[StBernard] LRA

[Westley Annis]

This is a question for Scurich regarding appraisals. I met with LRA today in
disputing the $100,000 difference between my personally paid for certified
appraisal done for the pre-storm value. The LRA person showed me on his
computer that the first appraisal was just a BFO and he admitted it's not a
lot of detail and it was done in early 2006.  He then showed me a second
appraisal done after my appeal in early 2007. That second appraisal had a
picture of my house exterior to prove the appraiser came to the
neighborhood. That second appraisal listed my hosue as $10,000 higher than
the BFO, so now it's a $90,000 difference. When I looked at the comparables,
the second appraiser listed a house on my block which is fair, but I noticed
that my personal appraiser who used this same neighbor's house in his
appraisal then took the sale price of that  home and added to it $87,000
because my house was in better condition, larger, had a patio, had a
finished 2 car garage, and had a fireplace and bar. However, this second LRA
appraiser just used the lower, sale price of that home without adding to it
the features I have that this house did not have.  Then, to make it worse,
this second appraiser compared my house to two houses that are one third the
square footage of mine and twice as old and not nearly the same, and are not
in my neighborhood. Those houses were listed as being $200,000 less than
mine. What kind of  comparable is that?  I have formally requested in
writing that they do a bona fide certified appraisal that has all the
comparables be of similiar age, square footage, and construction. Do you
think I have a solid argument that if they do comparables the adjust for the
difference in things like square footage and choose homes that are truly
comparable? Has anyone been successful in the newer, third level of
appraisal? ddk