Comments on: Appraisers Now Have a Voice!

By: Mike Ford

Mike Ford — Tue, 15 Apr 2014 03:08:19 +0000

@retired Appraiser. Sorry YOU became discouraged. I have not. I’m pragmatic. I joined CCAP a couple years ago, and while I see some continued benefit to what exists largely in name only, its not able to advocate effectively.

I WILL be joining the AGA (Appraisers Guild) of OPIEU of the AFL-CIO. Fee is $275 annually. It is not a traditional union, but it DOEs have union affiliation and support of the 100,000+ strong AFL-CIO. They have already helped one appraiser get removed from a Bank blacklist.

Getting appraisers IS like herding cats. That’s why we shouldn’t reinvent the wheel. A Guild could meet our needs.

Mr Crawford has also taken a positive step. Don’t know yet If I’ll agree with him, but I certainly respect his effort. I say lets use ALL of our tools, not just a few.

By: Baggins

Baggins — Thu, 10 Apr 2014 22:34:30 +0000

I’ve had like a half dozen amc orders or less in at least 2 years. I’ve been on amc strike, where have you been? Probably I’ll try out sales or inspection before I go back to the bottom of the ladder willingly. Amc’s want automated appraisers, and my manual, thoughtful methods simply don’t fit into their grand dream of appraiser efficiency and grading criteria. Get a dang penalty for putting too much into the report. Go figure.

By: Benji

Benji — Wed, 09 Apr 2014 22:46:14 +0000

It is nice to read an article from an Appraiser who gets it and is open about it. I can tell by the words and phrases used — this guy IS an Independent Real Estate Appraiser. Amen! Unfortunately, there will be so many who do not get what this article says and represents from a competitive nature. It is refreshing to see an Independent Real Estate Appraiser use his skills and assets the correct way.

By: Appraisermorons

Appraisermorons — Wed, 09 Apr 2014 17:08:37 +0000

The boycott of AMCs is not going to happen. Most appraisers cannot afford to boycott anything. They are the lapdogs of the industry. The AMCs and their lenders have control of everything. There will always be appraisers that will accept whatever the AMCs are offering. For most of the newbies in the business the current fees are a raise compared to what the split was when they were working for a mentor. WAKE UP! Get out of this industry before you lose everthing you have worked for over the years when this was a profession. Nothing is going to change. C&R is a lot less than you think.

By: Retired Appraiser

Retired Appraiser — Wed, 09 Apr 2014 15:41:05 +0000

If you intend to use your voice use it for something worthwhile. Here are two hints:

1970 POSTAL WORKER STRIKE
Participation: 210,000
Began in New York and spread nationwide.
So effective that negotiations began within 2 weeks.
Nearly all demands were met

1997 UPS WORKER STRIKE
Participation: 185,000
Gained support of public as well.
All demands were met.
Cost UPS dearly ($600,000,000)

If you indeed have a voice among appraisers use it for the only worthy cause: Driving AMCs out of business and helping appraisers to reclaim their profession.

By: Retired Appraiser

Retired Appraiser — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 17:10:12 +0000

I congratulate Phil for being one of a handful that is capable of thinking “outside the box”. I urge you to forge ahead my man with all of the gusto that you can muster. On the flip side, don’t be surprised at the disgust that you will someday encounter when you learn that appraisers just don’t give a ham about their beloved “profession”.

I have posted hundreds if not thousands of times across the internet over the past 5 1/2 years trying to encourage appraisers to organize and fight back. Although I was able to collect several hundred names a few years back that were willing to boycott AMCs and (or) contribute to help us produce a decent movie about the enslavement aka the rape of the appraisal profession. After a year into the fight it was clear that we were talking to a rock wall.

Appraisers do indeed need a voice Phil but a voice is useless unless you can replace their brains first. Amazingly, they still have no clue whatsoever that they have (or had) the power to reclaim their profession years ago through a simple boycott of AMCs.

Best of luck in creating artificial intelligence within the appraiser population.