How long does an appraisal take?

[frugalnacho]

I am in the process of refinancing.  We signed all the paperwork to move forward about a month ago.  The day after signing I got a call from an appraisal company.  The day after that he came out and conducted the appraisal.  After not hearing anything for 2 weeks we contacted the credit union and asked about the status of the appraisal and how long it will take.  They didn't answer, so a week after that I replied to that same email and CC some other people at the credit union inquiring again about the status.  That was last week and no one has gotten back to me, and we are coming up on 4 weeks since the appraisal was conducted.  I'm sure he had a list of recent comps before he visited.   What is the hold up and what is taking so long?  Why has the credit union gone unresponsive?  Anything to be alarmed about?

[jalich]

When we closed last year, it took a little over 2 weeks from start to finish in the Atlanta area.

I don't know if they have been swamped lately and extended lead times. We are also currently looking for land, and a comment our land agent made was "perc tests used to take 2 weeks, now it's 45 days" - it's not 100% apples-to-apples comparison, but I can see where it's taking longer now.

3/6 ordered
3/10 scheduled
3/21 received

[Rhinodad]

When the bar is closing, appraisals take no time at all. Beggars can't be choosers.

[StashingAway]

The finance end of real estate is upside down right now. Appraisals are backlogged 6 weeks or more. We actually started the re-finance process and our bank, who usually responds to emails in a day, took two weeks to get back to us. So we tabled that nonsense.

To answer your questions, my understanding is appraisals usually get done in less than two weeks.

[frugalnacho]

I can understand a backlog in getting an appraisal scheduled, but I don't understand the backlog once it's been scheduled and walked through.  He called me at like 3pm and wanted to come out the same day.  I wanted at least one evening to tidy up before he came, so he came at like 9am the following morning. 

Maybe I don't understand how complicated the appraisal process is, but it seems pretty easy.  Just compare it to comps in the area.  From previous appraisals I've seen that's all there is.  They have a list of comps, then they have a list of adjustments to change the price, and the formula spits out a final value.  Any time I've spoken to a real estate agent about selling they know the approximate market price of the home within minutes, so it's a bit perplexing that the appraisal is going on 4 weeks now. 

Even more perplexing is that our credit union seems to be ignoring us, like they can't even be bothered to call us or email us and say "hey sorry, the appraisal company is really backed up and it will take a bit longer". 

[NoVa]

Something is wrong there Mr. Nacho. The hard part is getting them to come out.

In different times I have gotten appraisals in 24 hours, when interest rates were high and finance really needed it.

[Dreamer40]

I would start harassing them and asking them what's the hold up. An appraisal should not take anywhere that long. I've never had one take longer than a week or so to send the report after the inspection. They're probably very busy right now, but they need to finish yours before taking on new clients.

[Dicey]

As they say in the South, "Time to break out a can of whup-ass"...

CU's tend to be small. Look up the CEO and put in a call to them. You won't be likely to get through to them directly, but someone who cares will definitely respond.

The answer to your question is that's way too long. The loan should have closed by now. Personally, I'd push for them to waive the appraisal fee, at the very least.

[jinga nation]

Maybe someone needs a hint that you're looking at other lenders for your refinancing. Or that "you've got quotes and considering rival offers". Maybe a harmless fib can get them moving.

[Michael in ABQ]

The inspection is only a small part of the full appraisal process. For a "cookie-cutter" property, i.e. subdivision with hundreds of similar homes in a stable area it might take 8-12 hours total between the inspection, research, analysis, and actually writing the report. Probably not all in one or two days because a normal residential appraiser has several jobs in the pipeline and might batch all their inspections for a couple of days a week. But in normal times a 7-10 days start to finish is fairly typical. Usually when you hear quotes of 4-6 weeks it's because all the appraisers are booked up and won't even start looking at the property for a few weeks.

It could be that they submitted the report two weeks ago and it's held up in the review process. Lots of lenders have outsourced managing the appraisal process to Appraisal Management Companies (AMCs). So now you have someone with minimal real estate knowledge asking for corrections because they didn't read the whole report or because something didn't fit into their checklist. Also, AMCs take a healthy cut of the appraisal fee so usually it's the least experienced appraisers that are willing to work for them. The better appraisers have built up direct relationships with lenders, attorneys, and other clients who order appraisals and don't have to resort to the lowest fees and the hardest clients to work with.

[norajean]

Stop hiding behind email. Call them on the phone and get an explanation. Them being your lender and the appraisal company. Did the appraiser leave a card? Call her, also. I had an appraiser out in Nov who said he would have a result in a couple days. He seems like an idiot from the get-go. Forgot first appointment. Drove car into drainage ditch next to driveway, etc. Did his walk thru. Weeks passed. They claimed death in the family, recycle on report, etc.  It eventually got sorted.

