Tagged: appraiser

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Suggestions for Real Appraisal Reform

As a risk management firm which has been serving real estate appraisers for over 20 years, we are in a relatively unique position in terms of offering suggestions how to improve the current residential real estate appraisal process. To offer some perspective, during our history we have had close to 20,000 appraisers as members of our risk management family and we have been actively involved in the resolution of close to 2000 claims brought against appraisers, both inside and outside of the courtroom. Furthermore, our management team has been around long enough to witness not only the most recent collapse...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / E&O / Errors & Omissions / Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice

Upcomming AMC Licensure 0

Upcomming AMC Licensure

AMC Licensure in Virginia On July 1, 2014, every AMC wishing to continue operating in Virginia will be required to apply to the Virginia Real Estate Appraiser Board for a license to conform with recently passed AMC laws. Hopefully, the VREAB will prudently and completely vet these business PRIOR to the issuance of a license. It is my understanding the VREAB staff is leaning towards granting licensure upon application without any substantive vetting of the applying AMC’s. It is also my understanding that appraiser members of the VREAB are opposed to this administrative position and understand the importance of pre-licensing...

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

Independent contractors pros cons 2

Independent Contractors vs. Employees Pros and Cons

Business owners must determine whether to hire appraisers as employees of the company or as independent contractors. Because many appraisers are self-employed or run small businesses with few staff, recruiting and staffing employees can present a unique set of challenges. Business owners must determine whether to hire appraisers as employees of the company or as independent contractors. According to a recent article in Valuation magazine, businesses are increasingly taking the independent contractor option whenever possible due to the significant savings and flexibility for the employer. However, there are pros and cons to both angles. Benefits for appraisal firm owners and...

AI / Appraisal / Appraisal Institute / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News

Appraisal fee study 6

Appraisal Fee Study – Louisiana

Louisiana Appraisal Fee Study The Business Research Center at Southeastern Louisiana University conducted an online survey of mortgage lenders with offices in Louisiana and licensed Louisiana real estate appraisers to collect information on typical residential real estate appraisal fees paid in Louisiana in 2012. Appraisal fee data were restricted to appraisal fees paid directly to licensed appraisers (i.e., not routed through appraisal management companies (AMCs)), per guidance of relevant federal regulations for determining “customary and reasonable” fees. Useable responses were received from 113 mortgage lenders located in 25 parishes (plus out-of-state) and 383 appraisers with primary offices in 38 parishes (plus...

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

Bank of America Appraisals Reviewed in India 6

Bank of America Appraisals Reviewed in India

Bank of America Reportedly Sending Property Reviews to India Bank of America reportedly opened a unit in India to review valuation reports in an effort to boost its share of the U.S. mortgage market at a lower cost, Bloomberg reported June 28. Workers in the new Bangalore office use checklists to decide if appraisals are complete, according to people who talked to Bloomberg on the condition of anonymity. Bank of America also eliminated positions at its Plano, Texas-based LandSafe appraisal division, which made $78.8 billion in loans in 2012. “One of the biggest problems in the mortgage business is all...

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

Real Estate Appraisers Warned us About the Crisis but We didn't Listen 2

Appraisers Warned Us but We Didn’t Listen

Federal actors could have responded to the appraisers’ warning and prevented the crisis On July 9, 2013 I participated in a radio interview with a lobbyist for the 100 largest financial firms. The San Francisco radio program host asked me what question I would ask the lobbyist and I said that any discussion should begin with allowing him to state his view of what caused the crisis. In the course of his explanation, he bemoaned the fact that there was no warning about the crisis. I found this ironic because I had just published that morning an article about how the...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Fannie Mae - Freddie Mac / FDIC / Petition

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Valuing Energy Efficiency in Appraisal and Underwriting

We thought there would be some association between energy efficiency and mortgage risk… In March, a joint study by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Center for Community Capital and the Institute for Market Transformation (IMT) found that owners of ENERGY STAR-rated homes are one-third less likely to default on a mortgage than the average borrower. Home Energy Efficiency and Mortgage Risks used a sample of 71,000 home loans from 38 states and the District of Columbia, all derived from CoreLogic’s mortgage database. The sample was restricted to single-family, owner-occupied houses whose loans originated during 2002–2012 and were used...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / NAR / National Association of Realtors

Volunteer to help VaCAP 1

Letter From Pat Turner

Volunteer to Help As we move forward into a new year and the time for renewing our memberships, I wanted to share some points with you. Yesterday I had a long time respected friend and colleague take me aside to offer me some good advice and counsel. She had been at a gathering of appraisers and she was concerned with the few of us who have joined and/or renewed our VaCap memberships. She asked people why and the overwhelming answer was “Well, VaCap has not done anything for me lately”. This was a wake-up call. Reflecting on that, I can...

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

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When the FDIC Comes A’ Knockin’

The implosion of the real estate bubble reverberated across the American landscape.  Neither residential nor commercial markets were spared.  This implosion not only had a very palpable effect on the economy, but on the political debate of this nation as well.  That political debate—as it seems is often the case—has turned to finger-pointing.  Those fingers have now curled up into a fist, and that fist is now knocking on the doors of appraisers across the country. In the aftermath of the economic downturn, many banks were taken over by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) after their balance sheets dived...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / CoreLogic Valuation Services

The Veteran’s Administration - A Model for All AMCs 3

The Veterans Administration – A Model for All AMCs

AMC should learn from the way the Veterans Administration treats their appraisers Let us begin with the obvious – the Veterans Administration (VA) is not an Appraisal Management Company (AMC).  They are a non-profit, government entity that works under different rules, so making a direct comparison between the two is not entirely fair.  However, there are some things I think every AMC should learn from the way the Veterans Adminstration treats their appraisers. Personally, I have been trying to get on the VA’s appraisal panel for over 6 years.  They are a tough nut to crack.  After much persistence, however,...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / The US Department of Veterans Affairs

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