Dependable Real Estate Appraisers

The prospective buyer and I agreed that each of us would get an appraisal, and I called Radko for mine. The home visit was fine, although he arrived almost an hour late, and I believe he did the groundwork professionally. The problems began when I asked when I would receive the report. He blew off that question, and when I called almost three weeks later he promised the report "before the weekend." That didn't happen. (Meanwhile, the other appraiser produced a report in about four days.) When I finally got Radko's report, I was perplexed because the market value estimate was $40,000 below the other appraisal. I had some questions about the report, so I called. When I asked politely which factors were important and how he weighed them, he instantly got testy and defensive, protesting, "I can't just make up stuff." (I certainly never suggested that he should.) I only had three or four questions about the report, and about statements in it that were not quite correct, but with each one he got crazier, blathering about how hard it is to make money as a landlord, how hard it is to appraise residential property, and other subjects I never asked about. When I pointed out one wildly inaccurate observation he made, and asked whether it mattered to the bottom line, he told me that it didn't, that in fact none of it mattered, because with so few comparable sales available, "it's all a wild guess." (He was pretty mad by this point.) I'm not sure whether to take that as an admirably honest statement or an acknowledgement that appraisers are rip-offs --- or both. At the end of this ugly conversation, none of my questions were answered. In any event, I don't think it's too much to ask that a professional respond to civil questions about discrepancies, omissions and false statements in his work product. Not only would I never call on this guy again, but I'd advise skipping appraisers altogether and going instead to a local real estate agent for a comparative market analysis. I've learned a little too late about this option. It's cheaper, and real estate salespeople know their markets better than anyone. They also tend to have at least modest social skills, and generally don't berate and quarrel with their clients.