the word of the agent who bought, rehabbed, and sold 8941 for a hefty PROFIT of about $130,000 in only six months time. But the appraiser could only see the outside of the house after it was rehabbed and sold; she NEVER saw its condition BEFORE it was rehabbed. And any claims that it is "like a new home" is a bullcrap lowball tactic that I doulbt would stand up in court.

The agent who sold 8941 is the same agent who bought it and rehabbed it.  The Rels De-Valuation agent said that he "felt that 8941 was not representative of the subject's market (my house) and was not included..." as a comp. How could they "feel that" if they didn't see 8941? Somehow, without seeing 8941 before it was rehabbed, Rels -Valuation determined that the 8941 property "...was more comparable in [its original] condition ... [than] after the remodeling? (Rels' grammer was unintelligible.) How would Rels De-Valuation know this WITHOUT seeing what 8941 looked like BEFORE it was rehabbed? Most REO properties are TRASHED by the time they are sold.

What Rels De-Valuation is saying is that my property, inspite of being rehabbed after I bought it, is in no better condition than the average REO that's been trashed. Rels De-Valuation obviously don't know anything about the Santee real estate market and the condition of the REOs being sold.

Rels' appraiser didn't account for my oversized corner lot, which is much larger than most of the comps.

In addition to NOT using 8941 as an official comp (although they DID compare my property to it), Rels De-Valuation used other REOs as comps. Now, in my city, REOs sell for about $225,000 or so, because they have been TRASHED by the foreclosed owners. Those that are not trashed are selling for a LOT more. You can NOT buy a 3 BR 1.5 Bath, 1450 sq ft house on a 9100 sq ft corner lot, in move in condition, or even decent condition in my community for $225,000, or for $270,00. Any appraiser worth his/her salt would know that, except for a Rels De-Valuation appraiser.

Rels' appraiser didn't account for the fact that the comps that sold for $225,000 or so were REOs and trashed when they sold. Rels' apraiser used comps that were low and ignored other comps that were close and sold within a six month time frame. Rels' appraiser used compls only within a mile or so, and that "sold" withing the last three or four months.

Rels De-Valuation's appeal writeup is very incomprehensible; the last two sentences look like they were written by 4th graders. How could a person who can't write adequate English possibly be an appraiser? Or worse yet, supervise appraisers.

Well, I didn't get the appraisal I expected, nor the little bit of "cash out" I wanted from the refi; no big deal, there are other lenders. But, I will be passing "the word" at my local real estate investment clubs about Rels De-Valuation's and Well ForgetU's methods of "low balling" property appraisals, and when investors need financing and an appraisal they can go elsewhere and request that RELS NOT be used.

The funny (actually sad) thing is, after the appraisal came back lowballed by Rels De-Valuation, Well ForgetU said I should continue with the refi and just refi for the balance of the loan, which is well below the appraisal amount.

Ha Ha Ha Ha...ROFLMAO!!! Well ForgetU jerked me around for over two months. They actually THINK that I would continue to do business with them after they stabbed me in the back? 

I said, "Yeah, OK." and then immediately found a MORTGAGE BROKER who got refinancing for BOTH my houses at almost a half percentage point LOWER than Well ForgetU, with the same fees/costs, and they are faster. Not only do I get "cash out" of about $80,000 to invest in my business, my new payments are only about $50 higher than my payments with Well ForgetU.

I also learned that banks and credit unions are NOT your best bet for refinancing. If they have to do the paperwork they lend the money at higher rates.

Credit Unions - In spite of what they say, credit unions are NOT your best bet for loans, especially home loans. But that's another ripoffreport.