appraisal software - Appraisers Blogs

Flags Over Facts: The Road to Obsolescence

Desiree Mehbod — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 12:30:03 +0000

The latest round of modernization comes wrapped in friendly language, but the flags are hard to miss if you’ve been paying attention. For years, appraisers have been warning that the mortgage industry was slowly engineering us out of the process. We were told we were paranoid. Resistant to change. Stuck in the past. Then the newest Mortgage Credit Executive Order arrived, and the appraisal section opened with a single line that confirmed everything we’ve been saying: expand AVMs, desktops, hybrids, and AI. That’s the priority. Everything else in that section is just polite filler wrapped around a strategy to shrink...

Fannie Mae Fraud and Abuse Exposed History of waste, fraud & abuse at this rogue organization... Fannie Mae reported this week it had fired more than…
UAD 3.6: The Appraisal Industry’s Shiny New Straightjacket UAD 3.6, the appraisal industry’s shiny new straitjacket, promises efficiency but threatens to bury appraisers under a mountain of data…
Imagine Running the Lawn Mower Industry Like the… I’m on about lawn mowing lately. It’s my new full time passion. The appraisal industry should be as straight forward…

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Baghdad Bob of Freddie Mac Merits Mention As Mideast Erupts

Jeremy Bagott — Thu, 26 Jun 2025 12:30:32 +0000

In true Baghdad Bob fashion, Scott Reuter leads Freddie Mac’s effort to ensure that no inconvenient fact is left uncensored. For a brief time in April 2003, Saddam Hussein’s charismatic Information Minister, Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, became a worldwide pop-culture icon. During the invasion of Iraq, al-Sahhaf faced reporters on the roof of a Baghdad hotel. All around him, columns of smoke billowed and sirens blared. Glide bombs shook the earth. American and British coalition forces poured into the city. Denying reality, al-Sahhaf insisted: “There are no American troops in Baghdad!” The next day, Baghdad fell. But al-Sahhaf’s gift for bombastic...

The Censorship of Appraisers Thirty-seven hours after President Biden took the oath of office, White House officials met with executives at social media companies.…
The Nightmarish End of Home Appraisals In his 1946 essay “Politics and the English Language,” the late British novelist, essayist and critic George Orwell examined the…
Objectionable Valuations Become Hate Speech,… The censorship, scapegoating and sidelining of appraisers has done real damage to borrowers and the purchasers of bonds... Attacks on…

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UAD 3.6: The Appraisal Industry’s Shiny New Straightjacket

AppraisersBlogs — Fri, 30 May 2025 12:30:22 +0000

UAD 3.6, the appraisal industry’s shiny new straitjacket, promises efficiency but threatens to bury appraisers under a mountain of data demands and tech troubles, risking the integrity of valuations in a quest for modernization. The appraisal industry is bracing for the rollout of the Uniform Appraisal Dataset (UAD) 3.6, a supposed game-changer slated for an optional beta in September 2025 and a mandatory debut by November 2026. Promising to drag appraisal reporting into the modern age with a sleeker, property-specific framework, UAD 3.6 has appraisers across the country muttering a mix of cautious hope and outright skepticism. But let’s be...

New UAD Overhaul: What Appraisers Can Expect in 2025… Folks, I recently attended a Train the Trainer 1.5 day class about the new UAD/URAR, jointly facilitated by Fannie Mae,…
Is the GSE's "Appraisal Modernization" Really Just… Mass Appraisal tend to exhibit a regressive nature... In the intricate landscape of real estate mortgage financing, the notion of…
Fannie Mae Filed a Complaint Against Me An appraiser shared the following with us which was posted on one of the appraisers’ groups. Fannie Mae filed a…

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Outrage Over Connect by ValueLink’s New Monthly “Junk Fee”

AppraisersBlogs — Wed, 27 Nov 2024 13:30:56 +0000

The recent announcement from Connect by ValueLink has sparked outrage among appraisers. Effective January 1, 2025, the company plans to institute a new $19.99 monthly user fee for all appraisers utilizing their portal to receive and submit appraisal orders. This fee will be in addition to the existing technology fees already charged on a per-appraisal basis. Understandably, many appraisers are up in arms over this development, viewing it as yet another “junk fee” that will only serve to erode their already-thin profit margins. What makes this particularly galling for appraisers is the fact that it is often appraisal management companies,...

