We did email him earlier 😉 Thanks Mike!!

Smart move Wayne!  Not only does it earn you even more enemies within the real estate community; it pays beans as well.  I quite doing review work at least 5 years prior to getting out.  Why?  Their idea of a review was reviewing the appraiser’s work plus providing new comparable sales (doing a new appraisal) all for the incredibly low price of $250 to $300.  Cutting out review work completely was a huge step forward in increasing our company’s profit margin (back when doing so was actually possible).

But there are appraisers out there that are breaking the rules and then using their ability to produce unrealistic amounts of work as a result as justification for underbidding our fees. Disagreement among peers is common and not grounds for being critical of another’s work. Where I start chewing on the bone is when apparent dishonesty crops up. Never inspected interior but said they did; different person inspected the property but not disclosed. That type of thing.

Bad appraisers undermine our professional image; reduce the publics confidence and trust in us and affect how much GSEs and other clients feel they have to micro manage us because so many of the reports they get are perceived to be ‘bad’. Where reports CAN be fixed, I ALWAYS leave that option open rather than saying it must be ‘reappraised’. A smart appraiser is going to read the handwriting on the wall and fix their work. A stupid one is going to pretend nothing is wrong and dig their heels in. Im not responsible if they fail the Forest Gump test.

I do NOT do so called “enhanced desk reviews” where an alternative opinion or ANY opinion of value is a SOW requirement. For me, its simple credibility. Either a report is or it is not. I don’t have to agree with all it’s elements. Haven’t done a field review since I left Treasury Dept.. Few are willing to pay what Id charge.

Hey my respected pal.  I am sorry to totally disagree with you concerning the “review” process. I have been there and done that. NEVER will I ever be so stupid as to provide a review on one of my fellow appraisers. I can only guess how many ten’s of thousands of dollars that type of stupidity has cost me over the years. My fellow appraisers are my friends…my pals, I will not throw them under the bus for a couple of bucks. Not going to happen…There is absolutely NO loyalty with lenders….they will send your review report to your previous friend in a heartbeat and cause you to have an enemy forever…That sucks…I am not going to play their stupid game. My competitors are my friends…they refer thousands of dollars worth of appraisal work to me each year….Do NOT BE STUPID!…

I have to take exception and disagree with your advice to appraisers NOT to perform reviews of other appraisers work though. Honest, and carefully performed appraisal review work is an integral part of maintaining our professional standards. Human nature being what it is, without the “threat” of a potential review somewhere down the road I think there would still be ‘significant numbers’ or appraisers that would perform sub par work.THAT hurts our profession.

We MUST be prepared to accept and then pursue HONEST & thorough and most of all, FAIR analyses of our peers work. Having said that, ANY appraiser that accepts review work where the intended use is for litigation support is a damn fool if they do not know who and what their client is. Charges for any such work should also be high enough to warrant making those reports ‘text book cases’ of near perfect appraisal reports.

I MIGHT do simple property appraisal work for litigation involving sfrs for as little as $500 to $750 but I would NEVER do a review appraisal intended or potentially intended for use in support of litigation for less than $1,000 and more likely $1,500. As a result, I’ve never been ASKED to do review work for CashCall or their affiliates.

I spend much if not most of my volunteer time with the American Guild of Appraisers (AGA) defending appraisers, and as a matter of principle take no pleasure in finding fault with any peers honestly performed work. But I am ALSO a professional appraiser. I would decline doing a review of another Guild Members work because of the conflict of interest potential, but I would not decline all review work as suggested in the article. It is a valuable part of our professional services albeit one that requires exceptional care above and beyond that of ordinary appraisal.