Complaint Review: Cindy Martin Sanders Appraisal Service

Cindy Martin did an appraisal on my daughters home so I called her two weeks later to do an appraisal on our home as we were thinking about selling and moving to Tennessee. She came out, did what she had to do but her report was wrong and it was way low based on what our contractor said and what everyone else had a good inclination as to the amount it should have come in at or been fairly close to.  She had our foundation listed as block, it is not, she had wainscoting in our bathrooms, she neglected to include the two car detached garage, she depreciated our home of 82 thousand dollars and listing it as over ten years old. 

Our home was 5 years old as of September 16, 2018. The old home is gone except for the 2 x 4 studding that was used to frame it out. It was completly gutted, new windows, new doors, new roofing, new walls, new flooring, new wiring, new heating and duct work, new septic, EVERYTHING was new right down to the nails and screws used to build it, and it was made bigger, going from under 1200 sq ft to over 2300 sq ft. I was floored when I read the appraisal report that said our home was 142,000, when we knew it should have come back at over 179 thousand.  When my husband called her she said I can change those things but it wont change my appraisal.  Then she said to him.."Good Luck finding someone to give you a better appraisal. When she was doing the appraisal here with me, she said, "Make sure you have another place in mind, because when this home hits the market it won't last two weeks."

When she did my daughters appraisal not a month prior, she told her she knew someone interestd in moving to the country, she did. And when my daughter was forced to return to her home and stop the sale, the real estate agent, Darlene Baltzell from Rod Snow, in Centralia, IL, and the woman that was going to buy it, forced my daughter and her two small girls out of their home with no place to go. She was going to move to Rhode Island, and had taken a job, but when it was time to come and get her girls to get them registerd for school, their father refused to let my daughter take them from the state of Illinois, thus forcing her hand to return to Illinois, stop the sale of her home which hadn't even gone to closing yet, she still had another 40 days, but they threatened to take her to court if she backed out of the sale. So she wa forced to move out. They also put my daughters profit which was less than 20 thousand, into an escrow account so she cant use it to buy another home, until after October 2nd, as she was ordered to be out by Oct 1st.  Now how can she find another place if they are keeping her profits.

Having obtained a second appraisal on our home, which came in 60 thousand dollars higher than Cindy Sanders' appraisal, we, and the other appraiser knew she undercut us and probably had someone interested in buying it as we also live in the country, most likely the same woman who forced our daughter and granddaughters out of their home.  We were going to borrow against our equity to start building a new home in Tennesee, but after her appraisal report that was impossible so we had to do a reverse mortgage on our home and are awaiting a third appraisal from the reverse mortgage company. 

The reverse mortgage appraiser came out Wednesday 26th of September, 2018, took one look at the house and said, "I will write you a check right now for 142 thousand and call my wife and tell her to start packing. You have a beautiful home here! I dont want to see the other report because she definitely low-balled you.  And most likely did have someone interested in buying!'  If she low-balled us over 60 thousand just fro our second appraisal report, I can almost bet she low-balled my daughter as well, since this woman buying refused to let my daughter and her two babies have their home back before it was actually sold.

I have already reported the appraiser to the Real Estate Appraiser Board and in mine and my daughters case, as well as the Real Estate woman, Darlene Baltzell of Rod Snow Real Estate in Centraia.

If you need an appraisal, DO NOT use Cindy Martin, and if you need a Real Estate agent, stay away from Darlene Baltzell.