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. …
The Town With No Bank: How Rural America Lost Its… For decades, we’ve been told that the problem is demand. That people don’t want to live in rural America anymore.…
It’s Time to Take Out the Junk: AMC Practices Exposed Appraisers have spent years carrying the weight of broken AMC practices, and this article pulls every one of those practices…

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New UAD Overhaul: What Appraisers Can Expect in 2025 & Beyond

Dave Towne — Thu, 19 Sep 2024 12:30:42 +0000

Folks, I recently attended a Train the Trainer 1.5 day class about the new UAD/URAR, jointly facilitated by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Aloft. About 20 other instructors from across the US were also present. This class is required before this new UAD material can be taught to other appraisers, under contract with the GSEs. My info below is a limited high-level summary for the new UAD and URAR of what was presented, and what the appraiser community can expect to see, from now into 2026. It is not meant to be comprehensive; I may send out other info as...

New URAR Redesign Spec Released The Appraisal Forms & UAD Redesign Spec has been released and the current forms are being retired. This means that…
USPAP’s Typical Buyer Standard in the Fair Housing Era The Irreconcilable Conflict Between USPAP's Typical Buyer Standard and the Current Fair Housing Compliance Regime. Retain this document as a…
The Town With No Bank: How Rural America Lost Its… For decades, we’ve been told that the problem is demand. That people don’t want to live in rural America anymore.…

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Fight Unfair AMC Practices – Leverage State Authorities

AppraisersBlogs — Wed, 14 Aug 2024 12:30:38 +0000

Alarmed by predatory practices among AMCs, a peer has drafted letters urging appraisers to call on state authorities to address unfair AMC conduct and potential regulatory violations. As appraisers, we have faced an ongoing challenge with Appraisal Management Companies (AMCs) offering fees that are well below the customary and reasonable rates for standard appraisal assignments. This practice has created a troubling trend of “bid wars” where AMCs pit appraisers against one another, driving down fees to unacceptably low levels. In response to this issue, a peer has provided two draft letters that can be easily modified and used by other...

Violating Appraisal Independence Through Harassment,… It shall be unlawful... to engage in any act or practice that violates appraisal independence... Appraisers, I have written the…
Fastapp AMC Alleged Violations of AIR The following court documents in the case Naftali Horowitz v. [xxx], Fastapp AMC founder v. Fastapp AMC president, confirm what…
Lack of Fee Transparency: Exposing the AMC Exploitation By keeping the borrower in the dark about the true cost of the appraisal, the AMCs are able to charge…

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PAREA Program & Its Negative Impact on Diversity

Guest Author — Thu, 03 Aug 2023 12:30:04 +0000

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...

Recap of the 4th ASC Appraisal Bias Hearing On February 13th, 2024, the fourth ASC appraisal bias hearing took place. For those who were unable to attend, the…
What Is My Incentive? Why would I bother taking on the added risk of an inconvenient process? Where is my incentive again? As an…
Federal Agency in Charge of Appraisers Having a federal agency in charge of appraisers will be a NIGHTMARE. Leave it to the states as it is…

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GLA Adjustment: Adjusting Full Difference vs a Threshold Amount

Dave Towne — Wed, 14 Jun 2023 12:30:02 +0000

Appraisers, on Thursday, before the Memorial Day holiday, I circulated across the US an email asking for response to a simple two question survey about how you “adjust” the GLA square footage between the Subject and Comparables. The questions: adjust 100% of the square foot difference, or adjust the difference after a ‘threshold’ square foot amount (meaning not the full 100% difference). I received a respectable number of responses compared to emails sent out, and also posted to 3 different web forums, nearly 200 replies. So that’s enough to validate the percentage of both responses, and report the trends. As...

Schizophrenic Adjustments Appraisers, I’ve written in the past about what I believe are strange ways to report adjustments in appraisals, and suggested…
Solving the ANSI Measuring Dilemma ...a brilliant ‘work around’ to solve the subject & comps adjustment issues, which Fannie Mae thinks is no big deal...…
Maxine Waters Wants Appraisers Investigated On February 22, 2022, Maxine Waters sent a letter to HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge, TAF, ASC and AI regarding ongoing…

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New URAR Redesign Spec Released

AppraisersBlogs — Fri, 31 Mar 2023 12:30:42 +0000

The Appraisal Forms & UAD Redesign Spec has been released and the current forms are being retired. This means that appraisers will no longer be using individual forms for each property type, but instead will have to use a single dataset with output varying based on property characteristics. If you want to get an idea of what this looks like, take a look at Appendix D-1 of the spec document. The new URAR form is going to be used for all types of properties as well as hybrid & traditional appraisals. It is important to note that this redesign requires...

