Portfolio loans don't need appraisals - just found that out from my lender

I was setting up a loan for a mixed-use property last month and my lender dropped this on me. Turns out portfolio loans held by the bank don't require a full appraisal since they keep the loan in-house. I dug into the FDIC guidelines and confirmed it's true. Has anyone else used this to speed up a deal?

2 comments

2 Comments

thomasshah5d ago

Man, you're not kidding. I closed on a small duplex last year and my credit union held the loan in house. They basically just checked my bank statements and tax returns, took two weeks instead of the usual month long appraisal wait. They still did a drive by to make sure it wasn't falling apart, but no full inspection or comps. Saved me like 500 bucks on appraisal fees too. Wish I knew this trick years ago.

the_tara5d ago

That's a great point and it actually taps into something bigger I've noticed. Seems like every single industry has been quietly moving this direction for years now. I see it with my own home insurance for example - they used to send an actual person out to look at everything, now it's all satellite images and algorithms to estimate roof age. Same with my car loan that got approved in like 15 minutes using just my bank history and credit score. The whole system is shifting to trust data and patterns instead of sending humans to physically verify stuff. Saves time and money most of the time, but sometimes I wonder if we lose something important when nobody walks through the place with their own two eyes. Still, I bet the big banks hate that credit unions can do this stuff since they're stuck in their old expensive ways.