Appraiser came in 40k lower than my next door neighbor's house sold for less than 2 months ago. The guy didnt even wear a mask when walking through my house and when asked him to, he said "he didnt have covid". My mortgage company was so embarrassed by this appraisers behavior, they refunded the 500$ appraisal fee AND rejected the appraiser's recommendation. Do not use this company as they appear to have a racial bias from reviewing other homeowners that have used them in the past. Rocket Mortgage (the largest mortgage company in the US) determined that they were no longer reliable based on my experience and the shoddy appraisal experience. If your mortgage company hires them for your refinance or home purchase, request another company. Currently reviewing legal options as this was a blatant attempt at racial profiling. read more

I must admit that I was a bit concerned based off other reviews but once the appraisal returned I was pleasantly surprised. The appraisal came in slightly higher than expected but there has been an increase in housing locally the last few months. I think what others fail to realize that you aren't going to appraise much higher If there isn't anything to compare it to. Just because somebody spent $$$$ on finishes doesn't equate to appraised value - wood floor is wood floor, if all isn't high end to change your quality level than it doesn't matter. Dustin walked through, asked questions, was courteous, explained the process and just as promised the report was done in 48 hours. Thank you. Do your own comparisons before having an appraiser show up. Do your homework, your fully finished basement doesn't bring as much as you think... mine didn't and that's ok. read more

Somehow Dustin Sauls appraised not one, but two houses that I had contracts on. I lost the first house in July 2022 because Mr. Sauls undervalued the house. And I lost the second house in Sept 2022 because he undervalued that one too. Both of the sellers wanted the difference in cash. I spent months traveling back and forth to Maryland from California to find a new home. I've stopped my search in Maryland because I can't go through this a third time. I felt targeted by Mr. Sauls. I've filed a complaint with the Maryland Commission of Real Estate Appraisers, Appraisal Management Companies and Home Inspectors. In December I was informed that they found that Mr. Sauls violated USPAP and they would sanction him. I've lost $ 2,007.71 in appraisal and inspection fees. read more

I rarely take time to write reviews on yelp however the appraisal which was received from this service was so far below market value that it justified this review. Appraisal was over 10% lower than market value with comps used being 50 % less square feet built 15 years prior. I suggest looking elsewhere for you appraisal needs. read more

Don't waste your money with this company. They have no customer service. Homeowners should be able to ask questions. Considering I am not an appraiser, I should be able to ask the experts questions regarding the report so I understand what it means. Unfortunately, they don't respond. I'm not disputing the value (although my house appraised less than the house across the street that is outdated, no deck, no 40x40 garage, no shed, and no basement and less square footage) just trying to figure out why there's 3 spots of wrong info. Including the box that says my home was not listed for sale when it clearly was on MLS. Luckily PNC took a look at my concerns and threw out the appraisal for misinformation. read more

Just like the rest of the reviews, we were taken advantage of too. We were seeking a refinance and the company we were using sent this company to do the appraisal. The appraisal came back less than we paid for our house. While the appraiser was here he kept telling us there were no problems. He was unable to view our downstairs bathroom so he asked me to send him a picture just of the toilet and shower, which I did. He low balled the appraisal by about $44 K in our research. They used old comps, saying they had to use comps in our neighborhood. No one had sold in our neighborhood in the last year. One that did sold when prices were lower and was a house a lot smaller than ours and people sold low just to get out of it. I sent other comps and asked for a new review and they came back the same. We did not get our refinance and were out $600.00. I now know to check out any companies that are sent to us in the future. This company needs to be stopped and Realtors in Southern Maryland and all lenders need to stop using this company before they find themselves in the middle of a lawsuit. read more

I see a lot of negativity posted here, but I can't say enough good about R&M. Dustin was extremely helpful, answered my questions , was prompt for both my appointments and got all the required info to my mortgage company in an extremely timely manor. I know in general most people over value there own homes, but places like Redfin, etc. are just a jumping on point for home values . You also have to remember that not everything you do home improvement wise adds huge value to your property. That being said, I was extremely satisfied with R&M, and Dustin. The office staff was also extremely helpful and polite when I needed to call them, and phone calls and messages were returned promptly. They were chosen by my mortgage company, but if I need another appraisal I will request them, and also highly recommend them ! read more

