Comments on: Fannie Mae ‘Lender Letter’ About the CU process

By: Baggins

Baggins — Wed, 11 Feb 2015 18:58:45 +0000

The letter reads something like this; Don’t worry. Go back to sleep. Trust the government. / Wake me up when it’s over. I’m on the tracks now, and can see the train wreck on the horizon. It’s official that those ‘clerks’ at amc’s and lender outlets earn more than the average appraiser. / For any statement that assumes financial compensation or relief to appraisers for additional work, such hopes are not realistic. As long as the amc fee is co mingled with the appraisers fee, there will continue to be a financial incentive to drive down appraisers fees for variable opportunistic profit to the order distributors. You can’t win that race, so just face facts that until amc’s fees are not mingled with appraiser fees, and C&R rules and daily 10k/20k fines are never implemented, there will be no earnings recovery, or any other recovery in this appraisal industry. This is what happens when people turn to the government for assistance. They get bureaucracy instead, with no sun set provision to speak of.

By: Retired Appraiser

Retired Appraiser — Sat, 07 Feb 2015 06:54:51 +0000

In reply to Mike Ford.

I had to read your post twice as well and scratch my head in finding that we were in complete agreement. I cannot imagine working with CU rules in any other fashion.

After six years of posts everyone knows what I think about the future of appraising. Here’s some food for thought. For 4 years I preached equity trading to as a way out but I wouldn’t touch this stock market with Andrew Cuomo’s money. I love home inspection as a way to diversify an appraisal business and guard against interest rate hikes. I find Adobe’s Creative Cloud even more fascinating. An incredibly affordable way to mass produce videos, documents, or webpages. I never could find a way to do appraisal and sell it to 3,000 lenders. I would join an established and reputable MLM company. You can do it part time and if it works you can kiss appraising goodbye after several months. (Find a product or service you believe in or you’ll never be able to sell it.) Legalshield is the only that has ever appealed to me.

By: Mike Ford

Mike Ford — Sat, 07 Feb 2015 02:06:02 +0000

In reply to Retired Appraiser.

Retired! You’re starting to worry me now…we don’t usually agree!

Actually, I like reading your periodically cynical views-they make me think. Thank You!

By: Retired Appraiser

Retired Appraiser — Fri, 06 Feb 2015 02:35:36 +0000

I agree with your response to that type of situation Mike. That is precisely what I would do and what every appraiser should do. When lenders and AMCs see the additional cost they will beg FNMA to turn the Collateral Undertaker down to it’s lowest setting.

By: Mike Ford, CA AG002512

Mike Ford, CA AG002512 — Thu, 05 Feb 2015 19:16:57 +0000

The problem is not the stated rules, but the common practices of correspondent lenders and some AMCs.

I have ALREADY SEEN purported ‘underwriter’ statements TELLING appraisers to either explain in detail why the suggested (19) alternate comps are not relevant or to grid them and make the changes necessary! THAT is going to be the norm-not an anomaly.

Now since FNMA does not want the text messages sent to the appraiser (one has to ask how I as a merely curious party was given it BEFORE an appraiser ever saw it); WHY would an appraiser EVER respond to a bulk shot gun approach questioning comparable validity?

You could just as easily set your NDC or Real Quest or Realist searches to deliver 25 “comps”; or have your title company run a closed sale ‘comp’ list in the area using their default criteria.

I provide the BEST and most relevant comps in all assignments. If they ALSO want additional analyses on why sales were r were not used I am going to charge $250 more for the additional service plus $20 per ‘comp’.

If you want to second guess every single aspect of my appraisal OR comment on its ‘apparent collateral risk’, then have a USPAP compliant review appraisal performed on it. You do NOT get to tell me how much extra work beyond that required under USPAP, I have to do.

Don’t claim its per FNMA “guidelines”. They don’t require CU to even be used.