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Refinance appraisals
Refinance work is the largest single category in our file, and it is the one where borrowers most often misunderstand what they are buying.
You are not the client, and that protects you
On a lender-ordered refinance the client is the lender. The appraisal is ordered through an appraisal management company or the lender's own panel, the appraiser is selected independently, and neither you nor your loan officer may influence the conclusion. Since 2009 that independence has been a matter of federal regulation, not etiquette. It follows that we cannot take an order directly from a borrower for a lender's refinance — and that anyone who offers to is describing a report the lender will not accept.
What a borrower can order directly is a private appraisal for their own decision-making, which is a different product with a different intended user, and we are glad to do that. It is worth doing before application fees when the loan-to-value is close.
Scope varies more than people expect
Not every refinance requires someone walking through your house. Lenders order full interior inspections, exterior-only reports, and — increasingly — desktop or hybrid products, depending on the loan, the equity position and the automated risk assessment. 6,474 of our assignments have been exterior-only single-family reports, so this is not a marginal category. An exterior-only report is a legitimate product with a defined scope, and it carries stated assumptions about interior condition. If your interior is materially better than the exterior suggests, that is worth knowing before the scope is set.
What inspection day looks like
For a full interior report: the appraiser measures the house, walks every room, photographs the interior and exterior, and asks about updates — roof, kitchen, baths, systems — with dates. It usually takes well under an hour for a typical home. Have the spaces accessible, pets managed, and your list of improvements ready; our preparation guide covers the rest. Nothing about a lived-in house counts against you; condition is judged on materials and maintenance, not housekeeping.
What actually moves the number
Condition, effective age and updating, measured against what genuinely comparable homes have sold for recently. Not the balance on your loan, and not the number you need. You may provide factual information — a list of improvements with dates and costs, a survey, a recent inspection, permits. Appraisers routinely consider it. What you cannot do is provide a target.
Removing PMI is a different assignment
If your goal is not a new loan but dropping mortgage insurance on the current one, that is its own product with its own rules — see PMI removal appraisals.
What lenders actually review
Underwriters read the appraisal against automated risk flags: comparables' distance and age, adjustment sizes, condition ratings. A clean file moves fast; a flagged one draws revision requests that cost days. Thirty-plus years of lender work means our files are built to pass that review the first time — which is why the work repeats, and why your closing date is safer with an appraiser who knows what the reviewer will ask before the reviewer asks it.
Our experience
Appraising South Florida since 1992, 34,000+ appraisals across Palm Beach, Martin, St. Lucie and Broward counties. We work with lenders, credit unions and appraisal management companies, and our turn times and revision rates are why the work repeats. Our staff includes an MAI and SRA designated appraiser. Residential only.
How the assignment runs
On lender work: the order arrives through the lender or its AMC, we contact you to schedule, inspect to the scope ordered (full interior, exterior-only, or hybrid), and deliver to the lender — who must give you a copy. On private work: you engage us directly, and the report is addressed to you for your own decision.
Call 561-853-2129 or request an appraisal.
Questions we hear about this work
Can I use my own appraisal for a refinance?
Not for the lender's underwriting — lender appraisals must come through the lender's own ordering process. A private appraisal is still useful for deciding whether refinancing is worth pursuing before you pay application fees.
Why did the lender order only a drive-by?
Scope follows the lender's risk model. Strong equity and clean credit often draw an exterior-only or desktop product. If your interior is materially better than the exterior suggests, say so early.
Do you do appraisals for HELOCs and second mortgages?
Yes — same independence rules, ordered through the lender. Private pre-decision appraisals are available directly to you.