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...
Training admits that CU use of CENSUS BLOCK GROUPS Appraisers, FNMA has released a new training video that helps lenders understand how to PROPERLY use Collateral Underwriter, which in some cases has not been happening since Jan. 26, 2015. By reviewing this info, you can learn how to write reports that pass the CU evaluations, and make your reports more complete and accurate. But keep reading. One thing I find interesting is CU assigns a unique ‘appraiser number’ for every appraiser who has reports submitted by Lenders to the CU. They don’t just use the appraiser’s license number by itself. Secondly, this...
Whether you believe Fannie Mae’s comprehensive rollout of Collateral Underwriter will finally weed out the lazy form-fillers or it will end up euthanizing the aging residential leg of the profession once and for all, is not the subject of this article. There are plenty of blogs, articles, and seminars that are wrestling with the efficacy of CU and its long-term impact. To be sure, the profession has entered the new age of big data. Residential appraisers will need to navigate regression analysis, heat maps, trend lines, oblique aerial images, and especially how to tie it all together into something meaningful. From...
I recently received an AMC update and reminder about the need for and why actual comparable photos are necessary. My reply: Original Comparable Photographs: Scope of Work Point 3: Inspection of the comparable sales from at least the street. This requirement does not tie the appraiser to a specific time for that inspection. Geographical competence would have the appraiser in the area of the comparables many times, and depending on the appraiser’s experience, for many years. Taking a comparable photo a month, six months, a year or more after the sale, does not represent the sale’s condition at the time...
FNMA’s CU is causing a big industry ruckus. ICAP member Keith Wolf, SRA, AI-RRS, created a survey in January because opinions being posted across multiple message boards and blogs are fragmented. The results of this survey are out and show that a vast majority of appraisers believe Fannie Mae CU should be transparent. Nearly 70 percent of appraisers said that they will increase fees to cover the extra work CU may cause and 80 percent believe that CU risk scores will cause lenders and AMC clients to request appraisers to fit comps to the CU model. Also 73 percent believe that...
I am more circumspect about the adjustments I make. The most feared date in the appraisal industry has come. January 26, 2015 arrived with much trepidation and trembling amongst myself and my appraiser colleagues. The day of the Collateral Underwriter (CU) had finally arrived. Yet, it turned out to be a pretty typical day for most. We are now over a week removed from the CU and I have yet to receive even one CU-related revision request. I guess that means one of two things; either I am an incredibly talented appraiser who uses all the best comps and supports every one...
Lender Letter explains CU process Appraisers, The latest FNMA Lender Letter was released on February 2, 2015 (see PDF below). You really should print and read this new Lender Letter. It attempts to smooth over lots of ruffled feathers among appraisers, AMC’s, Lenders, Underwriters, etc. To be honest, I find a bunch of ‘pipe dream’ info in this document. Items such as: CU is a Fannie Mae–only risk management tool. ==> Freddie Mac is said to be working to implement this or a similar process very soon CU does not accept or reject appraisal reports or characterize an appraisal as “good” or “bad.”...
Now Appraisers Must Conform to the Opinions of Other Appraisers/Unknown Persons of Unknown Competence! Appraisers, Many of you know I scan various sources for appraiser/appraisal related info, and send out items I think are important. Well, today Collateral Underwriter (the extraordinarily SECRET process developed by FNMA and given ONLY to LENDERS for report review) started. As predicted by many appraisers, it already generated responses appraisers are forced to deal with, primarily because the reporting appraiser’s data (in the report) is different from “peer” reports. As a poster to one of the forums said:
I’ve always said that I think it’s insane that everyone has access to appraiser-provided data EXCEPT the appraisers who generated the appraisals in the first place. That needs to be fixed. So, we’re creating a system enabling you to seamlessly share comps among yourselves. You’ll have the same data that’s being used to judge you. We’re confident it will be effective: a la mode users alone generate enough appraisals per day to cover the entire market with high quality subject and comp data. With just the existing TOTAL and Aurora users joining in, tens of millions of comps will be available, exactly like in...
CENSUS TRACTS are based primarily on POPULATION density… The latest ‘buzz word’ in our profession is an indication from Fannie Mae that as of Jan. 26, 2015, their Collateral Underwriter electronic review software (made available only to Lenders/AMC’s for 1004 and 1073 reports) will be able to compare your report info to other property reports and data narrowed down to a local CENSUS TRACT. In my previous messages, I’ve asked a basic question: When’s the last time you actually researched comparable sales or other property info based around local CENSUS TRACTS? I would guess for the vast majority of (residential)...
