Appraisal News and Appraisal Tips For Real Estate Appraisers - Your source for appraisal industry news, appraisers' opinions, and discussions of appraisal issues
And there is another type of defiant. “The government should stay out of our business…” Believe or don’t believe. Is there a parallel between appraisals and how people respond to pandemic warnings? Appraisal reviewers decide whether an appraisal is “worthy of belief” (“credible”) or not. Similarly, people decide whether to believe in the need for public health orders. Steven Dinkin (president of the National Conflict Resolution Center) recently had some observations on the public’s response to the pandemic, dividing people into two groups: defiant or compliant. What is interesting is that each group has a belief that their thinking is the right thinking. Their opinion is the right opinion. Let’s look...
you are a FEE appraiser, not a FREE appraiser. Do not continue doing business with AMCs who don’t pay you in a timely manner per your state law… There’s an old phrase, whose origination is not precisely known, which says “mind your p’s and q’s.” What it means is ‘watch what you are doing’, or various other aspects of life. How many of you realize that the AMC business model as we currently experience, it is actually a Ponzi scheme in operation? Remember Bernie Madoff? That kind of scheme. It’s been publicized recently in various places that several AMCs, including...
In July 2019, appraisers were having payment issues with Appraisal Nation. They were slow paying and when they paid, their checks bounced. Yesterday, they emailed the appraisers on their panel explaining that they have come up against a back log in their Accounts Payable team due to the threat of COVID-19. One has to wonder how are they capable of sending orders to appraisers, collecting the appraisal fees, asking for revision requests, etc. but paying appraisers on time is an issue during the pandemic? Dear Appraiser, We continue to find ourselves living through an unprecedented time as the situation with COVID-19 continues. As...
ICAP commented on the impending Interim Final Rule that will allow real estate appraisals to be deferred for 120 days for certain real estate transactions. The letter states that the deferment could lead to several unsettling possibilities. The letter implores the agencies to reconsider this rule. Now is not the time to walk away from safety measures meant to insure the present and future movement of real estate, but to embrace them. Public Trust is the appraiser’s primary concern. To not have this certified and insured professional involved at the outset of real estate lending during this time, in some...
Why would a professional licensed appraiser not want to be part of the solution? The Appraisal Foundation has posted the National Real Estate Appraiser Job Analysis Study. The survey is to determine the areas that are relevant to our daily functions as appraisers. This is our profession and appraisers are the best source of information on what we do and how we do it. The results will be used to determine the criteria necessary going forward for license examinations. We all have experienced revision requests from a reviewer who does not understand the appraisal process. What about those revision requests...
Last year the hot topic was Appraisal Modernization – mostly bifurcate appraisals and UAD changes. In late 2019, FHFA decided to not do much more on bifurcated. However, the GSEs have been working on UAD fields. There is an active work group of appraisers advising the GSEs on UAD changes. There has been a sample of what is being worked on floating about the internet. Per Danny Wiley, Senior Director of Single Family Valuation at Freddie Mac since 10-19, in a Facebook post, this a very preliminary UAD list and is not to be relied on as representing what will...
Medical professionals who understand human psyche have been sounding alarms about personal actions relating to how this pandemic is being managed… Folks, this was tough to write, but it’s important. Yes, that’s my opinion! The current state of affairs in this country, and globally, is the worst we humans have seen in generations. Most of us were not alive during the last major pandemic in the early 1900’s, or even during WWII, when living situations were very trying for many people. In later years, pandemics have occurred, but governments’ reactions and actions to those were much more mild as compared...
More than a decade ago when the housing/credit bubble burst the focus on exiting the financial crisis was to bail out the banking industry. They were essentially insolvent and by not forcing them to “mark to market” their asset values to their new lows which would force them to declare insolvency, they survived. Banks had become reckless and in the eyes of the government and needed to be bailed out or the global economy would collapse and caveman days would return. My friend and zen-goddess of the housing data vertical Ivy Zelman of Zelman & Associates paraphrased a quote by...
The appraisal community has come together… stand strong, be resilient and continue to be an asset to your clients during these challenging times… The appraisal profession came about because of the Great Depression and our relevance is still strong today. Exceptional circumstances such as the current pandemic create a need for temporary allowances for information gathering for the valuation of collateral. The appraisal community has come together to insure our clients’ needs are met. Be it extra precautions with masks and gloves or owner assisted property inspection software. Appraisers have once again adapted to market conditions in order to provide...
Here is my take on the new ruling since I just happen to be an appraiser with 34 years of experience: Lenders have seen their mortgage volume drop because of liquidity issues (namely job loss and uncertainty about future income). Lenders are also reluctant to issue low rate loans in this situation given concerns about liquidity and lack of processing capacity, so mortgage rates are not falling in aggregate. In essence, they are slightly higher than a month ago. There is also the likelihood of declining property values going forward, so an 80% LTV could be a 100% LTV tomorrow....
