It is merely a SALE… Appraisers, Something’s been gnawing at my craw ever since January when FNMA’s wonderful Collateral Underwriter (CU) was unleashed to the world. And before that, when FNMA’s Appraiser Quality Monitoring (AQM) process was introduced to judge the work of appraisers. No one else has written about this. No one has even mentioned it. So I will: It has to do with the word “Comp” which is used liberally by Fannie Mae (FNMA). What exactly is a “Comp?” In FNMA’s world, it’s any property that they obtain, either by their vast AVM process which examines millions of...
North Carolina Proposed Law Would Address Reasonable and Customary Appraisal Fees North Carolina’s House Bill 577, introduced April 2, 2015, would seek to address reasonable and customary appraisal fees. Some of the proposals in the Bill would: Require the NC Appraisal Board to publish a “schedule of customary and reasonable rates of compensation for appraisals based on the market area where the real property is situated.” Establish rates by fee studies that would exclude assignments ordered by known appraisal management companies. Require rates to be “measured by the net compensation amount received by the appraiser.” Allow for payments above the...
How do we move to be more of a Red Box? I stopped at a Sheetz to get gas. As I was standing there I noticed a Red Box Machine which had a steady flow of traffic. Next door was an old closed Block Buster Video. Hmm… When my kids were little it was a big treat to go to that Block Buster and rent a movie. We had to wait in line 5 to 10 minutes and now it’s closed. But the Red Box machine is steadily pumping out DVDs. So I got to thinking. What are appraisers? Are we...
The Texas Appraisers and Appraisal Management Company 2015 Survey Report In January and February 2015, the Texas Appraisers and Appraisal Management Survey surveyed a total of 1,421 Texas appraisers and 55 appraisal management companies doing business in the state of Texas. The questions in the survey were specifically designed to achieve the following: Clearly distinguish between the fees paid to appraisers by Appraisal Management Companies (AMCs) and fees paid by non-AMC clients for residential appraisals. Capture any difference in fees paid by property type: single family, condominium, size or square footage, or other factors. Capture the impact on fees by market area...
Last Fall I had the pleasure of attending the annual conference presented by the Seattle Chapter of the Appraisal Institute. I was able to sit in on some interesting educational sessions. With all the conversation in industry surrounding CU and other initiatives directly impacting appraisers, I felt highlights from the educational sessions would be beneficial. The following information is from a presentation by Clark Dickson with HomeStreet Bank called, “Appraising for Lenders in Today’s World.” Mr. Dickson’s presentation was about appraisal quality and what it takes to have your appraisal be acceptable in today’s lending environment. He said that everything...
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe on March 23 signed into law S.B. 1445, which requires appraisal management companies operating in the state to compensate appraisers at a reasonable and customary rate. The legislation gives the Virginia Real Estate Appraiser Board authority to take administrative action against AMCs not paying appraisers customary and reasonable fees in accordance with federal law. Prior to enactment of the legislation, Virginia law already required an appraiser engaged by an AMC to disclose as part of the appraisal report the actual fee they were paid. In 2014, the Virginia Center for Housing Research and the Virginia Tech...
The info below from AI’s Appraiser News OnLine is about the action taken by the AQB at their recent meeting in Seattle, WA, which I was unable to attend. It’s still unclear if “existing license holders” must undergo a background check at the time of their license renewal. Apparently that’s determined by individual states. And it’s still difficult to get all the multiple clients appraisers deal with, to accept “one” background check performed in a state or by a separate organization. So appraisers are sometimes faced with having to spend money to provide different background checks to individual clients. Frankly,...
I Did Not Quit when HVCC, UAD and CU Came Along. I Do Not Quit, Not Ever! I do not quit. Not ever. I have a different perspective based on lifelong lessons from my father. I did not quit when a lost helmet in the last play of the season made it painful to block during high school football. That effort got me my school letter despite being 3 quarters short. It was worth the headache. I did not quit Boot Camp in 1969 when at 129 pounds and six feet, very few thought I’d make it. To this day I...
Arizona will join a handful of states that don’t have an appraiser board or commission. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey on March 12 signed into law SB 1480, legislation that eliminates the Arizona Board of Appraisal effective July 1. The ABOA’s administrative functions will be reassigned to the Department of Financial Institutions. This provision was included in the state’s FY 2016 budget that passed the legislature March 7. Arizona will join a handful of states that don’t have an appraiser board or commission. According to the Executive Summary accompanying the Governor’s budget proposal, the action was necessary because the shrinking population...
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...
