Monthly Archive: March 2022

AEI Research Critique of Freddie Mac's Misleading Appraisal Gap Report 6

AEI Research Critique of Freddie Mac’s Misleading Appraisal Gap Report

More great research from AEI. This is an analysis of Freddie Mac’s misleading and basically defamatory paper on Appraisal Gap. When government related entities release misleading information like this they are attacking and defaming real estate appraisers. The hate real estate appraisers have received because of this paper and Andre Perry’s paper is relentless. Another problem with releasing misleading data and conclusions is that it actually hurts the people they are trying to help. Facts show that the real cause of the wealth gap between blacks, whites and Latinos is the income gap. It has nothing to do with appraisals...

Sketch or Floor Plan? 13

Sketch or Floor Plan?

The FLOOR PLAN has all the elements of a SKETCH… Appraisers, I was given some ‘inside info’ about DESKTOP assignment reports being submitted to the GSE’s – incorrectly. The FLOOR PLAN exhibit in these DESKTOP reports, in some cases, is not being done correctly. Let’s examine what is actually required as a diagram showing the dwelling: First, when the appraiser certified that they, or their trainee, have/has made an on-site personal visit to the property and has measured the dwelling, only a SKETCH is required – unless interior design problems are noted, in which case the SKETCH must be upgraded to...

Dear ASC: Details... Why They Matter. 14

Dear ASC: Details… Why They Matter

DETAILS… NO MATTER HOW SMALL OR BIG NEED TO BE PRESENTED. If not, you failed. ASC, today you failed us all. Over the past several days, the Real Estate Appraisal Industry has been the subject of scrutiny with the release of the PAVE Report that the Interagency Task Force developed on Property Appraisal And Valuation Equity set forth by the Biden Administration. On March 23, 2022, there was a public meeting to unveil the Pave Task Force report on Racial Bias in the Real Estate Appraisal Profession. You can watch the press conference below as well as read the entire...

Hocus Pocus Magic Focus? We Can Sell It to Appraisers 3

Hocus Pocus Magic Focus?

Appraisers historically have been sold bogus franchises, software, and other magic solutions. Only $199.95 — Push the enchanted ‘calculate’ button and get ‘correct’ adjustments. Sounds good. It is nice to think that for this small charge, I can save hours and get the right, fully mathematical solution to an adjustment amount. It will be wonderful! I have seen this marketing plan work many times. They imply “We have found the enchanted formula, a secret algorithm, a sly way to calculate adjustments. In a way that no one ever before us has done! Not other appraisers, not AVMs, not even their PhD-economist-statistician-computer-clever programmers have ever discovered before.” The purveyors,...

VA Unofficially Says NOPE to ANSI Measuring Protocol 16

VA Unofficially Says NOPE to ANSI

The other agencies, Freddie Mac, HUD/FHA, USDA, ONAP, VA have NOT (yet) adopted this ANSI measuring protocol. Appraisers, an appraiser I know sent an email to the VA asking if VA was going to require appraisers to adhere to the ANSI Z765-2021 Measuring Standard as of April 1, 2022. The appraiser received an ‘unofficial’ response back from a person within the VA connected to processing appraisals, which said: “The short answer is, no.” I say this is ‘unofficial’ because to-date, I have seen nothing “official” from VA about this topic. Only officials from within VA know whether or not they...

Promoting the False Racist Appraiser Narrative 8

Promoting False “Racist Appraiser” Narrative

Some Lenders promoting false “racist appraiser” narrative to optimize profits via AVMs Like most businesses lenders want to optimize their profits. One way to make more money besides charging more is to pay less in costs and fees. One way for the lender to do that is to pay the appraiser less or just get rid of them and use a free or very inexpensive Automated Valuation Method (AVM). I personally don’t care if a lender or borrower wants to use an AVM. There is enough business out there for appraisers because not all appraisals are for loans and not...

Proposed Design of the URAR 25

Proposed Design of the URAR

Here’s the link to the ‘slide show’ the GSE’s have produced showing proposed design of the future, revised, URAR appraisal form. In my initial very quick observation of the proposed changes, there is FAR MORE INFO REQUESTED about the subject and comparable sales than the ‘current’ 2005 URAR form has on it. If this is what the final version will be like, the appraiser’s time to ‘complete the form report’ may increase exponentially. It may mean that the cost of the appraisal will increase. I hope people involved with this will be more sensitive to this aspect, unlike what was...

TAF Conflates Real Estate Appraisers with Appraisers 9

TAF Conflates Real Estate Appraisers with Appraisers

Why do I take the time to mention “real estate appraisers” and “real estate appraisals?” instead of just “appraisers” and “appraisals”? Personal property appraisers and business appraisers aren’t required by any state to follow USPAP, don’t pay anything for licensing and certification fees to any state, and are not subject matter experts on anything to do with real estate at all, ever. But… the Appraisal Standards Board and Appraiser Qualifications Board are chock a block full of non-real estate appraisers. Didn’t TAF/ASC arise from problems in the real estate profession? Was it ever the intent of the original remit for...

Anti-Appraiser Agenda - Follow the Money! 25

Anti-Appraiser Agenda

Money may have been used to buy influence and promote the current anti-appraiser narrative being embraced by key public servants in the executive and legislative branches. TOOL MAY HELP APPRAISERS CONNECT DOTS TO UNRELENTING CHARACTER ATTACKS It’s reminiscent of a practice pioneered by Texas savings-and-loan kingpin Tom Gaubert in the 1980s. The idea was to have employees at his crumbling institution and those of his friends funnel a large number of small-dollar political donations to his buddy, Democratic House Speaker Jim Wright. The speaker, one of the most corrupt to hold the position (and that’s really saying something), spread the...

ANSI & Floor Plans Goofiness 35

ANSI & Floor Plans Goofiness

“…if you the appraiser are not required to inspect the property yourself, don’t you want to have a more detailed diagram of the home, i.e., a Floor Plan?” There’s been lots of discussion on various forums, classes, Facebook, blogs, podcasts, surveys, articles, etc., about the upcoming ‘demands’ by ONE of the GSE’s to measure using ANSI Standard Z765-2021, and by both GSE’s to provide a Floor Plan for certain assignments. Uniformity is the stated goal. ANSI is not consistent in how they want the perimeter of homes to be measured. Here’s why: for new construction, when the plans (blueprints) are...

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