Demand keeps residential real estate appraisers hopping

Residential real estate appraisers are feeling the pressures of a sharply in-creased volume of refinancing requests, according to Jim Jeffries, owner and president of J-Co Professional Services Inc., 1320 S. Glenstone.

Appraisers agree that the surge in de-mand for refinanced mortgages is a re-sult of highly attractive interest rates. Jeffries said that lender volume has increased dramatically in the past two years. In a normal year his business is about one-third refinance, one-third purchase and one-third new construction. Refinance has risen to about 90 percent of his business in recent months, whereas appraisal requests for refinanced mortgages has in some previous years been as low as 5 percent, he said.

Appraisers are doing their best to keep up with the new demand, and Jeffries noted that homeowners can help by providing pertinent property information and making the properties readily available for inspection. Making documents such as property surveys available is also helpful, he said.

Access and information

Jim Truitt, owner of Truitt Appraisal Services, 2727 W. Norton Rd., agreed that timely access and property information are crucial to quicker turnaround time for appraisers. "Sometimes we have a hard time getting appointments," he said. Truitt added that evening appointments are not an option this time of year, when it grows dark so early.

Norma Vinson, owner of Norma J. Vinson Appraisal Service, 2049 E. Cherry, agreed, adding that fewer daylight hours are available to inspect and take pictures of properties and, also, many homeowners are not at home during the day. As a result, appraisers often have to put in more weekend hours to get the job done.

Loan process

Truitt noted that appraisers are usually hired by the bank. "Sometimes the homeowner doesn't realize the importance of getting the appraisal completed on time so the loan process can move forward," he said.

Truitt added that today refinance applications make up about 75 percent of his business, compared with about 30 to 40 percent last year and only about 10 percent two years ago.

Pam Long, owner of Pam Long Ap-praisal Services in Nixa, said she has had to increase her office staff from five last year to nine this year to keep up with demand. She added that she and her employees are putting in 14- to 16-hour days to keep up. "October of this year was my busiest month ever," she said.

Long estimated that requests at her company for appraisals on refinanced loans are up by at least one-third over last year. She added that people who have refinanced even as recently as last year are refinancing again to take advantage of even lower rates. She called this an unusual trend, and added that if homeowners can trim the monthly budget by reducing the house payment a hundred dollars or so a month, they are going for it.

Unique market

Long said that in 26 years in real estate she has never seen the market the way it is today, and that she expects the first quarter of 2002 to remain strong in both sales and refinance on residential real estate.

Vinson noted that lenders are making it easy for people to apply for loans or refinance by offering the option of making applications online. This doesn't alleviate lenders from the behind-the-scenes work; they still keep busy putting together the documentation needed to complete the lending process, she said. "Many lenders are burning the midnight oil to get the work done."

For Vinson, a smaller amount of her work volume is affected by refinance re-quests, because a smaller percentage of her business is influenced by mortgage financing.

Much of the volume for her company comes from appraisals needed by attorneys for their clients, she said. Still, she estimates that her business the last several months has increased by 25 percent to 35 percent, mostly due to refinance ap-plications.

Truitt, who said he has been working nights and weekends for the last few months to keep up, has adjusted the re-gion he services. "I've had to turn down assignments farther out and concentrate on business closer to Springfield," he said.

Patience

Jeffries advises homeowners to make it easier for appraisers by allowing easy access and making the appraiser aware of features and updates. Above all, he said, he cautions people to be patient.

According to Jeffries, homeowners opting for a reduced interest loan also need to realize that for the appraiser, real estate sales take priority over refinancing. Property closings are put on a set time-frame, he said, and the work involved must be completed within that boundary. He added that the mortgage lender or real estate company is the prime customer, the bread and butter of the appraiser's business.

Long said, "I get a lot of business from repeat customers. I feel like I owe them." She added that in extreme cases she can get an appraisal done in two to three days, but the normal time usually runs about a week to 10 days. Refinance can take longer. A two- to three-week turnaround is not uncommon for appraisals in today's market, she said.

Jeffries noted that two aids appraisers rely on are shared information among local offices, available through the Inter-net, and other statistics stored in computer databases and courthouse records. The more a homeowner can share with the appraiser about upgrades to properties and other pertinent facts, the easier it is in the search for further information. Even something so simple as an up-to-date phone number where the homeowner can be reached is a big help, he said.