Category: AMC

Class Valuation Requests for Proposals 82

Class Valuation Requests for Proposals

It turns out they were actually rejecting your proposals and not your bids!  It’s time to grab your popcorn and settle in for another round of AMC shenanigans. Last week, Class Valuation, the esteemed AMC known for their impeccable reputation, sent out an email to appraisers claiming that they do not “bid for the cheapest and fastest appraisal.” Instead, they send out a request for proposal, because apparently, they are now a Fortune 500 company looking for fancy proposals from appraisers. Just imagine the appraisers scrambling to put together PowerPoint presentations and fancy graphs to impress Class Valuation. But hey,...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Trending

Limitations for Damages Against Appraisers 0

Limitations for Damages Against Appraisers

Why would any damages against an appraiser be more than the actual fee paid to the appraiser?  House Bill 53 has been introduced into the 2024 Virginia General Assembly, directly impacting Virginia Real Estate Appraisers. The legislation introduced by R. Lee Ware places a statute of limitations for damages against appraisers and appraisal management companies at 5 years. SUMMARY AS INTRODUCED: Actions against real estate appraisers or appraisal management companies; statute of limitations. Provides that no action for damages or other relief alleging that a certified general real estate appraiser, a certified residential real estate appraiser, a licensed residential real...

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

The Elephant In the Room: Fannie's Modernization Program 35

The Elephant In the Room: Fannie’s Modernization Program

The Elephant I refer to is simply this: Fannie Mae’s modernization program is going to put a lot of appraisers out of business. It’s all “lender centric”. It’s all about better, faster, cheaper, appraisals (with lots more data) for lenders. As an appraiser, all I see are sticks… no carrots. Nobody wants to talk about the Elephant in The Room. Post COVID 19, business was excellent; fees were high and we profited. High interest rates killed the market and most all of us now are not profiting. Losing money is not sustainable for any business and waiting for the next...

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

Using Discrimination As a Bully Tactic 11

Using Discrimination As a Bully Tactic

As an appraiser who has been appraising in rural south for 20 years I have seen a few things. This wave of discrimination has gotten out of control. Sure, there has been some discrimination going on which is not the norm, but to accuse someone of discrimination because the value came in lower than an expected value is pure asinine. It is not our job to validate lenders and borrowers expected values. I have had very few borrowers get mad, that I am aware of, because my opinion of value was lower than their expected values. I can remember three...

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

Racial Bias Complaint Filed Against Me 47

Seller Filed a Racial Bias Complaint Against Me

So what’s caused the sudden loss of income? Could it be because of the racial bias complaint filed against me by an unhappy Seller…  Fannie Mae accomplished what they set out to do in July 2011, when they initiated their Uniform Appraisal Dataset (UAD) and the Uniform Collateral Data Portal. The goal was to collect enough property data to effectively remove appraisers from the home buying and refinancing process. It all started with Dodd-Frank Act, a several hundred pages Act signed into law by then President Obama, sold to unsuspecting Americans as a protection from the corrupt business practices of...

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

Agent Management Company 10

Agent Management Company, a Familiar Ring

We will call it “AGENT MANAGEMENT COMPANY”. We will ensure that the use of runners is prohibited…  Public trust. It’s a real thing. It appears that this recent lawsuit that the NAR LOST has exposed antitrust, collusion and price fixing between agents. I am thinking about creating a new AMC. We will call it an “AGENT MANAGEMENT COMPANY”. We will create a buffer per say between the buyers agent and the sellers agent thereby protecting the buyer and seller. We will have a roster of approved agents nationwide. They will be thoroughly vetted. Routinely background checked. Ensure they are fully...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / NAR

Majority of Reviewers Had Very Limited Field Experience 22

Majority of Reviewers Had Very Limited Field Experience

It was my experience that the majority of reviewers, FNMA included, had very limited field experience. Which is painfully obvious when they request baseless revisions for “more or better comps”.  I’m a Certified General Appraiser that started appraising in 1984, almost 40 years ago! Spent the majority of my career appraising both residential and commercial properties in a major metropolitan market. I had my own appraisal firm for a number of years, prior to the AMC model which dissolved years of relationship building with clients large and small, almost overnight! Like most of you, I really enjoyed appraising and was...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Collateral Underwriter

Fannie Mae Filed a Complaint Against Me 39

Fannie Mae Filed a Complaint Against Me

An appraiser shared the following with us which was posted on one of the appraisers’ groups. Fannie Mae filed a complaint against me with my state appraisal board. Here’s what happened. The Report In June of 2021, I completed an appraisal for a conventional purchase. The appraisal was ordered by an AMC on behalf of a lender. At that time, the real estate market was still being wildly affected by the COVID pandemic. Remote work was in full swing, and consumers were desperately seeking to get out of the cities. Prices for all types of residential properties were rising rapidly,...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Collateral Underwriter

Mortgage Application Volume Nearing Historic Low 32

Mortgage Application Volume Nearing Historic Low

Appraisers, I’m almost reluctant to distribute this article, but the reality is what it is. Per the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), the loan application volume is at another low point in our history. The article in Mortgage News Daily titled “Mortgage Application Volume at Lowest Levels Since 1996” in this link provides context. For a related perspective, the article contains a graph, which can be expanded to show mortgage rates and application volume for decades. The brown line in the graph shows 30 year mortgage rates – since early 1971. The light blue indicates the loan application volume, which corresponds...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Trending

It’s a Great Time to Leave the Appraisal Profession 170

Leaving the Appraisal Profession

It’s a Great Time to Leave the Appraisal Profession. I can hear the chorus of my fellow appraisers rising up in disagreement with me. I envision many of them screaming, “But I love being an appraiser”! Yeah, I hear you. I loved being an appraiser too. Let’s not consider what we were but what they want us to become. First, ask yourself if you are still making a livable wage. I’m not and instead of blaming myself, I started running the numbers. In, my high value market, 18% of the solds were cash sales. No appraisal required on those! Values...

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

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