Tagged: AMCs

The Elephant In the Room: Fannie's Modernization Program 35

The Elephant In the Room: Fannie’s Modernization Program

The Elephant I refer to is simply this: Fannie Mae’s modernization program is going to put a lot of appraisers out of business. It’s all “lender centric”. It’s all about better, faster, cheaper, appraisals (with lots more data) for lenders. As an appraiser, all I see are sticks… no carrots. Nobody wants to talk about the Elephant in The Room. Post COVID 19, business was excellent; fees were high and we profited. High interest rates killed the market and most all of us now are not profiting. Losing money is not sustainable for any business and waiting for the next...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Fannie Mae - Freddie Mac

Using Discrimination As a Bully Tactic 11

Using Discrimination As a Bully Tactic

As an appraiser who has been appraising in rural south for 20 years I have seen a few things. This wave of discrimination has gotten out of control. Sure, there has been some discrimination going on which is not the norm, but to accuse someone of discrimination because the value came in lower than an expected value is pure asinine. It is not our job to validate lenders and borrowers expected values. I have had very few borrowers get mad, that I am aware of, because my opinion of value was lower than their expected values. I can remember three...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News

Agent Management Company 10

Agent Management Company, a Familiar Ring

We will call it “AGENT MANAGEMENT COMPANY”. We will ensure that the use of runners is prohibited…  Public trust. It’s a real thing. It appears that this recent lawsuit that the NAR LOST has exposed antitrust, collusion and price fixing between agents. I am thinking about creating a new AMC. We will call it an “AGENT MANAGEMENT COMPANY”. We will create a buffer per say between the buyers agent and the sellers agent thereby protecting the buyer and seller. We will have a roster of approved agents nationwide. They will be thoroughly vetted. Routinely background checked. Ensure they are fully...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / NAR

Majority of Reviewers Had Very Limited Field Experience 22

Majority of Reviewers Had Very Limited Field Experience

It was my experience that the majority of reviewers, FNMA included, had very limited field experience. Which is painfully obvious when they request baseless revisions for “more or better comps”.  I’m a Certified General Appraiser that started appraising in 1984, almost 40 years ago! Spent the majority of my career appraising both residential and commercial properties in a major metropolitan market. I had my own appraisal firm for a number of years, prior to the AMC model which dissolved years of relationship building with clients large and small, almost overnight! Like most of you, I really enjoyed appraising and was...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Collateral Underwriter

Mortgage Application Volume Nearing Historic Low 32

Mortgage Application Volume Nearing Historic Low

Appraisers, I’m almost reluctant to distribute this article, but the reality is what it is. Per the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), the loan application volume is at another low point in our history. The article in Mortgage News Daily titled “Mortgage Application Volume at Lowest Levels Since 1996” in this link provides context. For a related perspective, the article contains a graph, which can be expanded to show mortgage rates and application volume for decades. The brown line in the graph shows 30 year mortgage rates – since early 1971. The light blue indicates the loan application volume, which corresponds...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Trending

It’s a Great Time to Leave the Appraisal Profession 170

Leaving the Appraisal Profession

It’s a Great Time to Leave the Appraisal Profession. I can hear the chorus of my fellow appraisers rising up in disagreement with me. I envision many of them screaming, “But I love being an appraiser”! Yeah, I hear you. I loved being an appraiser too. Let’s not consider what we were but what they want us to become. First, ask yourself if you are still making a livable wage. I’m not and instead of blaming myself, I started running the numbers. In, my high value market, 18% of the solds were cash sales. No appraisal required on those! Values...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Customary & Reasonable Fees

PAREA Program & Its Negative Impact on Diversity 16

PAREA Program & Its Negative Impact on Diversity

The study also found that the PAREA program is not as effective in providing a more accessible pathway to licensure as the traditional apprenticeship model.  Practical Applications of Real Estate Appraisal (PAREA) is a program that aims to revolutionize the real estate industry by increasing the number of appraisers. However, after listening to the Appraisal Institute speaker at yesterdays board meeting it quickly became evident that this initiative is a complete failure. You cannot start PAREA until you have received all your real estate appraisal education. 94 hours = $1,700 per McKissock Appraisal Institute speaker said that most AMC’s/banks won’t...

AI / AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Institute / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News

NAR Concerns and Survey on Property Data Collectors 12

NAR Concerns & Survey on Property Data Collectors

NAR is conducting a survey and wants to know if you have any concerns regarding property data collectors, if the appraisal fees are higher since the involvement of data collectors, if borrowers are made aware of a fee for the appraisal and a separate AMC fee or were the fees bundled, if the property data collector gave the impression that they were the appraiser, whether you have any safety and privacy concerns with the data collection process, quality of data collected and whether they need to be licensed…  In a letter to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) regarding appraisal...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Automated Valuation Models

AMC Fee Impact on Appraisal Fee 78

AMC Fee Impact on Appraisal Fee

While the borrower was charged $695 for the appraisal, the appraiser was only paid $301. The AMC fee was $394.  We often hear complaints from GSEs and lenders that appraisal fees are too high, hence the push for modernization. Yet they fail to acknowledge that this is due to an overly bloated middleman – the appraisal management company (AMC). As a consumer, you should be aware of the potential for being fleeced on appraisal fees. It’s possible that you could be paying more than double what the appraiser is receiving for actually doing the work, with the excess going to...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Dodd-Frank Act / C&R Fees

Clean-Slate Laws, Bad Policy Could Dispatch More Felons to Borrowers Homes 8

‘Clean-Slate’ Laws, Bad Policy Could Dispatch More Felons to Borrowers’ Homes

The idea of unlicensed individuals being hired off the streets and paid a pittance to video and photograph the interiors of borrowers’ homes, which would include the exact location of valuables and children’s bedrooms, has been unsettling to some.  An astute real estate broker recognized the name of a Michigan man awaiting sentencing in an armored-car robbery. The latter had been engaged by one of six companies authorized by mortgage giant Fannie Mae to dispatch so-called “data collectors” to borrowers’ homes. The broker alerted the bank and the National Association of Realtors. New, progressive laws designed to conceal felony convictions...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Fannie Mae - Freddie Mac

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