Uncovering Flaws in FHA Appraisal & Loan Review Process The story of this single mother's harrowing experience with a defective home purchase and HUD's negligent oversight exposes deep flaws…
Fannie Mae Filed a Complaint Against Me An appraiser shared the following with us which was posted on one of the appraisers’ groups. Fannie Mae filed a…
The Town With No Bank: How Rural America Lost Its… For decades, we’ve been told that the problem is demand. That people don’t want to live in rural America anymore.…

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Sketch or Floor Plan?

Dave Towne — Mon, 28 Mar 2022 12:30:23 +0000

The FLOOR PLAN has all the elements of a SKETCH… Appraisers, I was given some ‘inside info’ about DESKTOP assignment reports being submitted to the GSE’s – incorrectly. The FLOOR PLAN exhibit in these DESKTOP reports, in some cases, is not being done correctly. Let’s examine what is actually required as a diagram showing the dwelling: First, when the appraiser certified that they, or their trainee, have/has made an on-site personal visit to the property and has measured the dwelling, only a SKETCH is required – unless interior design problems are noted, in which case the SKETCH must be upgraded to...

Uncovering Flaws in FHA Appraisal & Loan Review Process The story of this single mother's harrowing experience with a defective home purchase and HUD's negligent oversight exposes deep flaws…
USPAP’s Typical Buyer Standard in the Fair Housing Era The Irreconcilable Conflict Between USPAP's Typical Buyer Standard and the Current Fair Housing Compliance Regime. Retain this document as a…
Smartphone Measuring Technology This new measuring technology claims the software to be ANSI compliant. Appraisers, over the past couple of years, there have…

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Are Floor Plans in Your Future?

Dave Towne — Wed, 24 Nov 2021 13:30:10 +0000

A floor plan is supposed to be included in Desktop & Hybrid reports. How will that be done? Appraisers, I’ve recently been studying a ‘word change’ in various GSE documents. This change happened initially in March 2020 in the COVID era revised ‘flexibility’ Assumption and Limiting Conditions and Scope of Work attached to residential reports, and was further incorporated into TWO new appraisal forms issued in July 2020, which you might not even realize they exist! The word change was subtle, but has major implications for appraisers. The change is ‘sketch’ to “Floor Plan.” But when I inquired about this...

VA Alternative Valuation Methods On August 1, 2022, the Veterans Affairs released Circular 26-22-13 announcing new procedures for alternative valuation methods, effective immediately. The…
Desktop Appraisals: Has The Devil Infiltrated The… Are desktop appraisals with third-party inspectors protecting the public, or are these products about to destroy the very profession I…
Desktop Appraisals, Panaceas for Faster Reports ...I’ve discovered a potential anomaly in Desktop reports (and Hybrids also) which might shock some appraisers... Desktop Appraisals, Panaceas for…

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Opinion, Estimate, or Prediction?

George Dell — Wed, 08 Sep 2021 12:30:09 +0000

Join George Dell & Craig Gilbert for a free 2-hour webinar on Market Price Indexing: For Peaking Prices… Price indexing is also known by other words, such as time adjustments or market conditions adjustments or trend analysis. A number of techniques have been recommended over the years. Most are flawed. Oddly, the algorithm mechanics of calculating are fairly simple and intuitive. Best of all, once done correctly, the payoff is really high: You effectively increase the data available for comparison. For example, a very similar property is perfect, but is say 20 months ago, it becomes your best comp. It makes other adjustments easier to...

The New & Improved Fannie Mae “FRAUDULATOR 2.0” Originally known as Fannie Mae’s Collateral Underwriter (CU), and subsequently Collateral Underwriter 2.0 (CU-2)i this always dubious product of Fannie…
The Town With No Bank: How Rural America Lost Its… For decades, we’ve been told that the problem is demand. That people don’t want to live in rural America anymore.…
Is the GSE's "Appraisal Modernization" Really Just… Mass Appraisal tend to exhibit a regressive nature... In the intricate landscape of real estate mortgage financing, the notion of…

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Forms Redesign Extended Into 2023-24

Dave Towne — Thu, 25 Mar 2021 12:30:50 +0000

What once was a ‘three year’ project to redesign and implement revised appraisal forms has morphed into one taking far longer. Actual implementation and use of ‘new forms’ are not scheduled to happen until (presumably) early in 2024, but could be extended even further. By 2024, the currently used ‘forms’ will be 19 years old, and the current UAD overlay entering ‘teenage hood’ at 13. For context, the current Planet Mars Perseverance Rover mission to successfully plan and land scientific instruments took only 9 years! Details for the ‘forms redesign extension’ are based on the announcement from Fannie Mae (and Freddie...

