Cost of Appraisal When Purchasing a Home

I appraise homes. 2 years ago, appraisers stop being able to work directly with a lender and now there is a middle man management company. You wont be able to "choose" an appraisal company anymore, the management company chooses it for the bank. Before this, most appraisals cost $275, for an inspection and extensive paperwork. Now, we are getting paid less and the management companies are charging the rest. It really is a shame when clients think I am charging them $500, because we get no where near that. I agree with you, its ridiculous.

It's actually illegal for the lender's fee to increase over the GFE, many items can't increase at all, some can increase by only 10%. Did you get a copy of the appraisal? You are to have a copy of it at least 3 days prior to closing, by law. If you have a copy of the appraisal, there should be a copy of the actual invoice from the appraiser. If there isn't an invoice included, look on the appraisal report and call the appraiser and ask them. The lender, by law, can't charge you more for the appraisal than the appraiser charged. If your fees are higher than on the GFE then you need to question them. If you don't have a copy of the appraisal then you need to get one. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

This is the kind of lender that makes all the good lenders furious!!

It's been a while, but I used to be a real estate agent here in AZ. Average cost of an appraisal was $300. You can shop around for your appraisor, but the bank prefers to use there own. See if you can get them to let you choose.
Other inspections run different amounts. Generally a Home Inspection is based on SQF, and a termite inspection is around $30-40. Hope this helps.

$400-600 is perfectly normal.

My husband is a mortgage broker and the fee he usually charges his clients is about 375 for the homes. If it is out in the middle of no where then they charge more. But typically its around 375. Good luck is you have any questions ping me and I can ask my hubby to make sure your not getting ripped off. Be careful because right now rates are really low due to the market so make sure your loan officer isn't taking advantage of you. Read the HUD closely. Also, ask the loan officer if he can give you a credit for the appraisal as my hubby does this for most of his clients. My hubby is also licensed in Az and we live here in Gilbert as well

I am sorry this happened. We are trying to sell our home and I thought our agent said we, the seller, would be responsible for the appraisal. I was told it would be around 450, although the shhet I was givenb said 300. I am in Louisiana. I don't know if that matters. I do not like disappointment!

They are between 350 and 400 here in California.

About 6 years ago when I worked at a mortgage company the going rate was around 400 and it also depends on where you live or are going to be living as they can go up or down in price of them.

We just bought for a very small price tage and apraisal was $360 if you home is anything over 200,000 I would say that is a very reasonable price.

We live in MA and have paid $500 for our last couple of appraisals as well. Sounds normal to me, unfortunately. THey get you every which way they can when you are buying a house!!

we close on a house tomorrow. not sure if location matters but we paid $395 for the appraisal and $250 for a home inspection and another $125 for a heating and airconditioning inspection separate just to be sure

That's about right, actually. My husband is a real estate broker and we flip houses for a living. Lately the cost has been around $450 or so for appraisals. Here's the thing - the appraiser has to drive to the house (in a car that needs gas to run, and maintenance), spend time inspecting everything, and then once they get back to their office (where they have to pay rent and keep the lights on) they have to spend time pulling comps, writing up a report, etc. They have to pay for errors & omissions insurance... why would they not be paid for doing this? As a person who buys and sells houses as part of my business, I agree, it sucks to have to pay for this kind of stuff, but if you want a loan on the property, this is what the bank requires. It is what it is, don't get worked up over it or you'll just make yourself crazy!

My brother does the appraisals ...in Chicago though. He is contracted with the banks and gets 350 a pop. I am sure the bank has 'there fee' on top of that too...sounds normal. I think when I got my last one done about 8 years ago is was around 400 or 450

When we bought our house it was about $400 and that was 4 years ago. Probably has gone up since then