On September 9, 2020 we were refinancing our home and our mortgage company selected R&M Appraisal Service. My house under-appraised at $297,700. That did not allow the required 75% equity the mortgage company required. We ultimately declined the refinancing terms the mortgage company offered and did not think it mattered nor did we think it was worth our time to fight. However, I recently ran a search on my house and discovered one of the property sites (REALTOR.COM) had published my house value as $297,700, exactly the amount of the R&M Appraisal Service appraisal. Now it would matter if we attempted to resell the house because someone might use that as a basis for an offer on the house. Now I am attempting to "fix" the REALTOR.COM estimate by "fixing" the appraisal. Interestingly enough, St Mary's County assesses taxes on our house at $361,000. Trulia assesses its value at $375,559, Zillow assesses its value at $375,559 and Redfin assesses its value at $370,297. I believe in due process and the "chain of command". I don't want to waste the time of the Maryland Department of Labor nor do I want to go to "court" to explain my complaint. Therefore I am in the process of notifying R&M Appraisal Service and the Appraiser of my dissatisfaction with the appraisal and requesting they review the appraisal to determine if errors were made. If they can not explain the $70,000 disparity between their appraisal and the other 4 appraiser services (Maryland Taxes + Trulia, Zillow and Redfin) then I intend to file an complaint with the Maryland Department of Labor (see http://dllr.state.md.us/license/reahi/reahicomp.shtml). read more

Woohoo!!! Appraisal was scheduled within 3 business days of initially contacting the company. Business office personnel were courteous and professional. Appraiser, was courteous, punctual, professional and thorough. He answered all questions I had in detail. The end result....appraised value was spot on, did not low-ball. Comparable properties he utilized were perfect. Definitely recommend this appraisal service. I wasn't going to utilize this company due to previous reviews, but SO GLAD I DID. Thank you R & M!!!!!!!! read more

After reading the appraisal report I am extremely disappointed with the quality of the report. It is grossly inaccurate and misleading. Not only does this report have an obvious bias against smaller houses and older homes it seems to suggest that my home has lost square footage since the last appraisal when we purchased the home and from the county appraisal. I'm not sure how this could be true. The homes in my water view, water access and boat dock ramp privilege neighborhood are highly desirable spending less than 7 days on the market and in some cases not even making it to market at all before they are sold. This is not reflected in the report. I could potentially point out incorrect information in almost every aspect of this report , heating ( I have a heat pump that is less than a year old) I have a water view (and am being taxed accordingly) two driveways with access to the fully enclosed 8ft privacy fence, less than 8y old septic system with a full warranty and maintenance the list goes on. read more

At the time of the initial call, it was over 3 weeks to schedule an appraisal and they refused any Saturday service (this was for a weekend house). I have had this house appraised in the past and Saturdays were available (not just too busy, they just wouldn't do weekends). Their attitude was "take it or leave it." Given how busy the real estate market is and this is where my lender sent me, I had to take it. There was no confirmation email or reminder/confirmation email. They committed to the lender to return completed appraisal within 7 days and instead it took 12 days. The actual appraisal was fair...even with a couple of important facts missing. I would not choose this service in the future. They definitely need to up their customer service and attitude. I've also filed a complaint with the lender. read more

We bought our house for 479,900 ten years ago and have done several updates, including a new roof. These guys came out and appraised our home at 369,000. What a joke! We had another appraiser come out and appraise our home at 520,000. This was two years ago. This company should not be in business. read more

BEWARE!! If this company contacts you in reference to appraising your property, REFUSE and request the lender to reassign your appraisal. This company recently appraised my home $100 K less than two appraisals that had been done during the construction process and at completion. In addition, they didn't use similar properties that were actually "comparable," based on location, acreage, size, and number of rooms even though a simple search of recently sold homes came back with several in a couple mile radius that would have been more comparable to our home. Giving the appraiser the benefit of the doubt, our loan officer provided them with a copy of the two most recent appraisers after they had appraised our home at $100 K less, and the appraiser comment was that they didn't care what someone else thought the value was. This was not only 1 but 2 appraisals done by separate companies that appraised our home $100 K over what R&M Appraisal Services did. I couldn't figure out why this company would appraise my home extremely lower than the other appraisals until I did some digging and found out of Mr. Brvenik's past. Marie Brvenik (the owner) husband Robert Brvenik (is surely the R in the R&M appraiser services) was charged in 2003 for allegedly providing false appraisals in an illegal flipping scheme. http://www.mortgagefraudblog.com/appraiser_dismissed_from_case_seeks_legal_fees/ NO WONDER THEY UNDER APPRAISE HOMES. read more

