LENNY LONGO, LLC
ELLENTON, FLORIDA

2016-Present: Expansion of Residential Real Estate Brokerage Like It Realty including an online listing system for residential “by owner” sellers. Owner of PCI Communications – 2016 Small Business of the Year Co-Author of Amazon Best Selling Book I contacted the bank and spoke to a nice representative [robot, who couldn’t tell me anything] who said he can pass along what I send to their internal underwriters, who I could not speak directly to. I sent a polite explanation of what I believe happened, with regards to their internal AVM algorithms not being tuned locally. I invited them to see the attached CMA in that email. I provided them with four comparables (three of which were on the rental property’s street), all from inside the community. I outlined the adjustments I used to give a fair representation of the home’s value. A few days later they emailed me and scheduled a local appraiser to come visit. The appraiser came, spent a bit over an hour there mapping the property and gathering data. A few weeks passed and I asked the bank about the appraisal.. The next day, I received an email request to schedule another appraiser because the first one was never submitted because the first guy fell ill. I understand people getting sick but the appraisal company should have had, I don’t know, some sort of a system set up to flag these things (as opposed to me calling and asking). Pardon the complaining. A new appraiser came back, I went back out to the property and we repeated the same song and dance. A week later, I got a call congratulating me on their decision to unsuspend my account. The value came in within, wait for it, a few percent off from where I pinpointed it at, leaving their LOC well under the 70% LTV (if it ever maxes out). The moral of my story is AVMs are not always correct and when it counts, do not count on them, trust a (local) appraiser or quality Realtor who knows that area. This goes for all real estate transactions, not just lines of credit. Investors who are buying or selling a home may need to know their true “indicated value” based on “true comparables”, with “local adjustments” that a competent appraiser or Realtor can provide. I appreciate feedback from readers. If you have a topic you would like me to cover in an article, a question you would like to ask or something else I can help you with, please let me know.