Appraiser POV

VA appraisal heading low? There's a rule most buyers never hear about. If it looks like the value will land under the contract price, the VA appraiser has to contact the point of contact on the order BEFORE finishing. That side gets 2 business days to send more sales. VA calls it the Tidewater procedure. It's not a value preview. The appraiser can't discuss the expected number. Send sales: address, price, date, square footage, listing. Vibes are not a data field. Agents: last Tidewater call you got, did your sales move the number?

Texas HOA threatening to foreclose over fines? It can't. Texas Property Code §209.009: an HOA can't foreclose its lien when the debt is only fines, or lawyer fees tied only to those fines. Unpaid dues are a different story. Even then, the HOA generally needs a court order first, and after a foreclosure sale the owner gets a 180-day window to redeem. Behind on dues? An HOA with more than 14 lots has to offer a payment plan of at least 3 months. Texas owners: what's the pettiest HOA fine you've seen?

Switching FHA lenders mid-deal? You shouldn't automatically be buying a second appraisal. HUD's rule: at your request, the first lender has to transfer the appraisal to your new lender within 5 business days (it can wait until it's been paid for that appraisal). No readdressing it to the new lender, either. HUD bars the new lender from asking the appraiser to. If it finds real deficiencies, it orders a new one. An FHA appraisal is good for 180 days. Buyers: ever paid for two appraisals on the same house?

Your two-story foyer is gorgeous. Upstairs, it's also zero square feet. Under the ANSI measuring standard Fannie Mae requires for houses, open space over the floor below doesn't count as floor area on the second level. You can't stand on air. Same for the open-to-below living room. And the staircase counts once, on the floor it comes down from. What's the tallest ceiling you've seen sold as "extra square footage"?

Same $400k loan, 30-yr fixed, principal & interest only: A year ago (6.22%): $2,455/mo Now (7.18%): $2,710/mo That's +$255 a month, about $3,056 a year, for the exact same house. Your appraisal doesn't care what rate you locked. Your budget does. Did your payment move between pre-approval and closing? By how much?

"Just take over the seller's 3% mortgage." On most conventional loans, you can't. The standard Texas deed of trust has a due-on-sale clause, and federal law lets the lender enforce it. FHA loans are assumable if you qualify, with no new appraisal required. VA loans need lender or VA approval. The catch: price minus loan balance = cash or a second loan. How big was the gap on the last assumable listing you saw?

Pending sales last week: 51,764. Same week last year: 59,164. Appraiser translation: today's pendings are the closed comps we'll be leaning on in 30 to 60 days. Fewer pendings now means thinner comp sets this winter. Agents: how many recent closed sales are you finding for your listings right now?

Own a Texas rental or other non-homestead property? The 20% cap on its yearly appraised-value increases is scheduled to end. Tax Code §23.231, the "circuit breaker," expires Dec. 31, 2026. For 2026 it covered eligible non-homestead real property up to $5.32M. Your 10% homestead cap (§23.23) isn't part of that sunset. If your CAD market value sits well above your capped value, 2027 is when that gap can show up, unless the Legislature changes the law. Landlords: how far apart are those two numbers on your 2026 notice?