I am a certified residential real estate appraiser and I live in Somerville. You really have very little choice in terms of choosing an appraiser for any mortgage-related transactions anymore. If the appraisal is for a refinance or a purchase, the bank is going to "choose" your appraiser for you. The bank generally has to randomly "choose" their appraiser from a pool of appraisers they've already pre-qualified in house or choose them through an AMC (appraisal management company) which is a third-party service. The days of obtaining your own appraisal and submitting it to the bank is over for the majority of residential borrowers. The regulations have changed quite a bit over the past few years (thank you 2007-2008 crash and subsequent HVCC).
So, you certainly can try and get an appraisal yourself and see if your bank will take it. However, it's been a while since I've seen it actually be accepted that way, so don't waste your money and check with your bank first! -LL
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Date: 2013-01-11 09:14 pm (UTC)So, you certainly can try and get an appraisal yourself and see if your bank will take it. However, it's been a while since I've seen it actually be accepted that way, so don't waste your money and check with your bank first!
-LL