Monthly Archive: December 2018

Automated Loan Processing to End Appraisers... 2019 Big Battles Ahead 18

Big Battles Ahead for Appraisers

…complete elimination of appraisal as part of their fully automated loan processing objectives… Our work as appraisers & appraisal issue advocates is certainly cut out for us all in 2019. I think appraisal unity is going to be needed if we are all to take on the adverse issues affecting us. That includes AI. They still have a large number of honest, & competent members. I think the rest of us will have to let AI take care of AI issues. I’m not averse to butting heads with them on specific issues when necessary but alienating them rather than seeking...

AARO / AGA / AI / Appraisal / Appraisal Institute / Appraisal News

An Extraordinary Year for Appraisers 4

An Extraordinary Year for Appraisers

Some thoughts about what we learned from 2018 to apply to 2019: We have always been our own worst enemy as evidenced by the behavior of AI National who kept thinking up initiatives for its members without asking for membership feedback – remember this when their “taking” initiative is attempted in 2019. Through Appraiserfest and a vibrant appraisal coalition network, we are learning to fend for ourselves and find we all actually like each other. State level political action was the battleground as AI National’s Scott DeBiasio continued to work hard for AI National to further devalue our profession with...

Snippets

Quoting Fee/TT to AMCs - Lenders SLOWING DOWN the Loan Process 30

Quoting Fee/TT to AMCs

Appraisers, I had a revealing conversation with a clerk at an AMC last week. I actually received an email requesting Fee/TT, then awhile later a phone call about the same property, from a different clerk. I decided to call that clerk back after researching the property. Conversation went something like this: AMC clerk: Hi, this is James. Me: Hi James, I’m calling about the Timbucktoo property, which I can do for you. AMC: OK, I have that pulled up. Me: First of all, I don’t discount my fee for anyone, including your AMC. Second, I can do the assignment, probably...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Customary & Reasonable Fees

Landmark Acquired by Class Valuation - VA Drops 1004MC...Done Deal! 17

Done Deal

AMC Consolidaton – Class Valuation (formerly Class Appraisal) of Troy, MI is acquiring Landmark Network, of Van Nuys, CA. This document does not say ‘when’ it will occur, or if the transaction has concluded, but the way it is written, the implication is that it’s a “dun deel.” Anybody have any scuttlebutt on which of the hundreds of the remaining AMC’s might be next to be consolidated with another one? Landmark Network’s email: Hello! Eleven years ago, I set out to create a different kind of appraisal management company. One that truly valued our appraiser partners while embracing the efforts...

1004MC / AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News

Embarrassing Indeed! Inspections Can Sometimes Be Embarrassing... 9

Inspections Can Sometimes Be Embarrassing

Inspections can occasionally get embarrassing, right? It happens to all of us. That’s just part of the appraisal business. But that does not make things any easier or less embarrassing, does it. Let me tell you three stories. First is the house with the unique basement. It’s your typical single-family residence on the ground floor; nothing out of the ordinary, nothing embarrassing. Then I tell the owner I need to go into the basement to inspect it. He hesitantly says OK, so into the basement we go. It was not your typical basement. It looked like some kind of department...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News

Proof of Title - The Edification of Uninformed FHA Bureaucrats 5

Proof of Title

…you have only cleared title to the proposed collateral property back to 1803… Rebuilding New Orleans after Katrina often caused residents to be challenged to prove home titles back hundreds of years. That is because of community history stretching back over two centuries during which houses were passed along through generations of family, sometimes making it quite difficult to establish a paper trail of ownership. A New Orleans lawyer sought a FHA rebuilding loan for a client. He was told the loan would be granted upon submission of satisfactory proof of ownership of the parcel of property as it was...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News / Federal Housing Administration / FHA

Report Observation & Trigger Points - Don't Fall Into a Trap! 10

Report Observation & Trigger Points

Appraisers, this is another essay written about a report I have ‘observed.’ I’ve mentioned before that I “come in contact with” appraisal reports from a variety of sources. Those that I determine have significant issues I write about. Conclusions about the ‘real value’ will be disclosed below. Trigger points for having reports formally reviewed are discussed. I do this because a majority of appraisers do not participate and interact with their peers on a consistent basis, and therefore may not get exposed to items that clients and lenders see in reports, which they question. I believe it’s important to expose items in reports that...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Fannie Mae - Freddie Mac

Closed for Business, Sorry Folks! Appraisal Management Company Fiasco 62

Closed for Business, Sorry Folks!

For those who are not familiar with what an AMC is, it is short for Appraisal Management Company. They are not new, but since the adoption of the Home Valuation Code of Conduct, the number and the frequency of their use have increased. They are the order manager for the lender and ensure appraiser independence. If you have not already read “What’s Not in Your Wallet” or “Round and Round!”, go get a little more familiar before reading this. AMCs manage appraisal orders. They find the appraisers to give the orders to, and are supposed to provide quality control reviews...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / AppraiserLoft / Appraisers News

What Does it Mean Support and Prove? Uncertainty Is Risk 2

What Does it Mean ‘Support & Prove’?

What we do is subject to uncertainty. I searched the words: support and prove in both USPAP and in The Appraisal of Real Estate”. Interestingly, the word prove is not found in either document in this context. The fuzzier word support is found throughout both. The word ‘support’ seems to support supporting your opinion. How is the word “support” used in the context of making adjustments? I decided the dictionary would provide some support for how the word ‘support’ is used. The results are curious, perhaps troubling. Which comes first: the opinion, or the analysis? Do you support your opinion, or do you come to a result from doing your analysis? As a verb, the meanings of ‘support’ include: suggest the truth...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice / USPAP

CoesterVMS in Bankruptcy? Not Paying for Orders Completed! 94

CoesterVMS in Bankruptcy?

…all payments on orders completed prior to 11/15/2018 cannot be paid… Appraisers, there is a body of evidence being disseminated via various sources that CoesterVMS, the AMC based in Maryland started by appraiser Brian Coester, is in bankruptcy. This message from CoesterVMS was circulated last week: “Due to financial difficulties all payments on orders completed prior to 11/15/2018 cannot be paid at this time, our BK attorneys will be in contact with all creditors. Coester can guarantee payment next day on all orders completed on or after 11/16/2018. We apologize for any inconvenience.” Does it make any logical sense to...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Coester VMS

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