Author: Guest Author

April 9, 2015

Oh My God, Don’t Talk to Me!!!

Are realtors, loan officers allowed to talk to appraisers? I was amused at a phone message that was on my voice mail recently. A realtor spent 3 minutes apologizing for the phone call, explaining that she understood she was not allowed to speak to appraisers anymore for fear she might sway the appraisal process. The funniest part was that while she did tell me which file the message was regarding, she failed to leave her phone number. Are realtors, loan officers allowed to talk to appraisers? Can the appraisal be discussed? Okay. I am sorry, but has this world lost...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News

March 16, 2015

Dear AMC, Goodbye…

Why I’m Leaving Residential Appraisal – Dear AMC, Goodbye! The Law of Unintended Consequences is a law, like Murphy’s Law, which is always lurking in the background to foil the attempts we humans make to control the world around us. It is particularly true of government attempts to reduce crime. A couple of examples follow: I used to love air travel. I was a flight test engineer at Boeing and for many years I flew all over the world for both work and recreation. Then came the shoe bomber. Now I wait in long “security” lines while thousands of security...

AI / AMC / Appraisal Institute / Appraisal Management Companies / E&O / Errors & Omissions

March 9, 2015

Is it now Necessary to Confirm the Verifiability of the Confirmation?

I am quite familiar with the reasoning for providing confirmation of each section and detail within the original report… It appears that we, as an industry, have finally reached that all time high of stupidity in action. I was recently instructed by an appraisal management company to provide additional MLS sales on a grid to demonstrate market support for my opinion of value because I agreed with the origination appraisal. Had this been something other than a typical residential subdivision where the appraisal used sales from the same development, perhaps I would understand this requirement. Still, one wonders at what...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Fannie Mae - Freddie Mac

January 12, 2015

CU: Nightmare or Income Opportunity?

Place this statement into your canned comments as it can serve you well. I received a copy of Ken Harney’s recent CU article today via email. The article was sent from an old appraiser contact that remembered me from the fight that I was leading to boycott AMCs from 2009 to 2010. Ken Harney is undoubtedly the best friend an appraiser could ever have in the national media as he was the only syndicated columnist willing to cover the injustice of HVCC. He and I exchanged several emails during those days. I found no ground breaking news within his article....

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisal Quality Monitoring / Appraisers News

November 27, 2014

Some Good News…For a Change?

Some Good News…For a Change? – 2nd Annual List (A Work-In-Progress) Last year, around Thanksgiving, I had put together a list of some positive things going on for appraisers. It was/is all-too-rare that we hear positive news regarding the appraisal profession. There is an awful lot of complaining that goes on, most of it justifiable, but little good news that gets shared. Part of the problem is that there is no central source for information regarding our profession which appraisers might utilize in order to find out what is going on across the country and affecting our profession, and could be used to...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News

September 24, 2014

There are no reported sales! Now what?

How many times have we, as reviewers, heard the following: “But there aren’t any sales within the subject’s development.” Or, “But the subject is the finest house in its development.” Of course there are rare instances when this is true; however, even in the instance where there are no sales that have taken place in the subject’s development within the last 12 months, the appraiser should be able to show sales at some previous point in time if the development is not newly developed. New construction appraisals will be a topic for a future post, but for the sake of...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News

July 16, 2014

Like Type Properties

Without finding the proper comparables, an appraiser is easily challenged.. Very recently, I was presented with an appraisal report that was actually a fourth revision. The appraiser had accurately completed a report and submitted the report for consideration to the lender, then over the next six weeks apparently, was barraged with a continual flow of reconsideration requests and alternative comparables, until the report appraiser finally felt pressured enough not only to re-grid alternative comparables, but also to change the opinion of value by almost 20%. I was involved in a quality assurance review and, fortunately for the appraiser, was able...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News

June 20, 2014

You Are Being Robbed Blind

You Are Being Robbed Blind (24 Hour Membership Deadline) AMCs are concealing their profits within YOUR appraisal fee, and using coercion to drive down YOUR income as far as they can. This government-permitted process allows them to rob you blind while building their appraiser-squeezing power even stronger. NOW is the time to take a stand to fix this broken industry and the career you have spent a lifetime building. The Appraiser Prosperity Coalition was formed to fight for the legislative and regulatory changes needed to save this devastated industry. If you are willing to join us today, we can defeat the...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Customary & Reasonable Fees

June 5, 2014

Good Old Days of Appraising!

Missing the Good Old Days Does anybody miss the good old days of having to deal with the mortgage broker? After spending about 53 minutes on the phone with an appraisal management company, who will remain nameless, I am almost missing the good old days myself. I originally called, because the appraisal management company called to see if I would take a forensic retrospective review for a new client they just acquired. This of course is a Fannie Mae client, and any of us who have dealt with Fannie we know there is a specific format, guideline and style in...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Fannie Mae - Freddie Mac

May 7, 2014

The Cost Approach – An Approach to Value, Without Worth, Really?

Back to Basics (Part 2): The Cost Approach – An Approach to Value, Without Worth, Really? The foundations of appraisal were based upon three independent approaches to value. A system, when developed correctly, presents a check and balance within the report. The idea being that when an appraiser takes the time to develop each report, the data will show three independent motivations and three separate value conclusions. Nonetheless, the conclusions will support one another because the underlying principle for each approach is the principal of substitution. For the purposes of valuation or real estate appraisal, the principle of substitution is...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Real Estate Owned / REO