Tagged: EAD

Think It's Okay to Do Bifurcated Hybrids? Georgia Fines Hybrid Appraiser! 101

Georgia Fines Clear Value Hybrid Appraiser

So, do you think it’s ok to do bifurcated hybrids? On January 31, 2018, what appeared to be egregiously deficient Clear Capital “Clear Value” bifurcated hybrids were exposed in AppraisersBlogs. See What IS a “ClearVal Appraisal”? The properties were in Georgia. The appraisals were performed on a desktop basis by an appraiser in Indiana. Total fee was $250. Out of that $250, AMC Fee was $225, and the Indiana desktop appraiser was paid $25.00. Keep that fee in mind as you read through the attachments. Two complaints were filed by AGA™. One with the State of Indiana, and one with...

Request Changes by AMC Reviewers & Withholding Appraisers Payment 21

AMC Reviews of Appraisals

Only the lender’s Underwriter should be able to request changes to the report and the lender should be the one that pays the appraiser… An appraiser associate was having a discussion with one of the head review appraisers at HUD and the reviewer noticed that the Plat Map in the report did not correspond with the site size reported in the URAR form 1004. The appraiser stated that the public record and the Plat map did not agree with each other and that he chose the figure shown in public records. The reviewer questioned why he would choose the public...

Is an Appraisal Report Considered Intellectual Property? - Appraisers Blogs 8

Are Reports Intellectual Property?

Recently one of my Mastermind students asked about Intellectual Property. He told me that he’d had an associate leave his firm to go solo. Later, he was reading one of his former-associate’s reports and found the now-independent associate’s reports looked a lot like his in format, and even language. My student asked me if this was wrong. Well, I’m not a lawyer, but there are some sound issues to consider here. If you write something, if you are its author, it is your intellectual property. You can either trademark it (like a logo), or copyright it (like a novel). We...

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...

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...

Can We Stop Taking Comp Photos 65

Can We Stop Taking Comp Photos?

I personally do not think that appraisers should be required to take comp photos… First, before the hate mail starts rolling in, let me assure you that I understand the requirements surrounding comparable photos, and I do take them as an appraiser. I am not here to debate what the policies are, but I am here to question if those policies should be in place. I personally do not think that appraisers should be required to take comp photos. Modern technology has provided appraisers with a way to know as much about a property from the comfort of their own...

Race Never Considered... Emerging Narrative of Appraisers Being Racists 75

Appraisers Don’t Use Race

Appraisers don’t use race… Race is NEVER considered during a valuation Last week in a congressional hearing on the future of the appraisal profession, some research was used to suggest appraisers are showing racial bias and essentially undervaluing black neighborhoods. I was not expecting the conversation to go that way during the hearing and I’ll admit I’m deeply concerned about the emerging narrative of appraisers being racists… In the congressional hearing a panelist talked about a study that shows black neighborhoods are devalued by $48,000 compared to otherwise similar white neighborhoods. That’s alarming and society needs to have some serious...

Complain About a Complaint Filed - Who Can Complain About Appraisals 72

Who Can Complain About Appraisals?

Time to get on my soapbox and complain about a complaint filed against me (not a charge, but merely a complaint). I did an appraisal of a multi-family property near my office. The property owner/borrower called me to complain about the appraisal since it came in far less than she thought it should (not unusual). Clearly, I could not answer her questions since she was not the client. This upset her greatly, so she filed a complaint with the State. The complaint had no basis in substance. In fact, the complaint was that my appraisal was too low. Since neither...

Will the Cost Approach be Required in the Redesigned UAD Forms? 50

Returning to Requiring the Cost Approach

…the Cost Approach is the most INACCURATE of the three current ‘Approaches’ we use… Appraisers, for the past few weeks, emails have been sent by a third party asking appraisers to complete a survey about the appraisal process and the current forms. I did so; you should also. But I wanted to expand on one aspect of the survey. Two separate questions, on different survey pages, related to the Cost Approach (CA). These questions wanted appraisers to state their opinion about 1) if the forms provide adequate detail to develop a CA, and 2) if it is or is not...

Different Properties on the Same Form? Are you Appraising the Bulk... 11

Different Properties on the Same Form?

Are you appraising the retail values of 10 sites to 10 different owners? Are you appraising the bulk or discounted market value of the 10 sites to a single purchaser? Can the Same Form Have More Than One Property on it? Lots of folks have asked me, “Dustin, can I appraise two different properties on the same appraisal report at the same time?”. Now understand I am not a USPAP instructor, I am an appraiser, so I’m going to answer this question as best I can. The question before us is legitimate, and one which I had to answer recently....

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