[poetdereves]

COVID has changed a lot of how things work at this point. I have purchased two investment properties since this summer and both processes took forever. A usual 2 week close took nearly 8 weeks for each house. A friend in the business mentioned that applications are currently up 800% and small-ish CUs just don't know how to handle that load. Combine that with the fact that many of them are working from home for a company that may or may not have the best systems in place for that case. I followed @Dicey advice and did a google search for the most prominent mortgage officer in the company and emailed them about the issues. I CC'd all of the people that reported to her and surprisingly it all started moving quickly after that. Surprise surprise.

 Also, the friend I have that works in mortgage finance said that there is definitely an issue with them taking longer on refinances. Especially if you are refinancing at the place you currently have your first mortgage. Unfortunately, they are going to put their efforts into acquiring the new customers that help their bottom line and get a new customer with 30 years of interest payments over lowering a current member's rate and decreasing their bottom line. It isn't that they don't want to be helpful, it's just that they have to put their best efforts into generating new business.

[frugalnacho]

I understand the underwriting process is long as was warned about it when we signed the papers.  I was told it was typically taking 60-90 days. 

My issue now is specifically with the appraisal.  It was scheduled immediately, and the appraiser came out immediately, and then nothing.  I've been emailing because it should be a super easy response from them.  Either they have the report from the appraiser and something else is holding them up and that's why they haven't given it to me yet, or the appraiser is slow as shit and hasn't completed the report.  Either way they should have been able to respond to me almost immediately and at least give me an update, but I'm just getting radio silence.  I've been patient (coming up on 4 weeks now) and haven't called because I thought an email was sufficient, but since they aren't responding to emails I am going to call.

[ericrugiero]

The inspection is only a small part of the full appraisal process. For a "cookie-cutter" property, i.e. subdivision with hundreds of similar homes in a stable area it might take 8-12 hours total between the inspection, research, analysis, and actually writing the report. Probably not all in one or two days because a normal residential appraiser has several jobs in the pipeline and might batch all their inspections for a couple of days a week. But in normal times a 7-10 days start to finish is fairly typical. Usually when you hear quotes of 4-6 weeks it's because all the appraisers are booked up and won't even start looking at the property for a few weeks.

It could be that they submitted the report two weeks ago and it's held up in the review process. Lots of lenders have outsourced managing the appraisal process to Appraisal Management Companies (AMCs). So now you have someone with minimal real estate knowledge asking for corrections because they didn't read the whole report or because something didn't fit into their checklist. Also, AMCs take a healthy cut of the appraisal fee so usually it's the least experienced appraisers that are willing to work for them. The better appraisers have built up direct relationships with lenders, attorneys, and other clients who order appraisals and don't have to resort to the lowest fees and the hardest clients to work with.

The inspection is done.  Researching comps should take a couple hours and writing the report should be a couple hours.  They have a template for the report and a standard process for comps.  4 weeks from inspection is ridiculous.  The few appraisals I've had done were all completed in less than a week from inspection to final report.  Those were not done during such a busy time but still, 4 weeks is a long time. 

[frugalnacho]

I called the CU and spoke to someone.  My rep was busy though, so they said they'd have to call me back.  About 45 minutes later I got a call and suspiciously they were just able to download the appraisal report immediately before calling me back.  Crazy how the report became available in the 45 minutes between my call and when they called back.  They didn't have an answer why they weren't responding to emails, but I got the information I needed anyway. 

Appraisal also came back suspiciously exactly what I (optimistically) estimated the house to be worth.  So everything will plow forward using my original estimated value.  Still on track for everything to finish in approximately 60-90 days from when we started the process, so probably some time in March. 

[ericrugiero]

I called the CU and spoke to someone.  My rep was busy though, so they said they'd have to call me back.  About 45 minutes later I got a call and suspiciously they were just able to download the appraisal report immediately before calling me back.  Crazy how the report became available in the 45 minutes between my call and when they called back.  They didn't have an answer why they weren't responding to emails, but I got the information I needed anyway. 

Appraisal also came back suspiciously exactly what I (optimistically) estimated the house to be worth.  So everything will plow forward using my original estimated value.  Still on track for everything to finish in approximately 60-90 days from when we started the process, so probably some time in March.

Cool, glad things are moving forward.  Sounds like the appraisal was most likely done for a while before they got back to you.  Banks taking a while is typical from what I've heard these days.