last year we hired Appraisal 2000 to perform the appraisal on our home to refinance our mortgage. We delt with the owner directly. On the day of the inspection the inspector arrived early and blew through the house and snapped a few pictures.He then asked to be paid, I paid cash and was told that the office would send me a receipt as he did not have any.3 days later my mortgage broker was given the appraised value of our home which was very low for the neighbourhood. As a matter of fact he even said it was woth less that what the city says it was. The house next door with the bricks falling off and the overgrown back yard and 50% less parking sold for $16,000.00 more than what he appraised my home for. I was not allowed to see the appraisal or obtain a copy, even though I paid for it.I really feel that this type of business falls into the same area as home inspectors.We were not able to obtain financing for our home based on the appraised value.

I wasn't happy with Appraisal 2000's business tactics, their product, or price. I am not going to blame the actual appraiser, Steve Panparotto, because he is probably just a pawn. To his credit, he fully refunded the fee I paid when I explained my concerns to him. Why was I unhappy with this company? Because first of all, they waited until the last minute to contact me, then the appraiser got confused and started panicking and phoning my agent and the bogus mortgage broker I was dealing with (that's another story), then the bogus broker called and started screaming at me and my agent, accusing us of holding things up, then the appraiser called back and demanded payment, even before he had even seen the house, and everything was rush, rush, it was very stressful. Finally, my agent, the appraiser and myself met at the house. He performed a cursory inspection and demanded payment. I asked for a copy of the appraisal. He refused. I repeated myself, he did likewise. I didn't know what my rights were because this all happened so fast. I paid him, even though I did not get a copy of the appraisal. Later, I spoke to my lawyer who was unhappy with events. He told me I shouldn't have paid him. I should at least get a copy of the appraisal. So I called Panparotto and asked for a copy. I said he could keep the money, just send me a copy of the appraisal I paid for. He refused. I started getting suspicious. What is he trying to hide from me? Who owns this appraisal? (see below for rest of story). Postscript: Why am I not allowed to see it? If my lawyer smells a rat, so do I. I demanded one or the other, my appraisal, or my money. Panparotto promptly refunded my credit card, which was the only part of the transaction which gave me any satisfaction at all.

Toronto municipality assessed condos in our building at $204,000 in 2005. We put more than $60,000 in upgrades into our suite: wood and granite floors, granite counters, high-end fixtures, larger bathroom, more builtin cupboard space, lake view to be locked in by new park, etc. Steven Pantarotto of Appraisal 2000 Realty Group Ltd under-appraised our condo at $205,000, $1,000 more than the 95% of the suites in the building that have not had any upgrades done since the building was built 20 years ago. Because no suites had been sold with this much investment in them for Appraisal 2000 to copy, Appraisal 2000 had no technical capabilities for valuing the suite. When I called to request a proper appraisal stating I paid their fee not the mortgage company, they did not return my call.