Suzanne K Saito, Review

NOT a Good Appraiser for Unique Homes
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Quality of Work
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by TorranceHomeowner, Jul. 26, 2021

For those who would like to avoid lender problems, I suggest avoiding business with this appraiser.  I am a California homeowner selling my home during the hottest month of the housing market (first week of July 2021) with a unique property.  I live in LA county with an expansive backyard that borders an even more expansive grass schoolyard, a water channel that is closed to public access, and a busy street.  My property is three-sided, so there are no neighbors.  Just grass on one side, water on the other, and a semi-busy street (2 lanes in each direction).  My house is set back farther from all the other homes on my street by at least 50ft and it has huge trees and new double-paned windows to block out the sound.

I am compelled to give this review because of Ms. Saito's appraisal methods.  I can see how my home could be a tricky one to appraise since it is unique.  Ms. Saito reached out to my realtor to ask for help finding comparable homes.  In her final appraisal, she didn't use any of the comps my realtor suggested.  In case there's any question about my realtor's knowledge of local comps, he lives on the other side of the same school that borders my house and has been a trusted realtor in the community for over 10 years.  

Instead, Ms. Saito made it clear in her explanation of her appraisal that her valuation was not an average of the six homes that she selected.  She stated, "Most consideration is given to Comparable #1 due to recent sale located on the same street as subject" in her explanation at the end of her appraisal. Comparable #1 is a home located on the opposite end of my zip code 1.2 miles away with different schools.  Although Comparable # 1 does indeed share the same street name as mine, it is located two houses south of the 405 freeway, across the street from a large business park, and 500 feet from a refinery.  A refinery that is in full operation and has a history of explosions.  The most recent explosion was only 4 years ago.  

Unfortunately, Ms. Saito's valuation also neglects to factor any of the 6.5% price increase that has occurred in my zip code in the last two and a half months as well. May to July 2021 has been a historic seller's market in my zip code and her holy grail of Comparable #1 home sold in April 2021 (my home: July 2021).  To her credit, Ms. Saito priced my home at $14 more per square foot than Comparable #1, but my home is also turnkey (comp is not) and my home is 150 square feet shy of the largest single-family property in my zip code (6500 sq ft).  My property has far cleaner air, an enormous fruit and vegetable garden, and 15.3% more property space was never factored into her appraisal either.  

The bottom line is that  Ms. Saito may be a wonderful appraiser of "typical" homes, but her appraisal of my unique property didn't just miss the mark, but the entire map. If you can find another appraiser, I suggest you do so.

Both my Realtor and I reached out to Ms. Saito in advance of this review, but she did not respond to either of us.


* this reviewer has be with this appraiser for <6 months
* this reviewer had 1 - 2 dentists before.
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