BART GHORMLEY APPRAISALS

"This member is an investor and came to me with an expectation that I would be his rubber stamp to help him convince his buyer that he was getting a "good deal". He did not call for an explanation after he received the report. He called to complain because I was not willing to artificially inflate the property's value. He never offered any additional information that would aid in the appraisal. He never even asked me if there were other sales in the area that could be used that would yield a different result. My attempts to explain the appraisal process were of no concern to him. Dallas County has the property assessed @ $40,340. I appraised it @ $86,000 to reflect some recent updating. This despite the fact that foundation erosion was quite evident. "We" never decided to disagree. After he finished telling me that his house couldn't possibly sell for $42 sf, I pointed out that a home just down the street sold in January for $45 sf. This property was also updated. Sadly, this is a perfect example of trying to get something for nothing. He had a poor experience? Think about the poor buyer if he succeeds in selling them an over inflated property! I would say “buyer beware” to anyone who is thinking about buying a house from him. And to set the record straight, I didn't hang up on him. He concluded the call by indicating he had no more to say. I would never accept work from this individual again nor recommend him. There are many other investors out there who do honest work and I’ll use this experience as a warning to anyone buying a house to get an unbiased, independent appraisal from a State Certified Real Estate Appraiser who has the ethics to present the truth."

"Many thanks to the homeowner for this evaluation, I really do appreciate your business. For clarification, I would point out that the fee was $425, not $500 as reported. Again, thank you for being such a pleasure to work with and for taking the time to let me know about your experience with the performance of my service."

"On the day of inspection, the homeowner assured me that I was hired to appraise the market value of his home regardless of the outcome. That was performed. Subsequently, I received two phone calls from him asking me, indirectly, to inflate the value of his property. When the appraisal process was explained, and the rationale for the value, he disregarded that and insisted that I use properties that were located outside of his neighborhood. Since 1997, as a Texas licensed and state certified real estate appraiser, I've had to adhere to the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) protocols and procedures. This standard of requirement made no difference to the homeowner. I felt very misled as to the real purpose of why he hired me: to be a rubber stamp for a predetermined value. I don't believe he realized it, but he was asking me to commit fraud. No appraiser is going to last very long in this business if they succumb to outside pressure to be dishonest. I welcome and need homeowner input to make an informed decision about the market value their home. But yielding to demands that would artificially raise the value of their property defeats the whole concept of an unbiased opinion."