FCM Appraisals, Inc.

I got a appraisal from this company to do a refinance. They used comparables over a year old and were 100k off from an additional appraisal done with a different mortgage company. They used the median home price for the zip code as the appraisal price and failed to use any recent sales for comparable home in the area. I recommend refusing to use this company. When I called and asked about the huge difference between their appraisal and the second with a different company, they refused to answer any questions.
May 28th, 2023

There are other negative reviews which leads to me to think that there could be multiple appraisers working for this company but at least my experience was positive. Appraiser selected the correct comps. Because the work is so thorough, it can take 2-3 days longer to receive the report than others who might offer a quicker turnaround but a lower quality of work. I think its worth it to wait 2-3 days to get the accurate appraisal.
Mar 7th, 2022

Jul 15th, 2020

If a lender hires this company, I would have to say request another company be used and if they refuse change lenders. The appraiser used a comp that was almost a year old. He was told in advance why he should not use that comp but he used it anyway and didn't make an adjustment for the huge jump in the market in the previous 12 months. The low appraisal killed the sale. The seller ordered an appraisal from another company the same week and it came in 12% higher (and over 99% of the sale price). The appraiser also wrote that the property was in a different city than where it actually is and that it was in a suburban area (when in fact it is in a downtown multi-story condo building), which leads one to believe that he was typing over an old report for another property.
Dec 7th, 2021

Run in the other direction. Tried to refinance a few months back and the bank used these guys. The appraiser, Jorge Machare, chose comps in a totally different neighborhood (and consequently a very bad neighborhood) and valued my home at the same amount I had bought it for 4 years back despite my adding significant improvements and the values in my neighborhood skyrocketing. When I asked the appraiser to reconsider and even provided more appropriate comps as examples he was defensive and refused to consider them. In his view, the houses one block away from me were not appropriate as comps, but he was ok using houses several miles away in underserved neighborhoods with completely different values than my neighborhood. Made no sense at all. Long story short, a couple of months later I attempted to refinance again, this time with a different bank and appraisal company, and the appraisal came back 50% higher (and more in line with the market around me). That's an over $200,000 difference between the 2 appraisals! This guy has no clue what he's doing and he's arrogant, to boot. I lost out on a lot of time and a $500 appraisal fee cause this guy had no idea what he was doing.
Feb 4th, 2021