Author: Dave Towne

At or During? Time Period of an Appraisal Assignment - Appraisers Blogs 5

At or During?

“At the time of assignment” refers to the time period commencing… Last month, the Appraisal Standards Board (ASB) provided the ‘first draft’ of the proposed changes to the 2020-21 USPAP, which I circulated. One of the points they mentioned is a goal to make USPAP easier to read and more understandable. OK, commendable. Then on June 27, 2018, the Appraisal Foundation and the ASB released the latest USPAP Q&A “suggestions.” (The USPAP Q&A’s, AO’s, and FAQ’s are not directives, or even a ‘legal’ part of USPAP. Instead, they offer independent commentary on how a particular issue could be handled or solved, but may...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News / ASB / The Appraisal Foundation

Artificial Intelligence (AI), Appraisers & Buggy Whips 4

AI, Appraisers & Buggy Whips

Most of these items cannot be ‘seen’ by Artificial Intelligence models or Big Data… Appraisers, The article below in Mortgage News Daily e-newsletter on July 3, 2018, got me to pound my noggin… for a couple of seconds at least. Actually, I think I need to do it again! Artificial Intelligence (AI) and ‘Big Data’ have been buzz words (and activity) for several years. And based on evidence in this article, lots of research and development leading to incorporation of AI is being done. While the article does not mention it directly, both Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae have instituted...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Fannie Mae - Freddie Mac

USPAP Revisions Every Two Years... This Ain’t No Way to Run a Railroad 11

Ain’t No Way to Run a Railroad

Appraisers get frustrated with the constant changes and revisions every two years… Folks, attached is the 1st Exposure Draft of changes to the NEXT “bible” of our industry. Read this over and then send in your comments per the instructions. With this draft, the ASB is desiring to simplify much of the document to make it easier to read and understand. There are numerous proposed edits you’ll see when you read it. They explain their rationale for the changes. This is appreciated. I’m also glad to see they have added to the Definitions the words “State” and “Summarize” which have...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News / ASB / The Appraisal Foundation

The problem is, when speed is demanded, proper analysis, verifications and reporting procedures are often compromised or not done by the appraiser just so an artificial timeline can be accommodated 18

Zoom, zoom, zoom is Good for Whom?

…we continue to ask for very quick turn times to outperform the competition… Appraisers, I received a message today from an appraiser who provided the email from an AMC (below). I have redacted the lender’s name (primarily to avoid getting my skin scorched), but it’s a big one in the US that you see in TV commercials, on radio, in print, and social media outlets. The email demonstrates the prevailing and long-running attitude among just about everyone connected to mortgage lending, whether they be AMC’s or direct placement lenders. It originates at the very top of these organizations. It’s a very...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice

Waiving Appraisals, Lowering Appraisal Standards, & Raising De Minimis... 13

Waiving Appraisals & Lowering Appraisal Standards

Freddie getting aggressive in waiving appraisals & promoting appraisal free mortgages… Appraisers, Yes, I have a ‘dog in the fight’ with this article, as I have been an Appraisal Institute member since 2003 (along with other association memberships since). But this article provides explanations about changes to the appraisal process I have not seen elsewhere. Excerpt from “Dodd-Frank rollback weakens appraisal standards“ They started to evaluate whether they wanted to raise that appraisal threshold level from $250,000 to some figure… They left it untouched at $250,000 for residential, but they have increased the commercial real estate appraisal threshold level just in the...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Fannie Mae - Freddie Mac

Determining What to Charge for Appraisal Fees - Hard & Soft Costs - Imagecredit Flickr - Chris Potter 21

Retainer or Not?

Last month I asked appraisers if you ask for a retainer when doing vacant land private assignments, which tend to be more difficult than private ‘home on dirt’ residential assignments. For those who do private assignments on GP forms (NOT the stinking GSE forms!), do any of you request a retainer from the prospective client before you start the research? I do a fair number of private assignments, with about half of those vacant land (unimproved) assignments. Those are more challenging than ‘home on dirt’ assignments. Lots of initial research and perhaps a site visit is necessary before committing to...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News

Secret Revealed: UAD & Appraisal Forms Redesign Coming NOT Soon 20

Secret Revealed… Coming NOT Soon

New initiative will focus on modernization of the current UAD dataset and residential appraisal forms… What I originally described as a ‘rumor’ several months ago has finally been fully exposed. FNMA and FrMAC are in the process of examining the current GSE appraisal forms, which encompass UAD and the MC Form, to ‘finally’ get the appraisal forms & functions into the 21st Century! But it won’t happen for at least 3 years (2021)… by then many current appraisers will be enjoying bon-bons and brewskies while on the golf course, or be on their long-planned world cruise, after chucking their clipboard...

1004MC / Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Fannie Mae - Freddie Mac / Federal Housing Finance Agency

Importance of Including Sales Price Trend Graph in Appraisal Reports 2

Importance of Graphing Sales

Scatter graph can help you “visualize” the trend of sale prices over a time period… Appraisers, I’ve been including ‘comparable’ price trend graphs in my reports (using Excel) since 2008. The graphs are based on a chart of MLS sales in the subject’s neighborhood, and can be from 1 to 5 years prior to the report Effective Date – based on housing density and number of sales. (I work in urban, suburban and rural areas.) A Scatter Graph can help you “visualize” the trend of sale prices over a time period. It can also show questionable outlier sales that you...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Tutorials

Procrastinators Rejoice! Tax Deadline Gets Pushed Back 5

Procrastinators Rejoice!

In case you have not heard, the IRS tax filing deadline for 2017 taxes is on April 17 this year, per this info from the IRS: April 17 Filing Deadline The filing deadline to submit 2017 tax returns is Tuesday, April 17, 2018, rather than the traditional April 15 date. In 2018, April 15 falls on a Sunday, and this would usually move the filing deadline to the following Monday – April 16. However, Emancipation Day – a legal holiday in the District of Columbia – will be observed on that Monday, which pushes the nation’s filing deadline to Tuesday,...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News

Lender Contributions FNMA Policy Adding Fuel to the Confusion... 6

Concession Reporting Confusion

…how are these "lender contributions" identified… Appraisers are ‘required’ to report comparable sales or financing concessions that benefit a borrower in the GSE form appraisal report, on the second line in the comparison grid (as a negative adjustment). Secondly, for subject properties, appraisers are ‘required’ to report any concession benefiting the borrower on page 1 of the report form. Subject concession amount is NOT entered on the Comparable grid. Well now, FNMA has issued a modification to their Selling Guide (which takes effect as of 4/03/18) – SEL–2018-03 – (I have added type face enhancements): Lender Contributions With this update we are...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Tutorials

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