Appraisal News and Appraisal Tips For Real Estate Appraisers - Your source for appraisal industry news, appraisers' opinions, and discussions of appraisal issues
As I’ve chronicled in the Appraiserville section of my Housing Notes newsletter since 2016, the scale of Appraisal Institute bureaucratic self-dealing of the executive committee and some members of the AI Board of Directors is breathtaking. Over the past decade or more, AI National has been able to keep a lid on the membership backlash by threatening to remove a member’s credentials for speaking out. Membership has been reluctant to risk losing something they worked hard for in both time and money that they have remained quiet – until the past few years. With the significant devaluation of the SRA...
If we value higher, what about affordability?… A great deal of economic, social, and political talk has been around affordability of housing. To explore this topic, it may be helpful to ask some questions. Good policy starts with the right questions. In simplest terms, some people have the resources to have nice homes in nice neighborhoods, others have just tolerable homes for shelter. And others have no homes at all. We call them “home-less.” More recently, we have become aware of the connection of poor housing and groups of certain ethnic categories. Discovery. There is association between housing status and...
2020-21 USPAP Extension – Does this mean USPAP will be on a three-year cycle going forward? USPAP has been extended for one year, effective through December, 31, 2022. This is the Appraisal Foundation news release, issued on Feb. 19, 2021: Media Contact: Amy Timmerman (202) 624-3048 amy@appraisalfoundation.org BREAKING: 2020-21 USPAP Extended for One Year (Washington, DC) February 19, 2021 – The Appraisal Foundation’s Appraisal Standards Board (ASB) announced today that the current edition of the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) will be extended by one year. The 2020-2021 USPAP will now be effective until December 31, 2022. “USPAP...
…laying bricks today, putting up a wall, or are you building a cathedral?… If you have been doing appraising for any time at all, you have likely experienced some of the more irritating aspects of our profession: the AMCs, the call backs, or one of my personal favorites, a Realtor’s protest “the idiot appraiser doesn’t know it’s supply and demand! I have a buyer!” An old folk story helps me through days like these, and it goes like this: A traveler came upon three men working. He asked the first man what he was doing, and the man said he...
I heard from a number of appraisers about their adverse situations involving CoStar… It was announced on Feb. 4, 2021 that CoreLogic will be sold, with the transfer happening in the April-June 2021 time frame. See Inman news service article, “CoreLogic Acquired By Stone Point Capital, Insight Partners For $6B – Inman”. From the article: The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2021, subject to shareholder approval. See another news source here. CoreLogic currently owns several companies with ties to appraising: A la mode – appraisal report software Columbia Institute – appraiser education service provider Matrix...
Last week we received an email from an AMC PR company. The email stated that Incenter Appraisal Management (IAM) has implemented a new 24-hour fast pay model and is paying their appraisers within one day of completing the appraisal report. Has anyone heard of or done business with Incenter Appraisal Management? Do they pay C&R fees or do they blast orders to find fast and cheap appraisers? Do they have a scoring system, tech upload fees, background check fees, etc.? The email stated they do not bid or charge tech fees. Back in November, VaCAP published their email solicitation where...
Why FHFA thinks the GSE’s should be even discussing appraisal processes is a question that needs to be asked of FHFA… Appraisers have let others dictate many things in our profession. It is time to stop the trend… How about 20 questions? The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has 20 questions for you. Well, actually it is only 19 questions. The FHFA is the organization of the Federal Government that oversees Fannie and Freddie. They want feedback on how the GSE’s should move forward with appraisal policy, risk and appraisal processes. Now why FHFA thinks the GSE’s should be even discussing appraisal processes...
Dude, I Reserve the Right Not to Serve You Anymore! OK, let’s face it: real estate appraisers are in the service business. We provide a service – real estate appraisals. We provide those services to anybody willing to pay for them. That’s what service providers do. To which you say, “Dustin, you have a deep grasp of the obvious.” Well, let’s go a little deeper. Part of what I do is stay in touch with local real estate brokers and appraisers. Some of us have a local restaurant we frequent. At the front door is a sign letting all patrons...
Who’s REALLY completing bifurcated/hybrid appraisal reports? This essay has been “rattlin’ around my cranium” for a few months from the time I acquired two ‘case study’ report examples in early 2020. I’ve recently received a third bifurcated report, which has similar appraiser data. So now is a prime time to spill the beans, so to speak. Especially since FHFA, the conservator of Fannie and Freddie, is currently on a mission to “modernize the appraisal process.” They are seeking input from appraisers and other stakeholders who use appraisals. But first, as the infomercials say, there’s more! One ‘more’ concerns appraiser obligations...
How much vetting have you done on the appraisal management company? How involved are you as the lender in the day to day activities of the appraisal management company?… The world has changed and most everything in our lives involves technology. The technologies available to each of us are tools. They are not a more reliable means, merely more convenient. Human thought and analysis is still required in every aspect of life. When the Final Rules of the Dodd Frank Legislation went into effect, many lenders chose to use appraisal management companies with the false idea they had no liability for...
