Category: Appraisal News

Consumers Overcharged by Appraisal Management Companies (AMCs) 18

Consumers Overcharged by AMCs

Excessive markups are common but consumers usually “know nothing about it”… The Chicago Tribune has published an article written by Ken Harney concerning appraisal fees. The article is very telling of what appraisers already know. Now the consumers are aware. Please read and share the article with your colleagues, agents, local MLS Board, Realtor Board, Appraisal Board and your Legislators. The more the abuses of some AMCs are exposed, the more opportunity we have to protect the consumer. Are you paying unseen add-on fees for your appraisal? By Kenneth R. Harney Are you getting fleeced on appraisal charges when you...

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

Mortgagee Letter Regarding AMC Fees - HUD & the AMC 7

HUD and the AMC

Mortgagee letter on choosing FHA appraiser, AMC &/or 3rd party fees… Does HUD have a Better Understanding of the Role of AMCs? Recently an old HUD/ FHA mortgagee letter has resurfaced. The mortgagee letter, 2009-28 has to do with choosing a FHA approved Roster Appraiser and Appraisal Management Company and / or Third Party Organization Fees. This mortgagee letter specifically states “the fee for the actual completion of an FHA appraisal may not include  a fee for management of the appraisal process any activity other than the performance of the appraisal.” This mortgagee letter was written prior to the Final Rules and...

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

Cost Approach Booklet & Instructions 5

Cost Approach Booklet & Instructions

FREE Cost Approach calculation worksheet… Appraisers, Many use Building-Cost.net as a source for completing residential Cost Approach details in appraisal reports. Craftsman Book Company is the owner of this service, and the web site offers a FREE Cost Approach calculation worksheet, which can be printed to PDF and included in reports, and also a printed hardcopy for the workfile if desired. I began using and promoting this web site years ago. Not long ago, the web site above was updated, to provide more specific reporting items, which in turn enables a more accurate and professional looking Cost Approach to be...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Tutorials / UAD / Uniform Appraisal Dataset

Amendments To Sales Contract - Contract Amendments - When? 5

Contract Amendments… When?

Amendments to Sales Contract & Updates to the Appraisal… Fannie Mae recently issued the following: Currently, we require the lender to provide the appraiser with all amendments made to a sales contract, including amendments that are made after completion of the appraisal. With this update, we have clarified when the appraiser must be provided with updates to the sales contract and circumstances that warrant updates to the appraisal. For example, if the contract is amended in a way that affects the description of the real property used by the appraiser, then the lender must provide the updated contract to the...

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

Public Records Are Dead Wrong - How Big, Really... Size Matters... Suggestions 20

How Big, Really… Size Matters… Suggestions

Very often the public records are dead wrong… Appraisers, We all know Fannie Mae (FNMA) has their Collateral Underwriting (CU) report scoring system after the .xml file of the report is submitted through the Uniform Collateral Data Portal (UCDP) portal used by both GSE’s. This system of theirs is used to ‘score’ an appraisal for a loan quality rating, and it’s also used to provide a lender with a guarantee of relief from a FNMA loan buy-back demand, if the report ‘scores’ a number of 2.5 or lower. We’ve previously discussed how that can be manipulated by a lender or an...

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

Legislation to Regulate AMC's & Protect Consumers Opposed by REVAA 38

AMCs Are Not Part of The Appraisal Profession

Foreign entities do not get a voice in what legislation is introduced… Let’s think about this with an open mind… More states are introducing bills concerning AMC legislation, more specifically how AMCs will conduct business. Even states with existing AMC legislation are introducing stricter, more precise legislation. Why is this happening in all 55 jurisdictions? States do not want to interfere in how a company or industry conducts business, but when practices are so abusive that it harms small businesses and consumers, they have little choice. States have the obligation to protect their citizens and businesses that contribute to the...

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

Free To Choose... The Choices We Make As Appraisers 6

The Choices We Make As Appraisers

FREE To CHOOSE… A member of VaCAP shared this on Facebook… We though it is very appropriate as a reminder of the choices we have as appraisers: You Are FREE To CHOOSE, But You are NOT   FREE from the CONSEQUENCE of Your CHOICE In case you missed it… The Housing Wire Webinar held on March 1st is now posted for everyone to listen to. Some mistruths about an appraiser shortage is put to bed. The webinar is 60 minutes. You can watch it below and download the slides used in the presentation here. What is going to happen to...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisal Subcommittee

Forms Designed for Specific Purposes - Appraisal Forms Designs 8

Appraisal Forms Designs & Purposes

These forms were “designed” to be used for those specific purposes… Appraisers, Earlier this week, I discussed the following about some lenders requesting a type of property inspection to be completed on a form “Not Designed” for the specific property type: Original observation discussed earlier this week: Read the highlighted sentence. Read the highlighted sentence again. According to a regional bank in my area, via info from their AMC, “thousands” of Manufactured Home appraisals have been done on the 2055 form. Do you do that, just because someone – who just wants to “make a sale” – tells you to...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / E&O

Rules Check Software 6

Rules Check Software

If the ‘story’ can be told using 3 comps, why are 4 or more really necessary? Folks, As you are probably aware, all of our appraisal reports receive an initial examination electronically. There are a number of businesses which have written and provide to the industry various types of ‘rules check software.’ This actually began in the early 1980’s by the appraisal computer software pioneers who wrote programs to ‘check’ reports for inconsistencies. I just learned about one such ‘rules check’ company, and the results they’ve seen using their software – below. They even admit to users that the users can ‘mine’ reports...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisal Software / Appraisal Technology / Appraisers News / Fannie Mae - Freddie Mac

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Purchase Season Protection

Our function as an appraiser is to estimate the market value… Sale Season 2017 We are entering the sale season and the market is beginning to pick up. The velocity of the upcoming sale season will hinge on inventory; currently there is an obvious shortage in many submarkets. Be prepared to handle challenging scenarios. Strong demand and low inventory can lead to multiple offers and escalation clauses. Market predictions for this year forecast a higher volume of sales from 2016. Keep the following USPAP Standards as well as the Definition of Market Value, as defined in your report, in mind...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News / Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice / USPAP

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