Leafty Appraisals

Ms. Leafty's Appraisal was hurried, superficial, inaccurate, and grossly undervalued the true worth of our home. Stay away. We began our refinance process with one company, who arranged for an independent appraisal by a company with 30 year's experience in the business. Their appraisal came in at $620,000.00, within $5,000.00 of the tax assessed value (625k). There had been a considerable jump in our home's value from the time I bought this house, one year prior. The original Mortgage company knew this, and paid to have a second, independent appraisal done. This verified the first Appraisal, and we were very near closing when Atlantic Mortgage offered us a much better rate. Atlantic initially accepted the original appraisal, but then, as the process continued on into December, asked for an update. Ms. Leafty arrived on time, but appeared in a hurry, and did not seem to want us with her as she walked through our home. Her completed appraisal came in at $100,000.00 less than the first 2, and did not account for very important facts. Aside from the discrepancy from the original professional appraisals, her work is clearly not consistent with information publicly available Prince William County Real Estate Assessment Website: http://www04a.pwcgov.org/realestate/LandRover.asp The following things are clear: None of the comps used were in the construction grade our home is, as assessed by the county. Four of the six are at least 2 construction grades less, and one of these is 3 grades down.-The average total finished square feet of the 3 "Main" Comps is 3202. Ours is 5145. I realize that the above grade sq footage is standard in listings, but the way our remodeled, finished basement (an in-law suite) was handled was grossly inadequate. The three Main comps listed in Ms. Leafty's appraisal are tax assessed at $154,800.00, $194,600.00, and $171,700.00 less than our home. Of the last 3, the closest one is $83,700.00 less than our home. We emailed Ms. Leafty 12/15/11, and cc'ed her malpractice insurer as a formal complaint. We have heard nothing back.