Tagged: Certification

Time Saving Shortcuts Undermines Our Profession. Skip the Comp Photos 53

Skipping Comp Photos, Suicidal Shortcuts

I refuse to undermine my own profession by pretending that time saving shortcuts are always acceptable just because they are ‘more modern and progressive’. I know how long it takes to produce USPAP compliant, credible appraisal results. I charge accordingly for my time. I make no effort to compete on fees with half assed hybrids, evaluations, or single approach partially performed field work. Respectfully, neither should anyone else. Please stop undermining our own profession…. Recently The Appraiser Coach posted an article and links to a podcast suggesting its no longer necessary to photograph our comparable sales. I wrote a counter...

AGA / Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News / Fannie Mae - Freddie Mac

Failure to Inspect & Photograph Comps Backfires on Appraisers 52

Appraisers, did you Shoot yourself in the Foot?

When I explain the rules many of the appraisers start complaining: “An MLS photograph depicts the house at the time it sold so it’s more accurate than my photograph would be”… There’s a lot of yelling and screaming about bifurcated appraisals. Unfortunately, appraisers may have shot themselves in the foot when it comes to this issue. Allow me to provide an analogy to help explain the issue. I’m not sure if this happens in other areas of the country but in Seattle there is a strange “left leaning” way they do things: State and Federal governments perform numerous traffic studies, to...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Collateral Underwriter / CU / Fannie Mae - Freddie Mac

Is Race Baked into Big Data? Who's Regulating Big Data When It Errs? 18

Is Race Baked into Big Data?

Chicago appraiser and friend (even though she calls me “fancy pants”) writes a stellar explanation of what an appraiser actual does – and what one of the panel experts got completely wrong because he didn’t understand our role in the mortgage process: Greetings Congresswoman Waters, Chairman Clay, Ranking Member Duffy, Ranking Member Gooden, and the Members of the Housing Subcommittee: My name is Maureen Sweeney, and I am a real estate appraiser. I grew up in a real estate family and lived through the savings and loan crisis of the 1980’s, which had a profound impact on my life. I...

Snippets / Trending

Let's Get Those Pesky Appraisers Out of the Way! Hybrid Appraisals Part 5 22

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

Let Appraisers Train their Own Inspector Personnel for Desktop Appraisals 64

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

Human Real Estate Appraisers Unnecessary? - Appraisers Blogs 80

Human Real Estate Appraisers Unnecessary?

“Real estate appraisers will not exist in the future.” – Reasons Behind Matt Rider’s Projection and Why He’s Wrong Technology in real estate is advancing to a point where any user can “pull up a property’s data together” and create an appraisal. This is the main point raised by Franklin American Mortgage’s Chief Information Officer Matt Rider in his interview with National Mortgage News. He claimed that as a result, real estate appraisers wouldn’t exist in the future. See interview here. Rider’s projection seems to be based on society’s increasing dependence on Big Data and artificial intelligence (AI). According to...

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

Do You Have Two Appraiser Brains? Which Brain Wins? 12

Do You Have Two Appraiser Brains?

So, do you have two brains? One appraiser brain says you must be “independent, impartial, and objective.” (USPAP) It wants to be good. It wants integrity and to sleep peacefully at night. But there’s another brain. It’s primal and wants to survive. It has other responsibilities: meet the bills, feed the family, pay the mortgage, and pay government taxes/fees. And recorded in this brain is that part of the standards which say: Do what your clients expect; do what everyone else does. As paraphrased, the sole guides to an acceptable scope of work. The two brains may not talk to each other. Each...

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

Story of My Appraisal Fee is Told to the Consumer, Not Buried on Page 26 20

Front & Center

The story of my fee! Disclosure of my Fee is Front & Center Remember those dreaded book reports in grade school? Remember the oral presentations in front of the class? We did not think much of it then, but this was the beginning of public speaking. Fast Forward to today: Our appraisal reports are similar to those dreaded book reports except there is no oral presentation, no public speaking. No way to BS your way through it because you only read the Cliff Notes, not the actual book itself. We have come a long way and today we write reports...

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

ClearVal Value IS So ClearCut - What IS a “ClearVal Appraisal” 162

What IS a “ClearVal Appraisal”?

Clear Capital ClearVal… Value Not So ClearCut… I’ve finally had an opportunity to read a hybrid ‘appraisal’ start to finish. All may read the unedited, non-redacted version in all its glory… or infamy, as the case may be. Please click here (report also embedded below) and read it first. I’ll wait right here. Finished? Great. One thing is clear. It is not an appraisal by any current accepted definition that I am familiar with. Ironically, there is also very little that is clear as far as support for the opined values is concerned. (I’m old fashioned and think it should...

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

Another Appraisal Waiver Request 101

Another Appraisal Waiver Request

Another Appraisal Waiver request has been sent to the ASC. This time from City Bank and Trust in Oklahoma. The bank is claiming a shortage of acceptable appraisers in the area. Their solution: “Our bank has on staff an individual who has maintained a Certified Residential Appraiser license until April 2017. This individual has provided acceptable appraisals and evaluations for the past 20+ years. He determined to allow his license to expire due to the rather burdensome CE requirements and the distance to and from approved course within the state. With the educational requirements, training process, number of hours required...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisal Subcommittee / Appraisers News / ASC