Ramblings...Decisions...Decisions...

But did the appraiser give you a reliable estimate of market value? Just saying "don't trust appraisers" is the same as saying "don't trust doctors", "don't trust lawyers", "don't trust painters", or "don't trust plumbers". There are good ones and bad ones. If the banker knows his stuff, he will hire a good appraiser.

An appraiser is not an inspector; you need both. The appraiser tells the bank what he thinks the market value of the property is. Sounds like this one made a mistake by saying no surface water. Probably a box that was checked in the wrong spot. Not good, but it may or may not have had an impact on the market value estimate. Banks need appraisers - it's good business practice, and banking laws require collateral to be backed by appraisals.

Just be sure that the marsh, creek and pond hold water during all four seasons ... I know there are places that seem like tropical paradises during the wet season but lay dry, hot and arid in the heat of summer.

Peace and smiles,
doohap

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"I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about." -- Psalm 3:6, KJV

Freedom Advocates: Recognize Unalienable Rights

We live in the hills in Arkansas....not the ozarks though. It costs around $1500 to get electric set up. Usually when they say that electric is available, that's what they mean....that the poles are all around....just pay $1500 to hook up. Same with water available. Also, being in the mountains like that, wells will sometimes be deeper. We don't have a well yet, but my neighbor paid $1200 for his well and it's 200' deep. I studied archeological surveys before we bought this land. I can tell you that the ozarks are full of limestone and shale bedrock depending on which part of the ozarks you are talking about. You can view the archeological maps online or go out to the property and dig holes. Our land only has 12' of soil. Not very good for gardening, but great fieldstones and clay which I was interested in. Of course, at the bottom of the hill, there's more soil because of erosion. So, you see, it just depends. We still plan to garden though. Also, picking out all the stones will take more time if there are alot of stones. Where in the ozarks is this land for sale? Maybe I could check it out for you...that is assuming you aren't able to do so yourself. The good thing about Arkansas is there are no building permits required outside of city limits. There are codes for septic though. Usually $1500 here for that (plus $200 for the perc test)...at least that's what we paid at our old place 7 yrs ago.

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Shae in Arkansas

I don't know if you are interested or not but here's the link for the Metcalfe County, KY newspaper. It's a good way to see what's going on in the county.

http://www.theherald-news.com/

No, in fact it was obvious the appraiser didn't even go to the site, despite charging milage. I talked the bank building loan officer into coming to the site and he was amazed how different reality was from what the appraiser said, and then we were able to get a construction loan. But the bank is still going to work with that appraiser because here things are done along church lines, not competency. This is the first place I've encountered this. It is not logical, it is stupidly nepotistic and drags down everything. We eventually were able to work with a Farm bureau and they were much easier to deal with, but wouldn't loan money to build a house. Like I said before I'm sure there are some good appraisers out there but in my (granted limited) experience they are a waste of time and money. Since Jagger is talking about moving here, I feel confident in telling him that HERE, not necessarily in other parts of the country, don't go by what an appraiser says, HERE.
GeorgeK

I have to agree with GeorgeK about appraisers in KY. My experience was somewhat different in the fact that the appraiser came out and without actually checking things asked the sellers the questions and used their answers as fact on the appraisal sheet! She never walked the property or even went upstairs to check on the 'facts'.
Here's a few things that were radically different than what we found within a few months of moving in:
Storm Windows-yes according to appraiser-none were on windows or in storage
Septic System-working fine according to appraiser-we have had 'puddles' at lateral line end since 1 month after buying.
Electric switches/plugs in working order-yes according to appraiser-we still can't find out where the 'dead switches/plugs' go to in the upstairs even after 5 yrs! :no:
On & on, some were small things but others like the septic system weren't. IF she had gone out and actually looked she would have seen that the sellers had recently covered the area with new dirt to hide the defects. We were unaware of this since they had just clear cut a new pasture in the area and the whole area was bare of plant life. We had never worked with the plastic lateral lines-we always had the tile seepage beds.

So my suggestion is to also be sure that what the appraiser says and what is actually there & it's condition are at the very least similar.
Just be careful no matter where you go, there are many honest and ethical real estate agents, appraisers & bankers but there's some real stinkers too!

Moral of the story: do NOT expect the appraisal to take the place of an inspection by a qualified and licensed inspector. Appraisers are not qualified to make judgements on things like septic systems, electrical systems, plumbing, roof leaks, etc. If we see obvious problems, we report them. But we also usually put in a disclaimer about our not being qualified to detect most defects. Unfortunately, the FNMA and FHA appraisal forms tend to mislead the user into believing that a competent building inspection was done as part of the appraisal. It's just not the case. GET AN INSPECTION when you buy property. By an INSPECTOR. If the appraiser obviously did NOT look at the property they are appraising, but said they did; or if they display gross negligence in preparing an appraisal, they should be reported to the appropriate state agency.