By no means are we promoting bifurcated appraisal products… “Credible valuations of real property are critical to the health of the overall real estate industry; therefore the practice of bifurcated/hybrid appraisals must be regulated” There has been lots of talk over the past few weeks about bifurcated appraisal products. First came the announcement form Working RE Magazine they were conducting a survey on bifurcated appraisal products. VaCAP recommends every appraiser complete the survey if you have not done so already. Next came rumors that Mark Calabria, Director of FHFA stopped all pilot programs which included bifurcated appraisals and appraisal waivers. Working RE Magazine published an...
Recently one of my Mastermind students asked about Intellectual Property. He told me that he’d had an associate leave his firm to go solo. Later, he was reading one of his former-associate’s reports and found the now-independent associate’s reports looked a lot like his in format, and even language. My student asked me if this was wrong. Well, I’m not a lawyer, but there are some sound issues to consider here. If you write something, if you are its author, it is your intellectual property. You can either trademark it (like a logo), or copyright it (like a novel). We...
The fallacy of those who endorse Hybrid appraisals is their assumption that the appraiser’s field work is less valuable, less important, than their analytical work behind a computer. They feel the task of inspecting the property and driving comps is best farmed out to someone else with less training. The real truth is that the field work is critical! There is no way an appraiser can credibly analyze a property through the eyes of another… The Need for Speed: In a previous post entitled The Need for Speed, I explained that lenders and Appraisal Management Companies are on a mission to shorten the...
I refuse to undermine my own profession by pretending that time saving shortcuts are always acceptable just because they are ‘more modern and progressive’. I know how long it takes to produce USPAP compliant, credible appraisal results. I charge accordingly for my time. I make no effort to compete on fees with half assed hybrids, evaluations, or single approach partially performed field work. Respectfully, neither should anyone else. Please stop undermining our own profession…. Recently The Appraiser Coach posted an article and links to a podcast suggesting its no longer necessary to photograph our comparable sales. I wrote a counter...
When I explain the rules many of the appraisers start complaining: “An MLS photograph depicts the house at the time it sold so it’s more accurate than my photograph would be”… There’s a lot of yelling and screaming about bifurcated appraisals. Unfortunately, appraisers may have shot themselves in the foot when it comes to this issue. Allow me to provide an analogy to help explain the issue. I’m not sure if this happens in other areas of the country but in Seattle there is a strange “left leaning” way they do things: State and Federal governments perform numerous traffic studies, to...
I’m told USRES routinely sends orders to out of state appraisers for orders in areas they don’t work in. Is this indicative of the Home Point Financial “We care” motto? ATTN: Executive Leadership Gentlemen, see attached copy of an Alabama appraisal order placed by your AMC, USRES. Among our many other efforts on behalf of appraisers and promoting appraisal quality, we periodically communicate directly with lenders that use AMCs. We do this to make sure they are aware of any substandard practices or services that may be offered in their name. This particular issue is not an isolated instance. Though...
Are the profits being reported by Fannie and Freddie being skewed because of price fixing? In an article released on CNBC by Reuters, US District Judge Jed Rakoff ruled investors can pursue antitrust claims against banks for conspiring to fix prices of bonds from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. According to the article, there are transcripts of chat room discussions that prove a conspiracy to price fix mortgage backed bonds from Fannie and Freddie between January 2009 and January 2016. Rakoff wrote. The chats unmistakably show traders, acting on behalf of those defendants, agreeing to fix prices at a specific level before...
Evaluations: Concept Paper, Webinar, Public Meeting In early August, The Appraisal Foundation announced that the The Appraisal Standards Board would be considering adopting standards for evaluations in the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP). On September 3, 2019, they announced three opportunities to learn more and share your insights. Concept Paper The Appraisal Standards Board is seeking your feedback on the concept of developing standards for performing evaluations in USPAP. Submit your comments to ASBcomments@appraisalfoundation.org. The comment period closes on October 11, 2019. Read the evaluations concept paper here Webinar Wayne Miller, chair of the Appraisal Standards Board, and...
The resulting “outcome” of those cheap diapers is the same outcome as Computershare 15-minute reviews must be… This didn’t start out as an article, but you know me. Doing research prior to posting in the 100% comments board I was shocked at how pervasive this new ‘service’ already is. A simple blog post can’t begin to cover it. Every single reader needs to research their own states requirements. The AMC at the following link makes this easy. Please look your state up. My concern was with Computershare and Colorado. Feel free to look them up by clicking here. If that doesn’t...
$15 USPAP Appraisal Reviews in 15 minutes? A VaCAP member shared with us something they read in an appraiser group on Facebook last week and expressed concern. We agree there is a reason to be concerned and want to alert our members to be cautious. We do not know if the source of this request is an amc or a lender, but either way, there is reason for concern. Here is what was shared: “I have been diligently looking for appraisers to complete to do our NEW USPAP reviews. These pay $15 per report and are completed in 10-15 minutes....