Opinion of an Insider on the New Form An appraiser shared the following with us which was posted on one of the appraisers' groups. There's been a lot…
Fannie Mae Fraud and Abuse Exposed History of waste, fraud & abuse at this rogue organization... Fannie Mae reported this week it had fired more than…
New UAD Overhaul: What Appraisers Can Expect in 2025… Folks, I recently attended a Train the Trainer 1.5 day class about the new UAD/URAR, jointly facilitated by Fannie Mae,…

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SFREP Does Not Collect Your Data

Guest Author — Fri, 13 Dec 2019 13:30:42 +0000

What Exactly Can SFREP Software Offer for Real Estate Appraisers? Are you working as efficiently as possible? In this day and age, appraisers need to be quick on their feet and utilize every tool under the sun to help streamline the process. That’s where SFREP comes in. This company is creating software designed to make the appraisal process digital while keeping it as fast, accurate, and straightforward as possible. But how exactly does SFREP work, and can it really make your job easier? For many real estate appraisers, the answer is a resounding yes. Software by Appraisers, for Appraisers SFREP...

The Great Debate on Appraisal Fees She included several different fee split examples indicating AMCs retained as much as 70 percent of the total appraisal fee…
It’s Time to Take Out the Junk: AMC Practices Exposed Appraisers have spent years carrying the weight of broken AMC practices, and this article pulls every one of those practices…
The Town With No Bank: How Rural America Lost Its… For decades, we’ve been told that the problem is demand. That people don’t want to live in rural America anymore.…

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Multi-Display on One Large Curved Monitor

Dave Towne — Fri, 29 Nov 2019 13:30:53 +0000

Hi folks and Happy Thanksgiving! If you’ve been considering replacing multiple individual computer monitors with ONE large screen monitor, you may want to have software which allows individual ‘monitors’ showing different screens to be displayed on the one monitor. As most of us know, multiple monitors allows us to be more efficient during report production, reducing or eliminating the need to switch back and forth between various web sites we need to use. I first learned about this technology from Brandon, at SPARK, i.e., www.choicevaluation.com, who moved from 4 individual monitors to one large screen high def TV used as...

Schizophrenic Adjustments Appraisers, I’ve written in the past about what I believe are strange ways to report adjustments in appraisals, and suggested…
New UAD Overhaul: What Appraisers Can Expect in 2025… Folks, I recently attended a Train the Trainer 1.5 day class about the new UAD/URAR, jointly facilitated by Fannie Mae,…
It’s Time to Take Out the Junk: AMC Practices Exposed Appraisers have spent years carrying the weight of broken AMC practices, and this article pulls every one of those practices…

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ACI Software Users

John Pratt — Tue, 20 Aug 2019 12:30:53 +0000

I just received a message from another appraiser that I believe uses ACI software. He received a request from ACI to sign a “Digital Signature Application” along with a few other forms. This appears to me to be in connection with a new form of an appraisal product which they have developed. The first paragraph of this “Digital Signature Application” read as follows 1.1 Signature Using BLACK INK, sign within the box below. Signature must remain within the confines of the box (see sample). All signature cards are destroyed after they are scanned, tested, and delivered. Passwords are not kept...

Uncovering Flaws in FHA Appraisal & Loan Review Process The story of this single mother's harrowing experience with a defective home purchase and HUD's negligent oversight exposes deep flaws…
Promoting False "Racist Appraiser" Narrative Some Lenders promoting false "racist appraiser" narrative to optimize profits via AVMs Like most businesses lenders want to optimize their…
The Great Debate on Appraisal Fees She included several different fee split examples indicating AMCs retained as much as 70 percent of the total appraisal fee…

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Customary and Reasonable Fees?

Guest Author — Tue, 23 Apr 2019 12:30:47 +0000

…appraisal firm owners roll up your sleeves & hold the line on fees… I have been the owner of HF Appraisal Ltd since 1993 and I have sat on the sidelines in regards to Customary and Reasonable appraisal fees. I can no longer stand by and read nor hear about this issue. It is amazing to me that over the past five to ten years our fees have remained the same and in some cases are lower than they were 10 years ago. The more that I read about this and talk to appraisers across the country in classes and...

