YOU SHOULD READ THIS if you know that Barone & Sons will be conducting your appraisal:
- It took almost 3 weeks for someone to reach out to me and schedule the appraisal
- Just one week before the appraisal DUE back to the lender, I received a lengthy text on Saturday (not a call during normal hours) telling me someone will be there at 3-4 o'clock on Monday, without even 48 hours notice (that went over well with the tenants who were out of town that weekend)
- After telling me I'd receive a generous (sarcasm) notice of 30 minutes prior to arrival, I actually had to reach out to Matt Barone and ask if we are still on for the appraisal (so that I could leave work early); to which he replied "on my way" -- thanks for the heads up!
- Appraiser pulls up later than he told me, says nothing and starts the appraisal as I stood on the front porch waiting to introduce myself (as the tenants left, they said "this guy looks mad already")
- During the appraisal, any simple question regarding the process was rudely deflected back at me, different from any appraiser in the past. Mr. Barone was not interested in hearing about any of the significant repairs and upgrades that were done in the house, telling me he has "done enough of these things by now" to give a fair appraisal value.
- After the appraisal, Barone & Sons missed their deadline/due date to get back to the lender. All parties were thoroughly disappointed at this stage, but the last hope was a fair value (spoiler alert: no luck)
- The story ends with a low appraisal (he used comps from across the street but wrongly listed bedroom amounts, property township, and decided not to factor in any of the improvements that were attempted to be provided). The appraisal wasn't back on time -- everyone involved in the loan process was shocked at the lack of professionalism.
After speaking with a family member who owned a brokerage for 20+ years, his exact words were "If I knew you had these guys, I would have told you to run -- they're the worst in the business."
I looked at reviews beforehand, decided to give them a chance to prove the negatives were wrong, and WOW do I regret it! read more