Rate and Review Arkfeld Appraisals

- Low ball, laxy - - Melissa Gibson - 4/18/2022 - comment
I spent months refinancing a lake front property only to be told that the appraisal was lower than loan valuation/estimate. So entire refinance declined. His appraisal was 40,000 less that house appraised for 3 years ago, and for purchase price 3 years ago, after over $100,000 renovations and a booming market. Appraiser requested copy of old appraisal, and for me to take pictures. So despite me doing his job for him, and paying more than average price for appraisal , he still failed to do a reasonable appraisal. One of his comps was a house that sold over 18 months prior. Pathetic, lazy… and everyone knows this company known for unfair and low valuations.

- Low valuations - - - 3/3/2021 - comment
Mr. Arkfeld did an appraisal for a lender that I was working with for a refinance in Harpers Ferry. He does not seem to understand the market or purposely picked comparables that were not comparable to my property. There had been over 10 homes sold in my sub-division in the last 12 months one of those was 3 houses away and sold in January. He ignored all those comparables and selected comparables outside of the neighborhood that were smaller and seemed to be specifically selected to lower the value of the appraisal. The comps selected had substantially smaller lots and smaller square footage. I don't know why this appeared to be his agenda, but because of a valuation that was $70k to $80k lower than neighborhood comps suggested I cancelled the loan application with the lender. I however knew that the valuation was not correct so I went with a different lender and got a new appraiser who used the comps in my neighborhood and his valuation was $85k higher than Mr. Arkfelds. I'm sure Mr. Arkfeld isn't concerned because he still gets paid for the appraisal but he cost the lender that employed him a large amount of money. I hope he will learn from the situation and improve his knowledge and skills.