Tagged: AI

FNMA Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU) Policy Updated 10

Fannie Mae’s ADU Policy Updated

On September 2, 2020, FNMA updated their policy allowing for Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU) on Single Family Residential (SFR) properties to be a Manufactured Home. This is in their Selling Guide Announcement SEL-2020-05, linked below. Key points: An accessory dwelling unit (ADU) is an additional living area that is independent of the primary property and has basic bathroom, cooking, and sleeping facilities. With this update, we clarified ADU property eligibility and comparable sales requirements in the appraisal as follows: expanded the current definition of an ADU to improve proper classification of ADUs; expanded property eligibility by allowing multi-width manufactured homes...

Should Appraisers Pay to Be on AMCs Approved Appraiser List? 47

To Pay or Not To Pay, That is the Question

Should appraisers pay to be on an AMC’s approved appraiser list? Is this one way to get new clients? If an AMC solicited you, would you check it out? Now, I work for some AMCs that, frankly, you might not choose to work for. That’s fine. It’s a choice we all make. Understand that most of the areas I work are rural, so AMCs are generally willing to pay more because of this. Some AMC are very demanding. Yet, when I meet those demands, I get a lot of well-paying jobs from them. Recently, a new AMC asked me to...

Zestimate vs Appraiser... Will Zestimates Put Appraisers Out of Business? 21

Will Big Data Put Appraisers Out of Business?

Part of the boom in the availability of data has led to companies such as Trulia and Zillow who claim they can “Zestimate” a home’s value instantaneously. But can your potential customers trust such value? In the old days, if a homeowner really wanted to find out how much their property was worth in the current market, they called an appraiser. Our customers understood that a licenced and qualified appraiser is trained, experienced, knowledgeable, and unbiased in his or her own marketplace. In the past few years, the Information Age has flooded us with data; lots of data. Big data...

Appraisal Report Corrections Protocol 27

Appraisal Report Corrections Protocol

For some time, appraisers have written or called me, asking about how to do report corrections, or respond to client requests – after an original report has been sent in. I decided to distribute these suggestions to encourage a uniform procedure across the appraiser universe. I don’t recall ever seeing anything published about this topic. Disclose, don’t bury – modifications, corrections or responses to the original report, or even subsequent changes. I have seen too many reports where the appraiser hides changes within the body of the report as if those were part of the original, when in fact they...

Ending the Conservatorship... Potential Changes to GSEs Gaining Steam 2

Potential Changes to GSEs Gaining Steam

Folks, if you have not been hiding under a rock since 2009, you know that both FNMA and FrMAC have been under ‘conservatorship’, regulated by FHFA for over the past 10+ years. If you’ve been paying attention, you also know that over the past few years there has been increasing talk to end the conservatorship, and now, to add competitors to the GSE’s in the mortgage loan purchase arena. That prospect is outlined in the latest Report to Congress by Mark Calabria, Director of FHFA, summarized in this article posted Tues, June 16, 2020, in Mortgage News Daily: The Federal...

Pandemics Do Not Give Us a Get Out of Jail Free Card - Convoluted Times 25

Not a Get Out of Jail Free Card

It is not misleading to use a 1004 form for a desktop or a drive-by because, during these convoluted times… In talking with Tim Andersen, a USPAP instructor and long-experienced appraiser, I was reminded that, even in the time of C-19, USPAP applies, and appraisals must still be credible. Reports must still not mislead. USPAP has never required the appraiser to inspect the property. That is a lender construct. So long as your scope of work is clear relative the level of inspection you provided, and why that was your scope of work, you should not have a problem. Note...

Appraisal Modernization - UAD and "forms" redesign - Appraisers Blogs 56

UAD and Forms Redesign

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...

COVID-19 Pandemic and Exterior Appraisals - Appraisers Blogs 64

COVID-19 Pandemic & Exterior Appraisals

Everyone, not just appraisers is getting bombarded with information on COVID-19. So much of the information differs, it is hard to know what is real, hype or hysteria. So much has been shared within the appraisal groups on social media that there are more conversations about COVID-19 then appraisals. VaCAP is a volunteer organization of appraiser professionals. We are not medical professionals and are just as confused as most of you. Each and every one of us is different. We have different levels of health and different people living in our homes; some may have compromised immune systems, some maybe...

Appraisal Inspection Procedures & Protocols 64

Appraisal Inspection Procedures & Protocols

The industry needs to discuss the coronavirus issue and how to conduct inspections. I set up an inspection a few days ago using the Procedures & Protocols form below and this is how I handled it. I called the listing agent and tactfully told him that we had to discuss this Coronavirus issue … that I had a family member with a compromised health situation and that we had to presume the virus was already within our community. Then I explained to him that I inspect a lot of homes every week and that normally involves touching a lot of...

Biden's Claim of Racial Bias in Appraisals Faces Criticism from Appraisers 33

Biden Claims on Racial Bias in Appraisals

Over the past week or so, Presidential Candidate Joe Biden publicly called for more regulation and oversight over appraisers to combat racial bias. He specifically cited the Brookings Institute Study ”The Devaluation of Assets in Black Neighborhoods, The Case of Residential Property”. If you are unfamiliar with this study, in a nutshell, the findings accuse appraisers of undervaluing properties in black neighborhoods. The study is an easy read and can be found here. We will warn you, much of the data used in the study carries very little weight as Census Bureau (self-reported data) and information from Zillow were used....

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