Author: Dave Towne

Getting Rid of the Human Appraiser & Putting Appraisers out of Business 22

Are ‘No Appraisal’ First Mortgages the Future?

A human appraiser usually goes to a home… Appraisers, The article, linked here, purports to say that future mortgage loans will be done without using the services of a “boots on the ground” appraiser… "the human appraiser". Why??… because speed and low cost are paramount when people want to finance their largest investment in their life. From the article: “The appraisal process, which typically is not automated, remains a problem. A human appraiser usually goes to a home, takes pictures, makes sure there’s nothing terribly wrong with the structure. It takes seven to ten days to turn around, van den Brand...

Appraisal Thresholds Raised $500K. How Long Before Its Raised for SFR? 12

Appraisal Thresholds Bordello

Anyone wants to place a wager on how long before appraisal thresholds are raised for SFR? Retirement, with a part-time job working as a bouncer at a bordello in the Nevada desert is beginning to look appealing. Activity there is similar to what appraisers are experiencing these days. From the article: “The FDIC board of directors today (Mar. 20, 2018) approved a final rule to raise the appraisal thresholds for commercial real estate transactions from $250,000 to $500,000…” While the individual 1-4 unit investment properties are being kept at $250,000, would anyone like to place a wager on how long...

Rural Areas Appraisal Waiver Threatening Appraisers & Bad for America! 34

Another Threat Looming

Senate Bill raising de minimus value to $400,000 will also waive appraisals in certain situations in rural areas Folks, while the TriStar Bank appraisal waiver issue is important for appraisers, there is another insidious threat looming: Senate Bill 2155 passed the Senate this week, and is now in the hands of the House of Representatives. That bill, if fully ratified as it stands, and is signed by the President, will undercut the need for appraisals in two ways: the current de minimus value of $250,000 is raised to $400,000, which means lenders can use non-appraiser evaluations to establish property value for...

Rumor - GSE Forms Revisions Coming? 30

Rumor – GSE Forms Revisions Coming?

GSE’s “really want your input” on the proposed revisions… Folks, Rumor has it that the GSE’s are ‘finally’ considering making revisions to the current appraisal report forms. I suspect there have been draft forms already produced, and possibly are actually being tested in a cave somewhere in the Appalachian Mountains wilderness or perhaps inside Yucca Mountain, Nevada. But rumor has it that the GSE’s “really want your input” on the proposed revisions. But how to do that is not revealed in the rumor. This is something to keep at least one eye observing over the next many weeks, months,or maybe...

http://appraisersblogs.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/AQB-qualifications-criteria-changes-5.2018.pdf 11

AQB Qualifications Criteria Changes

Folks, I wanted to wait to send info about this until the AQB actually published a document showing the actual ‘new’ Qualifications Criteria for Real Property Appraisers. When first announced a few days ago, no official document was posted – only a news release. These take effect May 1, 2018. See the attached 4 page PDF. Due to ‘states rights’ issues in 54 jurisdictions (states & territories), implementation may not actually happen on 5/01/18. The document says this: “Because state appraiser regulatory agencies are only required to adopt minimum AQB Criteria, it is crucial that candidates contact their state to determine if the state intends...

Don Machholz Hangs up his Clipboard & Gives Away Spreadsheets 3

Don Machholz Hangs up his Clipboard

We owe a huge debt of gratitude to Don Machholz for his willingness to assist appraisers… Appraisers, A well respected appraiser who has voluntarily helped many of us has decided to hang up his clipboard, and remove the batteries from his laser measurer. I first became aware of Don Machholz back when the screwball GSE designed MC form was introduced in 2009. Don was one of the first appraisers who used his skills with Excel programming to design and distribute an Excel computation spreadsheet for the MC. Many appraisers have been using that, and his other Excel spreadsheets, ever since....

Location Reporting - Where, 'Exactly', is Your Subject Located? 9

Where, Exactly, is Your Subject Located?

Appraisers, I have another ‘observation’ to discuss, based on separate reports where I found the same type of subject location reporting by different appraisers working in different areas, nowhere close together. This ‘observation’ concerns the reported physical location (on form page 1 Neighborhood comment section) of the appraised property verses its street address and ZIP Code. This is especially relevant to appraisers who work in Suburban and Rural areas. Street addresses and ZIP Codes are assigned by the United States Postal Service, for THEIR convenience and operations. Those addresses and ZIPs may extend far from city limit lines which is the primary...

Rural Areas Appraisers at Risk by Dangerous Pending Bill in US Senate 22

Dangerous Pending Bill in US Senate

Appraisers, If you work in Rural Areas [that definition is referenced in (b)(1) below], your appraisal livelihood is threatened by this pending bill in Congress. This bill, if signed into law, will allow lenders to bypass appraisals for any property with a ‘transaction value’ of $400,000 or less (this is moving the de minimus goal post) if the lender was unable to find an available appraiser to complete an appraisal “within a reasonable amount of time”… that time frame apparently as determined by a regulator agency with jurisdiction over the lender. The bill shows ‘exceptions’ to this as per other laws. Appraisers...

Extraordinary Assumption & Hypothetical Condition Definition Changes 15

EA & HA Definition Changes

Appraisers, effective with the 2018-19 USPAP, definitions for Extraordinary Assumption and Hypothetical Condition have changed. Below is a one page PDF sheet you can print & post at your office, and you may distribute this to others if you like. According to the Appraisal Standards Board, the Extraordinary Assumption change was done to clarify the term and its applicability. It seems the same rationale was used for the Hypothetical Condition definition change, although that was not mentioned in their Summary of Actions document issued on Feb. 23, 2017. Underlined words are the changes made. I also include the prior definitions below...

Hybrid Reports: ASB USPAP Q&A Justifies Alternative Appraisal Reports 15

Hybrid Reports ASB Q&A

What the cohorts promoting hybrid reports are overlooking is APPRAISAL PRACTICE… Appraisers, On Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2018, the Appraisal Standards Board released their latest Q&A document (see embedded PDF below). This document appears to justify reasons why appraisers can complete the new ‘hybrid’, ‘bifurcated’, ‘desktop’ and ‘alternative’ appraisal reports (regardless of what they are named), although the Q&A document is written ‘generically’ and does not specifically mention those categorical names. I have two issues with this Q&A document: it does not discuss the appraiser’s true responsibility when completing certain kinds of these reports; for more on that see the additional...

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