Category: Appraisal Technology

The 24-Hour Appraisal Diet: Slim on Time, Light on Credibility 31

The 24-Hour Appraisal Diet: Slim on Time, Light on Credibility

Brian Zitin’s declaration that the appraisal “bottleneck” has been obliterated by Reggora’s 24-hour turnaround reads less like a breakthrough and more like a tech startup’s victory lap around a profession it barely understands. According to the post, decades of valuation nuance, regulatory compliance, and boots on the ground expertise have now been solved, at no extra cost to the borrower, in every location, and without compromising standards. All it took, apparently, was a few million dollars and a launch video. It’s a bold claim, not because speed isn’t desirable, but because speed without substance is just marketing. The idea that...

The Town With No Bank: How Rural America Lost Its Mortgage Lifeline 10

The Town With No Bank: How Rural America Lost Its Mortgage Lifeline

For decades, we’ve been told that the problem is demand. That people don’t want to live in rural America anymore. That lending dried up because the buyers disappeared. That it’s just the market working as it should. But what if we’ve been telling the wrong story? Because when you look closely, when you actually follow the data, the decisions, and the people left behind, it turns out rural America didn’t walk away from mortgage credit. Mortgage credit walked away from rural America. The Collapse of Local Lending Up until the 1980s, a family in a small farming town could walk...

Outrage Over New Connect by ValueLink Monthly "Junk Fee" 53

Outrage Over Connect by ValueLink’s New Monthly “Junk Fee”

The recent announcement from Connect by ValueLink has sparked outrage among appraisers. Effective January 1, 2025, the company plans to institute a new $19.99 monthly user fee for all appraisers utilizing their portal to receive and submit appraisal orders. This fee will be in addition to the existing technology fees already charged on a per-appraisal basis. Understandably, many appraisers are up in arms over this development, viewing it as yet another “junk fee” that will only serve to erode their already-thin profit margins. What makes this particularly galling for appraisers is the fact that it is often appraisal management companies,...

Automatic Review of Photos in Appraisal Reports 22

Automatic Review of Photos in Appraisal Reports

It means the statements in your appraisal reports about the actual component material, and its quality and current condition, can be challenged by computer software.  Folks, this news release (below) was in several publications on Wed, June 19, 2024. These kinds of releases are mostly factual, but are often embellished to present a particular ‘owner’ point of view to influence opinion about products. I remember listening to Jeff Bradford many years ago who discussed the early stage process to electronically review photos. He said it was pretty difficult then. But that was before we began hearing about “A.I.” – artificial...

Fannie & Freddie's AI Appraisal Photo Recognition 46

Fannie & Freddie’s AI Appraisal Photo Recognition

A colleague recently shared an important heads up regarding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s plans to implement photo recognition AI to analyze appraisal photos. This technology can scan a single photo and extract over 100 data points related to quality, condition, and repairs. For example, it can identify flooring types, appliance models, and even assess light levels in a room. Later this year, the GSEs plan to run all appraisal reports through this AI and cross-check the appraiser’s stated quality and condition ratings. If the AI’s analysis differs significantly from the appraiser’s, it will automatically generate a complaint letter to...

Bringing More People Into a Dying Profession! 84

Bringing More People Into a Dying Profession!

Some people want to bring more people (primarily of color, which is great) into a dying profession. But the profession is being killed off by (mostly white!) people who think technology is the golden spoon to accurate valuations.  Appraisers, I’ve been studying, and writing about since 2006, all kind of issues surrounding our profession, and frankly some currently does not make sense. As many know, ‘we’ have been accused of not having “enough black people” in appraiser ranks. The claim is that blacks only represent 3% or so of the total population of appraisers. The people engaged in blaming appraisers...

Class Valuation Digitizing the Appraisal Process. Who's Thinking Hybrids? 3

Who Is Thinking Hybrid Appraisal?

“Digitizing the entire appraisal process”… what does this even mean? No more tape measures? No more typing? What exactly is being digitized that is not already digitized?… This is what Class Valuation appears to be doing to justify their actions. According to the article written by Richard Torne in Mortgage Professional America, Class Valuation has announced the acquisition of DataMaster. From the article: “We’re not replacing the appraiser, we’re empowering them” We share a common belief in the true path to the future, which is not to replace the appraiser but to empower them. Appraisers have had their fair share...

Forms Redesign Extended Into 2023-24 8

Forms Redesign Extended Into 2023-24

What once was a ‘three year’ project to redesign and implement revised appraisal forms has morphed into one taking far longer. Actual implementation and use of ‘new forms’ are not scheduled to happen until (presumably) early in 2024, but could be extended even further. By 2024, the currently used ‘forms’ will be 19 years old, and the current UAD overlay entering ‘teenage hood’ at 13. For context, the current Planet Mars Perseverance Rover mission to successfully plan and land scientific instruments took only 9 years! Details for the ‘forms redesign extension’ are based on the announcement from Fannie Mae (and Freddie...

Opinion of an Insider on the New Form - Appraisers Blogs 13

Opinion of an Insider on the New Form

An appraiser shared the following with us which was posted on one of the appraisers’ groups. There’s been a lot of mis-information about the new FNMA form posted so i thought i might clear the air a little bit. Being a software provider i’m in the loop but i can’t disclose every thing i know due to confidentiality. That being said i’m just the messenger and don’t shoot the messenger. the new form is not to put appraisers out of business. if they weren’t providing the new form, then i’d be worried. the previous forms were designed for a typewriter....

Open Letter to Mortgage Lenders - Your Appraisal Management Company 22

Open Letter to Mortgage Lenders

How much vetting have you done on the appraisal management company? How involved are you as the lender in the day to day activities of the appraisal management company?… The world has changed and most everything in our lives involves technology. The technologies available to each of us are tools. They are not a more reliable means, merely more convenient. Human thought and analysis is still required in every aspect of life. When the Final Rules of the Dodd Frank Legislation went into effect, many lenders chose to use appraisal management companies with the false idea they had no liability for...

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