I normally don't take time to write reviews as I am far too busy, but in this case I am making an exception. If there were a ZERO stars choice that would be my rating. BLUF: As other reviewers have indicated, AVOID R&M Appraisal Service at all costs! Our story: The appraiser that R&M sent to our home was named Dustin. Here was here for maybe 15 minutes. We have a nearly 4000 square-foot 2 story home; three full baths, four bedrooms, a large living room, large kitchen, dining room, family room, a den/gym, and a large shop/storage area. Everything is custom, and all construction materials inside and out are higher-end. While Dustin was here I pointed out things like the Armstrong 5-star cherry hardwood flooring throughout the entire 1st floor, he told me there was no credit given for the quality of the flooring, rather only if it was hardwood or laminate. When I mentioned we had 2x6 structural construction with all Andersen windows, some windows of which are very large and architectural in design, he told me that didn't matter. I explained to him that our front entrance door was solid mahogany and cost $5K. Again, I guess in their opinion a door is a door regardless of the value. He said as long as you have these items that was all he was concerned about, not the quality or material of the item. We have two walk-in closets in our master bedroom suite. One of them he didn't even open the door to look inside. The other one has double doors and measures 11'x13'. He barely glanced in there. These closets contain hardwood shelving, recessed lighting, and custom cabinets. We also have recessed dimmable lighting throughout our home and all bedrooms and the dining room also have lighted ceiling fans, as well as an intercom system that runs through the house. Another example of his "assessment technique" is when he took a picture of our main bathroom he literally took a photo of the toilet. I asked him about that and he said he "just needed a picture of the toilet to show that it was a bathroom". That bathroom contains not only a toilet, but a jacuzzi tub, ceramic tile flooring, a 4'x2' screened skylight that opens as well as a vanity/sink with a granite countertop. We have several landscape islands on nearly 1.5 acres of lawn which all have electrical power installed. He told me that didn't matter. We have nine stone columns across the front of our home and breezeway that connect to our three bay 2-story garage. Very extensive stonework, but you guessed it, that didn't matter either. This dialogue continued through the discussion of other home extras, as well as a recent $10K master bathroom remodel with extensive tile work, etc.. I also informed him we had just had an entirely new septic system installed 18 months ago, and with the last 3 years we had installed a new water heater and all stainless steel high-end Jenn-Air and KitchenAid Architect II appliances, as well as a Samsung top-of-the-line Washer and Dryer and a stainless steel Wine Cooler in our kitchen bar area. In less than 24 hours we received his appraisal we were absolutely shocked to see that he only appraised our home for $10K more than it appraised for nearly ten years ago! We know that he is at least $100K off. Our three bay garage that measures 40'x35' was not even used in some of the comparables (comps) he selected as a baseline for his appraisal. The comps he used were not similar to our home and property size. Some of them were one story ramblers with far less square footage and acreage and some were 40+ years old. Not one of the comps had the appearance or high quality attributes that our home and property does. The sad part is they have our money so it is a done deal as far as they are concerned. A sunk cost for us of almost $500! I called their office to speak to the owners but they were unavailable as they are preparing for a 6 week trip to Europe. Instead, I was directed to their office manager, Joy. As I was detailing the erroneous aspects of the appraisal Dustin had completed, I explained to her that I wasn't just basing this on my opinion, but rather had researched several homes SIMILAR to ours in our geographic area that have recently sold as listed on Zillow / other Real Estate sites for well over $100K more than the appraised value he assessed. It was obviously a negligent and haphazardly done comps comparison. She proceeded to tell me that "Zillow was not a reputable site" and R&M has their own system that they access. Of course the general public doesn't have access to it so I would not be able to challenge the selected comps using their system. When I told her Dustin's appraisal was only $10K more that one we had done almost 10 year ago she told me she had to get off the phone and then hung up on me. So, there you have it. It's a case of buyer beware. Shame on me for not having done my due diligence on this company ahead of time. If you want to waste $500, call R&M! read more

