Trusted Valuations

My experience was the almost identical to Brandon H.‘s. Only this time Phillips was $ 80,000 off the mark, demonstrated by an independent appraisal completed three weeks after Phillips’ report. That kind of difference is not simply a matter of opinion. As comps, Phillips used five condominiums and a foreclosure against my single family-​zoned home. He failed to adequately justify why my property was valued at $ 65,000 less than another, smaller property in the same development that sold less than 4 months previously in this increasing real estate market. I appealed his conclusion, supplying additional comps and a thorough, reasoned analysis demonstrating why his report was erroneous. He didn’t change his conclusion by a single penny.
If you are referred to Mr. Philips, my advice is to ask for another appraiser or change loan companies, unless, as Brandon H. says, you purposely need your property to appraise low.

Will Phillips from Trusted Valuations was hired by my mortgage servicer to do an appraisal on my home to remove PMI. Unfortunately, he sorely missed the mark on his appraisal — by close to $ 70,000!
My house is in a historic district which includes Mills Act which reduces property taxes. I have had 3 prior appraisals for the initial purchase and 2 refis, all three included an increase in valuation. Will said there is no increase which is incorrect which makes me question his familiarity on how to properly value homes with historic status.
He failed to include 2 completely valid comps in my immediate neighborhood that would have reflected the correct true market value. His reply for not including one was that the MLS didn’t provide details on the condition in the listing. Typically, that’s when the appraiser contacts the listing agent to ask — I suspect this simply was not done as it may have taken some extra time. His appraisal included a pending and an active listing as comps — which is super sketchy.
An almost exact replica of my home (same size, bed/​bath count and lot size) which appraised just a month prior to my appraisal, and they came in $ 60,000 higher — that’s not chump change or even just being off on some calculations. I called him to try to address these concerns, and he wouldn’t return the calls. (Technically, I was not the «client» so I can understand the lack of response.) I disputed the appraisal with my mortgage servicer, and he stuck by his valuation.
I would not recommend using him unless you’re purposely trying to get a really low valuation on the property.