re: Am I being taken? Real estate question

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BECAUSE AN APPRAISAL IS A PROFESSIONAL OPINION of value ....the appraiser has latitude over what they count.

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Which is total bullshite. Seems a few getting their butts sued would do the industry a major service.

Anecdote:
We were refinancing. The loan company came in with a ridiculously low appraisal. ~25% under value. Didn't matter due to amount of equity we had in the home, but just pissed me off. Two months later the county did a tax revaluation appraisal. They were as ridiculously high (>130% of value) as the loan company was low. We're talking massive errors on an expensive property. The spread between the two was huge.
Anyway, sent the county the low ball appraisal, split the difference with them, and lowered my tax bill. So it worked out. But what a 3rd world way of dealing with investments. Major major player in the 2008 housing bubble. Needs to change!