I almost never write reviews about companies but this was so terrible that I felt the need to warn others to not get scammed by this bogus company. I was refinancing my mortgage and allowed the lender to pick the appraisal company. The appraisal came in low and that is something I could have accepted if it was at least accurate. They listed less rooms than I had in my house (10 instead of 12), an incorrect number of bathrooms (3 instead of 4) and incorrect # of fireplaces (1 instead of 2). When I told the lender and they requested clarification from the company, R&M came back just 5 days after the first appraisal and corrected these items but appraised the house $1000 LESS. It was just an act of defiance just to show that they had the power to say what ever they wanted. They were upset that we "caught", and "called" them on their mistakes and incompetency. Instead of doing the right thing and account for the things they "missed", they took a defensive stance and a "screw you" approach. It's poor business practice and the worst type of service a company can deliver. The problem with all this is that it cost me mortgage insurance because they were 10k off in their appraisal. I could have lived with a low appraisal but inaccuracies in the appraisal and a lack of accountability and integrity is unacceptable. I came here today to warn people who are looking for an appraisal company, to be very wary of this shady company with shady business practices. I intend to sue them after I finalize my loan but hope others don't get scammed by this company in the future. I really wish I had evaluated appraisal companies before this incident as the reviews here on yelp would have alerted me to not use this company, If you happen to be looking for an appraisal company, do yourself a favor and select someone else. read more

As others have stated, avoid this company. They low-balled the appraisal of my property (I believe so that the mortgage company could charge a private mortgage fee). I know this was an unethical appraisal because the county appraiser reviewed my property less than 2 weeks after R&M. The county's mid-range appraisal for my property was $45,000 more than R&M. The appraiser assured me my property was worth much more than the county's assessed value. The comps used by R&M for my property were not comparable in age, size, or acreage. A totally unethical company! read more

TERRIBLE APPRAISAL COMPANY. The worst experience i have ever had and i mean that literally. They sent Dustin Sauls for a refinance appraisal. I completely remodeled all bathrooms and kitchen worth more than 50k. New roof, new HVAC system, built deck and Dustin did not care. He was there for maybe 5 minutes total. He said all the upgrades did not matter and picked terrible comps to compare my house to. Over 50k in renovations and he appraised the home at the same price it was bought for. Read the rest of the reviews and you will see a pattern. Total waste of $500. read more

Couldn't agree more with the previous reviews. Jackie E. has almost an identical story to us, even down to the names of the employees. Waste of $500. Severely under valued our home, while using comps that would suggest otherwise. My suggestion to anyone in the Southern Maryland area.....when the bank appoints your appraiser, find out who they are, and make sure it is not this company. Too bad there isn't an option for 0 stars. read more

Hopefully we don't get sued by a family member based on their appraisal of the estate. We could not get a quarter of the prices that were appraised. Later discovered this is a suspicious business under various names, phone numbers and addresses. They put us in a terrible predicament as executor of an estate of geriatric mother and father who lived with 7 dogs and many field mice in a filthy house that they wouldn't allow anyone to clean. Parents were extremely thrifty and bought only cheap and used/free furniture and kept it their entire marriage. This business said items would be appraised at yard sale prices which sounded realistic. When the day came, Marilyn was so clueless, struggling for 10 minutes trying to read the model number off a vintage VCR, I had to show her how to take a picture on her cell phone and stretch it up to see the numbers. Seemed like she had never done this before and then charged us $600. In the final appraisal the 30+ year old filthy fabric sofa that about 20 dogs used over the years and had mouse droppings and urine on it was appraised it at $150. 30+ years old soiled sofa that shouldn't even be sold to anyone due to health concerns. Me and my husband were baffled. She did accurately describe it as 30+ years old sofa. A small little 2 foot by 2 foot wood side table the thrift store gave my father-in-law (they were throwing it away) had a huge 1 foot by 6 inch gash on the top where the dark finish was completely missing, showing raw wood underneath , just like the thrift store, no way will we be able to sell it. It has no value. Soiled rusted Tracker wheel chair with bad breaks was appraised at $150, that sells new for $169 online.. The list goes on and on. I won't even get into the rusted dead cars that wouldn't run with hoarded trash jam packed up to the top of the windows. No idea what she's doing and it wasn't cheap. Maybe we should all start appraising. Seriously find another appraiser. Wish I had could have found reviews before hiring her. read more

Stay away from this company. They appraised my home for much less than it is worth. I had no choice in the matter. This was the company that the lender assigned to me. They did not use similar properties in my area. In fact they used much smaller homes in comparison. read more

Avoid this company at all costs. The appraisers, and owners of the company, did a very sloppy job of appraising my house and property. Somehow they managed to miss 2 bedrooms and found "comps" that were not even in the ballpark regarding rooms, acreage, and upgrades. With the number of appraisal companies around, you don't need to settle for sloppy incompetent work. read more