Tagged: appraisal news

Bonding Company Info for CoesterVMS for if You Are Owed Money 11

Bond Company for CoesterVMS

…contact information for the bonding company… Appraisers, if any of you are owed money for unpaid appraisals from CoesterVMS, you might want to read and save this message. However, first…often, bonding companies require a Superior Court judgement in writing before they will pay up. So you may need to follow that process in your state. You will need to have invoices for all unpaid reports which document the property address, and report file number, plus lender name if known. A peer appraiser has provided me the name and contact information for the bonding company as filed with the CoesterVMS AMC...

Sweat Equity as Down Payment. No Money to the Table! - AppraisersBlogs 15

No Money to the Table!

Freddie Mac has an Enhanced Sweat Equity Program where borrowers (aka purchasers) can purchase a home and use sweat equity as a down payment and closing costs. No money to the table! Here’s what’s allowed: Sweat equity to be used for the entire amount of down payment and closing costs with maximum 97 percent LTV/105 percent total LTV (affordable seconds). Sweat equity for manufactured homes up to a maximum LTV ratio of 95 percent. Sweat equity as an eligible source of funds for: All repairs and improvements to be completed by the borrower that are listed in the sales contract...

AGA Objects De Minimis Increase Proposal - It is Time to Call out the Liars 40

AGA Objects De Minimis Increase Proposal

We object to the proposal to increase the de minimis threshold at which no appraisal is required… Sirs: The American Guild of Appraisers (AGA), of the Office Professional Employees International Union (#44 OPEIU) of the AFL-CIO represents the members and extended family and retirees, taxpayer and consumer real estate appraisal interests of nearly Twelve and a half million citizens and voters. We object to the proposal to increase the de minimis threshold at which no appraisal is required from $250,000 to $400,000. Respectfully, if anything is done with it at all, lowering it to a range not to exceed $100,000...

Ulterior Motive in Raising De Minimus 20

Ulterior Motive in Raising De Minimus

…raising de minimus shenanigans being promoted… Appraisers, a couple of weeks ago, I sent out a message about a Fee/TT quote conversation I had with an AMC clerk. I received a number of responses from appraisers across this fruited plain who said often they will receive Fee/TT quote requests for the SAME property from MULTIPLE AMC’s. That corroborates stories I hear from appraisers I talk with at conferences. The entire AMC situation is a giant time-wasting game that really doesn’t benefit the borrower at all, and least of all, appraisers. Lenders are the coaches in this game. Another message I received...

Skeptics, traditional, vocational or advanced appraiser. What kind are you? 31

What Kind of Appraiser Are You?

Skeptical skeptics are a rare breed. But growing in number… Different appraisers have different attitudes! Some have a lot of experience, others a lot of education. Others emphasize the ‘art’, while others consider themselves ‘quants’. Let’s put aside the ‘art’ versus ‘science’ discussion, where the artists say: “No computer will ever replace the appraiser”, or “No amount of education will ever replace experience”. The other side seems a bit confused. There are traditionalists. And there are the “advanced” appraisers. And there are the “vocational” appraisers, who don’t seem to care much about all of this. They just want to push through as many reports as possible. The skeptics tend to doubt...

An Appraiser’s First Impressions of Clear Capital’s AVM 28

First Impressions of Clear Capital’s AVM

An Appraiser’s First Impressions of Clear Capital’s AVM… It’s no secret the lending industry is aggressively pursuing alternatives to traditional appraisals. While most participants in the industry will concede an appraisal is still the gold standard for collateral valuation, they increasingly see the appraisal as something to be steered around or avoided altogether. An array of products/alternatives are being bandied in lieu of a traditional appraisal: Hybrids, Evaluations, BPOs (broker price opinions), Desktop Appraisals, and outright Appraisal Waivers. The industry is also turning its attention more and more to AVMs (automated valuation models). AVMs have been around for nearly three...

Automated Loan Processing to End Appraisers... 2019 Big Battles Ahead 18

Big Battles Ahead for Appraisers

…complete elimination of appraisal as part of their fully automated loan processing objectives… Our work as appraisers & appraisal issue advocates is certainly cut out for us all in 2019. I think appraisal unity is going to be needed if we are all to take on the adverse issues affecting us. That includes AI. They still have a large number of honest, & competent members. I think the rest of us will have to let AI take care of AI issues. I’m not averse to butting heads with them on specific issues when necessary but alienating them rather than seeking...

Quoting Fee/TT to AMCs - Lenders SLOWING DOWN the Loan Process 30

Quoting Fee/TT to AMCs

Appraisers, I had a revealing conversation with a clerk at an AMC last week. I actually received an email requesting Fee/TT, then awhile later a phone call about the same property, from a different clerk. I decided to call that clerk back after researching the property. Conversation went something like this: AMC clerk: Hi, this is James. Me: Hi James, I’m calling about the Timbucktoo property, which I can do for you. AMC: OK, I have that pulled up. Me: First of all, I don’t discount my fee for anyone, including your AMC. Second, I can do the assignment, probably...

Landmark Acquired by Class Valuation - VA Drops 1004MC...Done Deal! 17

Done Deal

AMC Consolidaton – Class Valuation (formerly Class Appraisal) of Troy, MI is acquiring Landmark Network, of Van Nuys, CA. This document does not say ‘when’ it will occur, or if the transaction has concluded, but the way it is written, the implication is that it’s a “dun deel.” Anybody have any scuttlebutt on which of the hundreds of the remaining AMC’s might be next to be consolidated with another one? Landmark Network’s email: Hello! Eleven years ago, I set out to create a different kind of appraisal management company. One that truly valued our appraiser partners while embracing the efforts...

Embarrassing Indeed! Inspections Can Sometimes Be Embarrassing... 9

Inspections Can Sometimes Be Embarrassing

Inspections can occasionally get embarrassing, right? It happens to all of us. That’s just part of the appraisal business. But that does not make things any easier or less embarrassing, does it. Let me tell you three stories. First is the house with the unique basement. It’s your typical single-family residence on the ground floor; nothing out of the ordinary, nothing embarrassing. Then I tell the owner I need to go into the basement to inspect it. He hesitantly says OK, so into the basement we go. It was not your typical basement. It looked like some kind of department...

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