Author: AppraisersBlogs

Flawed Appraisals Killing Sales 2

AI Response to NAHB on Appraisals Killing Home Sales

The Appraisal Foundation Responds to NAHB December 8 Press Release on ‘Flawed Appraisals Killing Home Sales’ December 13, 2011  – Paul Lopez – National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Dear Mr. Lopez: We are contacting you in reference to the attached NAHB press release dated Thursday, December 8, 2011, entitled, Flawed Appraisals Killing Home Sales, Hampering Housing Recovery. As the Congressionally-authorized organization that establishes appraisal standards and appraiser qualifications in the United States, we feel compelled to address  aspects  of the press release we feel need clarification. The  press  release  quotes  NAHB  Chairman  Bob  Nielsen  as  stating,  “The  inappropriate  use ...

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FDIC Publication Focuses on Real Estate Valuation Programs

Issues related to real estate appraisal and valuation programs are of critical interest to bankers and regulators. “Navigating the Real Estate Valuation Process,” which appears in the Winter 2011 issue of Supervisory Insights released on December 14, 2011, highlights certain aspects of the 2010 Interagency Appraisal and Evaluation Guidelines (Guidelines). This article also provides information for bankers regarding sound practices for banks’ real estate valuation processes in the areas of valuation review, independence, content standards, preparer selection, and monitoring. “Banks have implemented provisions of the Guidelines, but continue to seek feedback from their regulators on appraisal-related concerns,” said Sandra L. Thompson, Director, Division of...

Appraisers Not to Blame for Distressed Market 1

Appraisers Not to Blame for Distressed Market

Don’t Shoot the Messenger: Appraisers Not to Blame for Real Estate Woes / Distressed Market Many in the real estate industry have tried to blame the market’s distressed condition on appraisers, saying that appraisers are at fault for producing opinions of value that don’t match a home’s contract or sales price, delaying a recovery in the housing market. But appraisers don’t set the market; they reflect what’s happening in the market. It’s important to keep in mind that appraisals completed for mortgage transactions are not provided to confirm a sales price; they are used to assist lenders in making lending...

Builders Advised Not to Hold Back From Giving Relevant Information to Appraisers 1

Builders Advised Not to Hold Back From Giving Relevant Information to Appraisers

Guidelines to help builders communicate with appraisers… November 7, 2011 – NAHB has developed a set of guidelines to help builders communicate with appraisers and lenders to ensure that they receive an accurate valuation of the new homes they are selling. The two-page document advises builders to meet with the appraiser on the site of where the home has been or will be built and provide direct support for the price with whatever relevant information they can. For example, builders should provide the appraiser with all appropriate comps, market and absorption data, specifications of the property, materials in the property...

Fatal UAD edits 0

USDA Adopts Uniform Appraisal Dataset (UAD)

The US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Development announced that the Uniform Appraisal Dataset will apply to the Single Family Housing Section 502 Guaranteed and Direct Loan Programs effective January 1, 2012. The purpose of this Administrative Notice (AN) is to announce the USDA Rural Development Single Family Housing Section 502 Guaranteed and Direct Loan Programs will adopt the new Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Uniform Appraisal Dataset (UAD) effective September 1, 2011. To allow sufficient time to make any necessary data system changes, the requirements of this AN will be mandatory for all appraisals completed on or after January...

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AI Calls for Transparency

Appraisal Institute Calls for Transparency on Home Buyers’ Forms saying that consumers deserve to know what they’re paying for, the Appraisal Institute asked the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Nov. 16 to require more transparency on home buyers’ forms. In a joint letter with the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers, AI asked the CFPB to separate appraisal fees from administration and processing fees on the settlement forms that consumers receive when purchasing a home. Created by Congress, the CFPB oversees consumer disclosure laws and is authorized to develop new forms to inform consumers and charges assessed...

Fuzzy Math Of Home Values 0

The Fuzzy Math of Home Values

Fuzzy Math In a housing market that’s been mostly a cause for gloom, so-called home-valuation technology has become one of the few sources of excitement. After years of real estate pros holding all the informational cards in the home-sale game, Web-driven companies like Zillow, Homes.com and Realtor.com are offering to reshuffle the deck. They’ve rolled out at-your-fingertips technology via laptop and smartphone to give shoppers and owners an estimate of what almost any home is worth. And people have flocked to the data in startling numbers. Vigilant homeowners check their values to help decide whether it’s worth the hassle of...

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Appraisal Institute Launches Opinions of Value Blog

The Appraisal Institute launched its new blog, Opinions of Value, on November 14. Content will feature the appraiser perspective on legislative and regulatory issues, enhanced discussion about recent industry media coverage and thoughts from AI leaders about upcoming trends. While a great deal of content exists in the blogosphere, the Appraisal Institute is uniquely qualified to provide expert analysis on all appraisal-related topics because the organization is the nation’s oldest and largest professional association of real estate appraisers with more than 24,000 members in 60 countries.

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‘Middleman’ Appraisers Spur Concerns

If you’ve paid for a home appraisal within the last five years, a chunk of that charge likely went to a middleman you never knew existed. And because a third party was used, it might have driven up your closing costs and affected the quality of the valuation. Lenders often use appraisal management companies to block collusion between mortgage brokers and appraisers — and to comply with anti-fraud rules the industry adopted in May 2009. The hotly debated reforms have boded well for the appraisal managers, whose presence in the U.S. has jumped from a handful in the 1990s to...

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AGA Fights to Overturn Federal Regs Cutting Appraisers Fees

WASHINGTON, Nov. 7, 2011 / PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The American Guild of Appraisers (AGA), a national organization of real estate appraisers that is an affiliate of the AFL-CIO’s Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU), announced today it has retained a law firm as part of a broad-reaching effort to overturn recent federal regulations that dramatically cut the fees that appraisers are paid to perform appraisals, and threaten the viability of professional appraisal practice and the reliability of appraisals used in real estate transactions. In the aftermath of the national financial collapse brought on in part by badly underwritten subprime loans,...

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