The Appraisal

There's a reason why all of the little things matter.

High foreclosure rates paired with too high a number of rental units equals appraisal disaster. At least it did for me when I got an appraisal last week as a part of my refi of an ARM mortgage.

You see I was one of those people who actually paid attention to the fine print.

I actually knew that my mortgage payment would be adjusting in May and didn't want a $350 surprise when I went to pay my June mortgage.

So I investigated rates and the like with my current mortgage holder, decided that they were smoking crack as there terms were nutty; and choose to look elsewhere for reasonable financing.

I found a lender (my bank) and everything has gone through with flying colors until we hit a small stumbling block called the appraisal.

The appraiser and I don't exactly see eye to eye on the value.

In fact, there are 55,000 little reasons why we're not seeing eye to eye.

I know you're asking yourself, Woody---what the hell? How in God's name could there be that much of a disparity in what you think your unit is worth vs. what an appraiser thinks your unit is worth?

At this time and in this place the value of some Woodlawn real estate isn't too bright.

The real estate chickens have come home to roost. Foreclosures seem to haunt those of us who continue to live in a neighborhood long after the banks have taken over the properties.