Good catch on talking to neighbors first—it's surprising how much local insight they have. I'd also suggest checking county floodplain maps online. Th...

You're right, it does seem a bit excessive at first glance. But having been through this a couple times myself, I've learned lenders aren't really tar...

Had a similar experience, but my lender insisted on their own appraisal (at my expense, of course...). Took forever, but eventually they did drop it. ...

That's exactly been my experience too. When we refinanced a couple years back, the appraiser barely acknowledged our solar panel installation—said the...