Tagged: appraisal news

April 8, 2019

Clarocity Soap Opera

…so what will happen to Clarocity Valuation Services? VaCAP has been following the Clarocity Corporation Soap Opera since one of our members had trouble getting paid from them back in November of 2017. After doing a bit more research on them, we issued a warning to our members in December 2017 to pay attention as Clarocity was in financial trouble. We kept watching and alerted our members that many of the AppraiserLoft Executives were now at Clarocity. We shared Clarocity was borrowing money at a bought down rate of 24% and repaying in stock shares in lieu of cash; all...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / AppraiserLoft

Should We Real Estate Appraisers Stop Making Adjustments?

April 2, 2019

Should Adjustments Actually Be Done?

How much credit should we give ourselves when it comes to making adjustments? Making adjustments is controversial. USPAP says nothing about adjustments – it does not require us to make them. They are a GSE construct. So, should we real estate appraisers stop making adjustments? Clients pay us for opinions of value, so our adjustments are really opinions based on what the market tells us (or that’s what we should base them on), but they are still opinions we form; they are not facts we find. So, maybe, should we stop making adjustments? We derive our adjustments from sources such...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Automated Valuation Models / AVM / Trending

Let's Get Those Pesky Appraisers Out of the Way! Hybrid Appraisals Part 5

April 1, 2019

Robust & Precise Inspections – Hybrids V

No more pesky appraisers blowing up sales commissions & bonuses & salaries… A “hybrid” appraisal is a new name for where the property inspection is separated from the analysis and appraiser’s certification. It is faster and cheaper and… This is Part 5 of a (soon to be, so far) six part discussion of Hybrid Appraisals. Part One, Two, Three, and Four are behind these links. Many years ago, I had several trainees, and as each gained experience and competence going out with me, I first let them inspect homogeneous neighborhoods, with me driving by on the outside to check on locational and optimal use issues. In time, they did...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Trending

Loan Officer' Letter Instructing Borrower to Push Appraiser for Value

March 29, 2019

A Little Push Can’t Hurt Right? Wrong!!

…forget the risky position foisted on the consumer by the loan officer… Well, here we go again. In my previous blog posts titled “Round and Round” and “Pressure My Story”, I spoke to examples of how lenders and/or AMCs have been pushing and pressuring appraisers to hit certain values on transactions. If an appraiser did not hit these numbers, or make changes to make the transaction work in the lender’s favor, the appraiser would be threatened with non-payment, removal from appraiser panels, and/or blacklisted. If you haven’t read those blog posts, feel free to go back and have a look....

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

March 28, 2019

Another Huckster Enters the Appraisal Arena

Yet another third party huckster has entered into the real estate appraiser and appraisal arena. It’s that time again! Yet another third party huckster has entered into the real estate appraiser and appraisal arena. Apparently motivated by pure altruism. We identified a need in the marketplace to address a common problem that lenders are regularly challenged with in providing accurate appraisal quotes and then ensuring pricing on the Loan Estimate is consistent and compliant,” stated Vladimir Bien-Aime, president and CEO at Global DMS. (I LOVE this guy, he writes like me!) Global DMS Launches SnapVal to Provide Instant, Accurate, Guaranteed...

ACI / AGA / AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News

March 27, 2019

Are You Violating USPAP Every Day?

Are you in “violation” of USPAP? If you pick comps the old way, you may be violating USPAP every day! The old way of selecting data worked well for the old days. Gather seven or eight that look good, go look at them, make a couple of phone calls, and pick four or five for your report. That was the way I was trained. That was the way the Appraisal Institute courses taught me. When I took the AI demo report course, three words were drilled into me: Explain, Justify, and Support. Then I took the required USPAP course. (Back then it still belonged...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice / USPAP

March 26, 2019

Mueller REO Hybrid Appraisal Report

Another Mueller Report has surfaced. The report is a Mueller REO Hybrid Appraisal Report and it was given to an appraiser as a sample. This one raises more questions than the last one! The photos from the property inspection do not tell the appraiser one thing. The photos are dark and the repairs the inspector states are needed, simply are not seen in the photos. It begs the question, does the appraiser have adequate information to complete a credible appraisal? Now take a look at the Mueller REO Hybrid Appraisal report. Pull up the report and follow along. Some things have...

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

Let Appraisers Train their Own Inspector Personnel for Desktop Appraisals

March 25, 2019

Let Appraisers Train Their Own Inspectors

If we are to make a third party inspector liable for the data they provide… FNMA’s recent newsletter states that a third party inspector should be hired to deliver photos, sketches, etc about a property to them. After their review, if they believe an appraisal is needed then they can forward that information to the appraiser and a desktop can be performed with ease and accuracy. In their words, this is no different than an appraiser relying upon other forms of data in the report such as public records, MLS, etc. I really do appreciate the perspective of some who...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Fannie Mae - Freddie Mac / Trending

The Truth is Hybrid Hucksters Don't Hire Professionals!

March 21, 2019

The Truth is They Don’t Hire Professionals!

Hybrid hucksters always argue “Why can’t trained professionals like brokers or insurance inspectors” perform the appraiser’s field inspection. The answer is because ‘trained professionals’ like those noted don’t work for $25 an inspection; are unwilling to give up their day jobs for a chance at a single $25 inspection one or two days a week, AND if they are truly trained professionals, to begin with, they are unwilling to work for part-time income of $0 to $25 a day in vain hope of having a periodic 8 or 16 inspection day (assumes all 16 are side by side since there’d...

AGA / AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations

March 19, 2019

Verisite Photo Appraisal

Appraisal Photo Report for use on loans, pick and choose pictures… Is the Welcome Mat Down and the Door Opened Wide for Fraud? “What Appraisers Need to Know about Property Data Collection” is a topic of discussion in the latest Fannie Mae Newsletter. The article describes how property data is being collected and being sent to Fannie Mae to determine the type of valuation that is needed on a property. It discusses Appraisal Modernization, Desktop appraisals, Scope of Work and USPAP. It even references The Appraisal Foundation Video on Inspections & Hybrid Appraisal Assignments. Well, Fannie Mae is the last entity that should be discussing...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News / Fannie Mae - Freddie Mac / The Appraisal Foundation