Skyline Appraisal Corporation

We had the WORST experience with Skyline Appraisal corporation and would give them zero stars if it were an option. If you are assigned them to appraise your home ask for another agency. If you are searching on your own behalf, do yourself a huge favor and pass on them. We had a similar experience as other reviewers. To begin with, we learned that the appraiser has only been doing this type of work less than a year. He spent less than 20 minutes in my home and disregarded the spec documented I created detailing all the upgrades in our home. He was not local and clearly didn’t understand the local real estate market, and certainly not my neighborhood. As a result, he significantly undervalued my home. He used inappropriate sales comparisons with lower square footage, different property type (we have a rancher with a full-finished basement, he used only bi and tri levels), substandard views (we have Mountain View’s & none of the comps did) and with lesser quality finishes. It was clear he pulled comps before ever coming to my home and was too lazy to do the job right.

I understand that appraisers must analyze and compare hundreds of sales transactions to gain an understanding of the effects on value caused by different elements of comparison, and unfortunately, the appraiser from Skyline was lacking both years of experience as well as a meaningful understanding of his job requirements, thus impacting his ability to accurately value my home.

Our lender appealed and encouraged use of more appropriate comps (same builder, same square footage ranchers w/ basements, same finishes, similar views and in my neighborhood) and he refused, saying that ranchers and bi/tri level homes a mile away were essentially the same. Our lender also identified that straight line appreciation in my area on the modest end would be a 10% appreciation and 20% on the high end; however, he landed on a 4% appreciation, again refusing to acknowledge current market values and industry standards when considering home appreciation.

I realize appraisal valuation is less science and much more opinion; however, it should be within a reasonable range, not $75k-$100k lower than your peers in the industry. In the end, we paid $600 for a useless and inaccurate report produced by Skyline and had to pay a second appraiser to do the job right. Save yourself the hassle and money and DO NOT use this company.

Paul and Tammy were very professional and quick to get the job done even under last minute pressure!