Yep, the bank will do this on their own. Get ready to pull your hair out during the refi process.

the bank will send out an apprasaier. don't waste your money getting a pvt. apprasail, the banks must do this anyway

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I'm just trying to get a better bank rate

Atticus,

Are you trying to pull equity out or just get a better bank rate on your mortgage?

Appraisals are all 'relative'. We had an appraisal done independently for the same reasons you did. It was a waste of $500. There was zero bias, which could be considered good but they determined our square footage was much, much smaller than stated in the city's planning files and the initial appraisals. In fact, we learned they had originally included the common area lobby in our square footage. So the results were something we'd never use in a re-sell.

The mortgage broker's who hire an appraiser to look at your property will always contract someone who will work in their favor. If they didn't the person wouldn't get the contracts. I was told this directly from the appraiser's mouth (as they said they rarely get mortgage brokers hiring this firm because they are very factual and it's not in the favor of the brokers). When working through the contracted appraiser of the mortgage company it is usually in your favor appraisal-wise because the mortgage company wants your business.

Honest appraiser's I talked to (when I did it independently) told me the hard truth about our property's square footage, but then they didn't want to put all the issue's in the appraisal report and we considered it inaccurate - although it was in my favor if I wanted to sell the property, it didn't acknowledge the issues that would undervalue it. They didn't want to "get involved". It was like no one wanted to be responsible for valuing it lower and what I'd call 'realistic'. So if it's all 'relative' anyways - why not wait until you decide to renegotiate?

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They you are talking re-appraised. DON"T DO IT!!! It will be a waste of money. The appraisal will not be able to be used by the lender or broker that you go with. Congress as of April 1st started the HVCC act which has very specific ways to have your property appraised for the purposes of obtaining a mortgage.

Have a lender, broker or banker order it for you so at least they can use the report if you decide to go through with the refinance.

This is what I do.

Thank you. What I'm looking to do has nothing to do with taxes. I want to see how much my apt is "worth" so I can figure out if refinancing is a good idea.

Re-assessed or reappraised, it doesn't really matter. I think what you are saying is you would like to appeal your property taxes?

I would recommend you consider whether or not your assessment is at least 15% outside the range of comparable condos in your building or in the area.

When you appeal your taxes you must argue that your assessment is out of line with comparable condos units. This has nothing to do with the actual value of your condo, only its relative value. In other words, even if the market value of your condo has dropped, you will have to show that the market value of your condo has dropped MORE than similar units.

Re-assessed or re-appraised? Two totally different things.

Someone local would be great. Thank you all.