The Town With No Bank: How Rural America Lost Its… For decades, we’ve been told that the problem is demand. That people don’t want to live in rural America anymore.…
Uncovering Flaws in FHA Appraisal & Loan Review Process The story of this single mother's harrowing experience with a defective home purchase and HUD's negligent oversight exposes deep flaws…
USPAP’s Typical Buyer Standard in the Fair Housing Era The Irreconcilable Conflict Between USPAP's Typical Buyer Standard and the Current Fair Housing Compliance Regime. Retain this document as a…

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Cyber Attacks on Corelogic

Peter Christensen — Mon, 04 Mar 2019 13:30:16 +0000

Recent Cyber Attacks on CoreLogic and a Large Appraisal Firm Expose a Real Business Risk to Valuation Firms and Companies. As two recent attacks show, cyber crimes pose a real risk – legally and economically – to appraisal firms, management companies and other businesses involved in property analytics. If an operation like CoreLogic can be victimized by criminal hackers seeking property information, as it was in an attack earlier this month, any valuation firm or property analytics company is at risk. And, more seriously, the losses suffered by an appraisal firm in the separate cyber attack discussed below demonstrate how...

My Day as an Appraiser Big Corporations like CoreLogic are like sharks... This morning, as I do every morning, I made some coffee and began…
Theft of Appraisers' Data ...they charge appraisers an upload fee for the privilege of having their data stolen... I would never allow my data…
Fannie and Freddie, Still Stealing Data No matter how you sugar coat it, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been stealing data from independent appraisers for…

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The Possibly Just Became Reality!

Guest Author — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 12:30:46 +0000

Using SmartExchange? You May Have Violated State Law & USPAP I will not drag this out. I will simply be direct and to the point. IF YOU OPTED IN TO ALAMODE’S SMART EXCHANGE, YOU MAY HAVE JUST VIOLATED STATE LAW AND USPAP ON EVERY APPRAISAL YOU HAVE EVER COMPLETED. Let me repeat that so it sinks in a bit… If you opted in to alamode’s Smart Exchange, you may have violated State Law and USPAP on every appraisal you have ever completed. Now that it has sunk in, let me explain. Each state statute may define an appraisal differently. Some...

Is that not Significant Assistance? Is the property inspection by an unlicensed person considered assistance? We came across an article written by fellow appraiser, George…
Theft of Appraisers' Data ...they charge appraisers an upload fee for the privilege of having their data stolen... I would never allow my data…
Is Smart Exchange Really a Smart Idea? Alamode recently launched Smart Exchange to its users. The idea is appraisers can see what others have stated as property…

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Congratulations AppraisersBlogs

Michael Ford — Sat, 13 Oct 2018 12:30:53 +0000

I just received a phone call that demonstrates AppraisersBlogs has international readership and influence. About an hour ago, I received a call from an Israeli appraisal software developer asking questions about features that appraisers like and dislike in appraisal software. Obviously, he got my views – though I tried to be reasonably objective and if he follows up with email as planned, we may all be able to offer input. My main point though, is to let the Administrators of AppraisersBlogs (AB) know just how far their influence travels. This caller follows AB because it is one of the very...

Working Paper Credibility Questioned NO REAL ESTATE APPRAISER IN THE COUNTRY IS ALLOWED TO MISS THE MARK BY 7.8% WITHOUT RISKING LOSS OF LICENSE!…
Can you say 'L-A-W-S-U-I-T' boys and girls? Fellow appraisers I strongly discourage anyone from accepting AMROCK Valuations work generally due to their poor track record in dealing…
Frivolous Complaints Against Appraisers TALCB noted that roughly 70% of all complaints against appraisers are unfounded... The American Guild of Appraiser recently wrote to…

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appraisal software - Appraisers Blogs

Flags Over Facts: The Road to Obsolescence

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Baghdad Bob of Freddie Mac Merits Mention As Mideast Erupts

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UAD 3.6: The Appraisal Industry’s Shiny New Straightjacket

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Outrage Over Connect by ValueLink’s New Monthly “Junk Fee”

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New UAD Overhaul: What Appraisers Can Expect in 2025 & Beyond

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Fight Unfair AMC Practices – Leverage State Authorities

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PAREA Program & Its Negative Impact on Diversity

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GLA Adjustment: Adjusting Full Difference vs a Threshold Amount

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New URAR Redesign Spec Released

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Sketch or Floor Plan?

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Are Floor Plans in Your Future?

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Opinion, Estimate, or Prediction?

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Forms Redesign Extended Into 2023-24

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SFREP Does Not Collect Your Data

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Multi-Display on One Large Curved Monitor

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ACI Software Users

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Customary and Reasonable Fees?

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Cyber Attacks on Corelogic

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The Possibly Just Became Reality!

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Congratulations AppraisersBlogs

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