Tips for Sacramento Realtors Who Meet With the Appraiser

Sacramento Realtors who meet with the appraiser are often disillusioned.

It only gets better from here on out, so here goes my first tip for Sacramento Realtors who meet with the appraiser: DON’T. The appraiser does not want to meet with the listing agent and most certainly is not interested in the buyer’s agent’s opinion about world politics, either. The appraiser is at the home to do a job that is best done without a yakking agent bending her or his ear. They’re just too polite to say it.

This is not to say that appraisers don’t appreciate information about the home that might not be evident from the tax rolls, MLS description or physical inspection because they do. If an agent or seller has access to crucial data that would make a difference in the appraisal, that information can be emailed to the appraiser or discussed over the phone. It won’t help to increase chances of a higher appraisal to deliver that document in person. I often engage in lengthy phone conversations with appraisers to ascertain their expertise in a given neighborhood and lend my advice but I would not show up on the front steps, back against the front door, arms splayed, to force a discussion.

Now, when I was younger and selling real estate in Orange County in the 1970s, I used to believe the hoopla and myth that it made sense to meet the appraiser. But those bellbottom-and-incense days are long gone and did not involve the appraisals laws we have today. Although I did spot bellbottoms with a twist, skinny thighs, at Nordstrom this spring. I won’t go so far as to say triple martinis and 3-hour lunches were not the norm or that some appraisers were crooked or on the take, but stuff was more relaxed during the Nixon-Ford-Carter era, let’s say. Yet, especially in Sacramento today, Sacramento Realtors who meet with the appraiser are often very disappointed that exuding their incredible charm, and that hand shaking, eyeballing and flitting about does not influence the appraisal value.

To give you an idea about how misled some agents are, there are buyer’s agents in Sacramento who believe it’s a good idea to send over to the listing agent the comparable sales, as they see it, along with a purchase offer. They have no clue how insulting they are, and what a bad impression they make. These are the guys who live in their own little fantasy drama where the world revolves around them and them only. The additional problem is they probably convinced their poor buyer to offer a price that won’t get them into escrow. And there’s often no changing those dual errors.

In real estate, there is stuff you hear that if it’s repeated enough times you might begin to believe. Then, there is the real world. The real world says Sacramento Realtors who meet with the appraiser are often wasting their time and, in fact, knowing some of them, they could be hurting their chances. Treating appraisers with respect is a much better path to follow. Allow the appraisers do their jobs in peace. Don’t invite trouble where trouble does not exist.