Everyone loves to say the appraisal is “the problem.”
Too slow. Too picky. Getting in the way.
Meanwhile:
You can finance a $100,000 vehicle and drive it home in 3 hours.
But if you buy a $100,000 house, you’re stuck in paperwork limbo for 30–45 days.
Let’s be real about why:
It’s not just the appraisal.
It’s the outdated mortgage process wrapped around it—
layers of underwriting rules, secondary market requirements, and compliance steps that haven’t evolved in decades.
And while the finger-pointing usually lands on appraisers, nobody seems to ask:
Who is actually looking out for the homeowner?
Most lenders are paid on commission and have an incentive to close the deal quickly and sell the loan off their books to a servicer.
Agents are focused on getting the transaction closed—because that’s when everyone gets paid.
That doesn’t make them bad people.
It just means their priorities are different.
At the end of the day, the appraiser—and the home inspector—are often the only people in the process who aren’t paid on commission.
We don’t get a bonus if it closes, and we don’t get dinged if it doesn’t.
Our only job is to get it right and protect everyone involved from unnecessary risk.
If the industry wants to modernize, I’m all for it.
But maybe we also need more education for lenders and agents about what the appraisal process really is—and what it isn’t.
Because when you look at the entire timeline from contract to closing, the appraisal itself is often a small piece of the process.
And the truth is, sometimes the appraisal isn’t what’s holding up the deal at all.
Sometimes the truth isn’t convenient.
But it’s still the truth.
#Appraisers #MortgageReform #LeadershipInValuation #FutureOfAppraisal #RealEstateTruth #ProtectTheConsumer
Hardesty Appraisals 