No Time to Spare & Social Media Spies! Business has been crazy! We are hearing from appraisers how swamped they are; 2-3 week backlogs, working late and report writing at 4:30 AM. We are also hearing how tired and stressed they are. AMC and lender demands, updates, scope creep, and revision requests, are all taking a toll. An appraiser posted on Facebook she “broke down in tears” last Friday because she did not know how it was all going to get done. Life is too short to allow this… Take control of your time and your schedule. Spend some time...
Housing Notes on Appraiser Shortage, Coester AMC Lawsuit… In a recent article, Jonathan Miller, author of Housing Notes, points out several key factors in the appraisal world today. Pat Turner, President of VaCAP, reached out to Jonathan about sharing his information. Here is what Jonathan had to say… “This is a great moment to expand insights on what is really happening. AMCs have run out of appraisers to work for half the market rate. And those that might take less of our fee are still costing us another 30% of lost productivity with ever expanding scope creep. Brexit has pushed...
Are you giving in to ACI Sky? An appraiser who will remain anonymous tells us… “within the last week, I have had two issue of concerns with “UAD” compliance and ACI Sky Delivery ( I can hardly write that; as, it is a significant source of stress when I have to deal with it). I have tried to submit reports, with issues that prevented the upload (no surprise with “Sky”). The first involved the 1004MC form. The comparables that were available for the subject were extremely minimal – something like 4-6. The last period only included 1 comparable (no valid...
Donation Fundraising for Louisiana Appraisers Affected by the Great Flood of 2016 Folks, I have received word today that the Louisiana Real Estate Appraisers Coalition (LAREAC) has started a fund raising campaign using PayPal, which will be used to equally provide donated funds to affected appraisers who are suffering as a result of the massive flooding last weekend. PayPal is being used because its administrative fee is less than another more-well-known crowd funding web site. There are approximately 8-10 presently known appraisers who have had their homes nearly destroyed in the flood. Here is the LAREAC announcement and the link...
George Mason Mortgage going back to Mercury Network On Thursdsay August 18, 2016, two days after we published the post titled “Coester Allegedly Engaged in Fraud Sued by Former Senior VP“, George Mason Mortgage LLC (GMM) emailed its GMM Appraisal Partners announcing GMM Transition for Appraisal Technology. Based on this announcement, George Mason Mortgage is going back to Mercury Network effective Monday, August 22, 2016. Be sure too look at their fee schedule below. Thank you to each of our valued Appraisal Partners who participated in the George Mason Mortgage (GMM) Appraisal Management Beta Test. After evaluating six months of...
Mr. Coester Was the Party Engaging in Fraud Coester VMS, a Maryland based appraisal management company, and it’s CEO, Brian Coester, are facing a lawsuit by Robert Scheer, former Coester VMS Senior Vice President. Robert Scheer filed a lawsuit claiming tortious interference and is seeking a declaratory judgment that the 2012 Non-Disclosure/Confidentiality agreement provided by Coester is fraudulent and a forgery. “CVMS and Mr. Coester have a history and pattern of engaging in fraudulent conduct which has led to their reputation for dishonesty in the appraisal management company industry….” 10. Mr. Scheer left his employment at CVMS, where he was...
AMCs are on notice to cease demanding and insisting that appraisers do digital staging. You’ve seen the AMC’s orders. “Appraiser is to obscure, blur or remove individuals from photos.” Why? Fair housing laws say so, that’s why. Do they? I had my first settlement conference with an AMC recently. Appraisers have been participating in settlement conferences with Appraisal Board members and Department attorneys for years. Because there is no Board for AMCs, the opportunity falls to me. At issue was the ubiquitous “client requirement” involving digital masking of people from images. While lenders and AMCs wave the Fair Housing penalty...
Determining the GLA Adjustment in Appraisal Reports I promised in a previous post I’d send out my method for determining the GLA adjustment in appraisal reports. Goodness! Appraisers actually found that statement buried in the prior post, and have ‘rung my chimes’ requesting this info! OK, but first, the pizza analogy. I often tell clients and other appraisers that appraising (residential) real estate is far more complex than grabbing a store-bought pre-boxed pizza (that has exactly the same ingredients from box to box no matter which store you shop in) at a grocery and then applying 425 degrees of love...
We have lost track of the purpose of the appraisal process This is an open letter to anyone who may have an interest in the residential real estate market. This includes buyers & sellers, homeowners, mortgage companies & brokers, real estate brokers & agent, loan officers, FHA/HUD, Fannie, Freddie and others. We have lost track of the purpose of the appraisal process. The purpose of the appraisal process is to provide an opinion of the estimated value of the property. The appraiser is hired to provide his/her opinion of the estimated value of the property usually by the intended mortgagee....
This AMC is Just Wrong & Confused! An AMC sent an appraiser the following email this morning: “…..customary and reasonable fees are compliant under Virginia presumption that rates are based on recent rates paid to a representative sample of providers of appraisal services in the geographic market based on the fee schedules of these providers. Please complete the attached form and submit to:“ Wow are they confused about customary and reasonable fees! This is a severe twist on Virginia Regulations for customary and reasonable fee compensation to appraisers. Virginia Law mirrors the language in the TILA. They are essentially the...
