nspection and appraisal cost

[0errant]

Lender asked for my credit card info for the appraisal. I paid $400, appraisal was done and submitted w/o utilities being turned on! Now they have the appraiser going out again today to verify utilities and are asking if I want to use the same credit card to pay him. Why am I paying twice, when it is the seller's responsibility to have all utilities on for inspections??

[Anonymous]

well that kind of depends.  It is up to you and your team to make sure the house is ready for the appraisal by arranging it with the seller.  IF the bank just ordered one without arranging it with the seller then no, it is not their fault that the utilities are not on.  People commonly turn off the utilities in unused properties to avoid costs/minimize fire risks/etc.  Often times restarting them can take a week or two due to getting gas/electric/water scheduled to come out...This is especially true with gas so they can come out and relight pilotlights, etc.

In any case, all appriasals are paid by the buyer.  You may be able to negotiate that a bit in a way that you get refunded at close for that if it was directly the sellers fault.  BY that, I mean that they specifically told you, your agent, or your LO that the utilites would be on by the appraisal date you informed them of.  FI not, you are probably out of luck.  In the end, the lender usually requires all direct out of pocket expenses that they incur to be paid by the buyer at the time of service.  That is why they often charge for the credit check and the appraisal.