Author: Guest Author

An Appraisal Profession Tsunami is Coming 16

An Appraisal Profession Tsunami is Coming

TSUNAMI! Before the Internet and YouTube, most of us read about or saw a few pictures of Tsunami’s in books. Reading about a tsunami though, will never be the same as actually being in a tsunami, or seeing a video of a tsunami. A YouTube video of the Japanese tsunami of 2011 truly captures what a tsunami is, and how destructive it can be. If you have never seen that video, take a look at it below. People die in tsunamis. Tsunami death pictures can be found all over the internet. But who were those people and why did they...

College Degree Requirement is Flawed - AppraisersBlogs 51

College Degree Requirement is Flawed

Why the 4-year college degree requirement is flawed and how to make the requirement work? Many, many years ago, my local college offered appraisal classes. You could take a couple classes, go take the state test and start knocking on doors. New people didn’t need a mentor. And new people learned by trial and error. It probably wasn’t the best way to do things. But it did allow for new people to freely get into the profession without a bunch of hurdles to overcome. Times have changed. Today, new people have to have a 4-year college degree in anything first,...

Competition & Joe Above-Average 16

Competition & Joe Above-Average

The appraisal profession is in competition with other professions Ask any appraiser nowadays, and they can give you numerous details and opinions about why things are a mess and why appraisers are leaving this profession in droves. In a previous story, it was reported that Illinois alone lost somewhere near 900 appraisers last renewal. Every appraiser already knows about the fee problem, insane liability, higher costs, ridiculous revision requests, and the list goes on. All those reasons are the finer details. I would like to add a different perspective and paint a bigger picture as to why I think appraisers...

Go away appraisers 15

Go Away, Appraisers…

“Do they just want us to go away?” Appraisers Feeling Like Travis… Does anyone remember the Pepsi commercial awhile back that featured Jeff Gordon getting revenge on a guy named Travis from Jalopnik? Watch the commercial below to refresh your memory if you don’t. “Stop sir! This never works! Stop”! Travis yells from the back seat! As Travis’ car was being chased, Travis knew that what was going on wasn’t logical and didn’t make any sense, and it made even less sense to him that his driver didn’t stop the car right away. What Travis didn’t know was, his driver...

Appraisers and Their Lack of Fees - Appraisal Cost 12

Appraisers and Their Lack of Fees

I feel it’s only prudent to put my ten cents, or more, in on the subject of actual cost, versus paid fees for appraisals After an overwhelming outpouring of response from appraisers all over the country, I am compelled to write a follow up article to “Appraisals and The Real Cost of Doing Business.” I must stress that my original intent was to highlight the ever increasing cost in all aspects of our industry, passed on to our clients, due for the most part to increased compliance requirements, additional staffing required to monitor said compliance, Dodd Frank rules, HVCC, TRID...

You Are Not Alone - American Guild of Appraisers - AGA - Imagecredit Flickr - David Pacey 20

You Are Not Alone – AGA

How many appraisers do you know that are enthusiastic about the future of our profession? How many appraisers believe that they are alone in the fight to save their profession? How many appraisers do you know that feel trapped in a “no win” situation with increasing liability and time commitment without being properly compensated or appreciated? My name is Jan Bellas. I am the National Membership Coordinator for the American Guild of Appraisers (AGA). Please give me a few minutes to tell you how the AGA can help you and other professional real estate appraisers. AGA is a national organization focused...

Dreaded Fannie Mae Certified Letter Regarding Condition Ratings - Imagecredit Flickr - Mehta12 32

Dreaded FNMA Letter RE Condition Ratings

Certified Letter From Fannie Mae Regarding Condition Ratings And then it happens, the moment we all know is coming – the dreaded certified letter from Fannie Mae. My door bell rings and the mailman is standing on my porch with pen in hand.  Now don’t get me wrong, we have all been warned. They have the super computer comparing all of us and if you are the outlier you’re getting notified!  If a majority of Appraisers give a specific house a certain rating and you disagree, you must be wrong – BOOM – letter.  I assume this is the case as I...

It takes a “special” type of appraiser to work with AMCs 40

“Special” Type of Appraiser

It takes a “special” type of appraiser to work with AMCs. While inspecting a property I received a cell phone call from a lender wanting to add me to their panel. I was unable to discuss the matter at that time and requested that she send the information to my email. I received nine pages of application. The invitation starts out telling me how their AMC is a LEADER in the field (I never heard of them). They strive to assist all appraisers who are looking to maximize their time and quality. Their website allows them to monitor appraiser’s efficiency...

The Realities of Regression - Imagecredit Flickr - Walfer X 6

The Realities of Regression

The use of Fannie Mae’s Collateral Underwriter (CU) tool by lenders has created some “hot topics” for appraisers. Durbin is encouraged by the use of CU and thinks it will be a good thing for the appraisal profession. One of these topics is the discussion around how to clearly show the methodology the appraiser used to arrive at the adjustment values. In this presentation Durbin proposes the use of “Regression Analysis” (RA) as a solution to this problem.
Durbin lamented there is a perception that appraisers make subjective, anecdotal, arbitrary, and unscientific adjustments. Now that CU will be looking at adjustments…

FHA vs USPAP - FHA vs USPAP - FHA requirements – Appraisers Caught in Catch 22 111

FHA Requirements vs USPAP

FHA Requirements vs USPAP – Appraisers Caught in Catch 22 Excerpt The new FHA Handbook will become effective on September 14, 2015. There has been much discussion of the implications of changing “should” to “must” in thousands of examples in the Handbook. As a Board member of the Arizona Association of Real Estate Appraisers as well as being on the FHA Roster, I have taken a good hard look at these requirements and then, it hit me as I was teaching the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) which is the basis of appraisal standards for every appraiser in...

xml sitemap
blank