The volume of factual inaccuracies in the Prudhoe appraisal of my home are huge. Prudhoe Appraisal Service operates as a husband/wife team. Mr.Prudhoe, the certified appraiser, appeared to be infirmed. He had great difficult traversing the front staircase of my home and could not navigate the rear staircase. He was unable to enter the basement or part of the 3rd floor. Mr. Prudhoe relied on his wife to take measurements, using only a tape measurer, and to photograph rooms he could not enter. I specifically overheard his wife ask, ""Should I measure...."", only to be cut-off by Mr.Prudhoe saying, ""No, I got it"". The result was sq. footage measurements that were more than 700 sq. ft lower than a 2002 appraisal (where the appraiser measured square footage personally using surveyor?s equipment).
Other factual inaccuracies include:
- Prudhoe listed my home as attached and used fully attached homes for all of his comparables; my home is a semi-attached ""end unit"".
- Prudhoe listed the year built as 1920; it was actually built in 1855 as verified by the title research - which I specifically relayed to Prudoe.
- My home has an attached entrance to the house which encloses the original house entrance, complete with new oak flooring and restored, original wood entryway, French doors, glass, et. al.. The appraiser in 2002 classified this as a porch and measured its dimensions as 45 sq. ft.. Pruhdoe completely omitted this feature from his appraisal.
- Prudhoe listed the effective age as 18 years; my historic home underwent a full rehab in 2001. Restoration of historic elements of the home (the aforementioned entrance, front staircase and original hardwood floors) were completed in the last 10 months. This was also conveyed to Prudhoe.
- Prudhoe?s report states that my home does not have central AC, a microwave, a washer/dryer, screens on the windows, or fence. My home has all of these features, includes two fences, and an historic block wall which encloses the front yard. The appraisal lists the roof as shingle; it has a premium rubber roof.
- Prudhoe?s Subject Front photo omits the front yard, fence and first floor of the house. The Subject Rear photo actually shows the side of the house. The Subject Street photo primarily shows the rear end of a parked car.
- Prudhoe incorrectly identified my neighborhood and chose comparables largely based on his erroneous neighborhood identification.
- The comparable property Prudhoe used as the benchmark for assessing the value of my home, is simply not comparable in size, specification or geography. It appears to be under construction, the building next to it has collapsed, and is located in an area identified as an open-air drug market by the local paper. In comparison, my home is located several blocks east in a non-contiguous area that is literally next to a famous
University.
- Upon receipt of the appraisal, the underwriter of my loan called for a Field Review because Prudhoe?s report did not meet the base requirements for approval.
To compound these factual inaccuracies, Mr. Prudhoe criticized the d?cor of my home and he criticized my artwork. One comment Mr. Prudhoe made to his wife while I was standing next to him was, ?Look honey (pointing at one of my sculptures), this guy has too much free time.?
In light of the gross factual inaccuracies contained in his appraisal, compounded by his rude remarks, Prudhoe?s obvious lack of thorough professionalism renders his ability to accurately appraise real estate questionable (at best).
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