Tagged: Fannie Mae

Is That an Arm’s-Length Transaction? The Necessary Analysis 14

Is That an Arm’s-Length Transaction?

USPAP does not define the term arm’s-length transaction. Fannie Mae also lacks such a definition. Yet, both of them call for the appraiser to use only arm’s-length transactions as comparable sales… How often do we appraisers get into the mode where we think we know it all? Occasionally, do we need to step back and look at the way we do things, just to make sure we are not missing something? Is what we know to be true and correct really true and correct? I raise this issue relative to the concept of what an arm’s-length transaction is. Are we...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Fannie Mae - Freddie Mac / Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice / USPAP

Incorrect Comments in Multi-Family Appraisal Report 35

Incorrect Comments in Multi-Family Report

I have in my possession an appraisal for a DUPLEX (2 family residence) on a FNMA 1025/FrMac 72 form, commonly called the ‘1025 Form’ which was done by a Certified Residential Appraiser licensed for 8 yrs, 6 months. Items “observed” in the report: UAD rating numbers are used for Quality and Condition. 1025 forms are not UAD coded, so why are these used? Please don’t tell me “the client said so” because the client is incorrect, and may not be aware. Use the standard wording for those items, and provide a definition description of the standard wording you use. The Highest and...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Fannie Mae - Freddie Mac / Trending / UAD

Data and Verification Sources Are Critical 11

Data and Verification Sources Are Critical

The genesis for this essay began when I heard from another appraiser that a VA report reviewer rejected the comparables “DOC Number” on the Verification Source(s) line. The reviewer said the “DOC Number” was not acceptable as a Verification Source. In fact, VA has said in a newsletter to appraisers that “… Assessor’s File Number may never be used as a Verification Source.” I disagree with that position, and this essay explains why. It also explains what appraisers should do to provide credible Data and Verification Source(s) in reports. Caveat: I don’t do VA assignments. I decided that a deeper dive...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Fannie Mae - Freddie Mac / The US Department of Veterans Affairs / UAD

Fannie and Freddie Will Fail! Stated FHFA Director Mark Calabria 7

Fannie and Freddie Will Fail!

Fannie and Freddie Will Fail! That comes straight from Dr. Mark Calabria, the Federal Housing Finance Director that oversees Fannie and Freddie! In a prepared statement given to the US House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services, FHFA Director Mark Calabria did not hold back in his comments. But in their current condition, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will fail in a downturn. The testimony of Dr. Calabria before the US House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services was geared around affordable housing goals. Blame is given to local zoning, land use restrictions, environmental regulations, onerous building codes and permitting...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News / Fannie Mae - Freddie Mac / Federal Housing Finance Agency

Loans Affected by the $400,000 Appraisal Threshold Increase 2

Loans Affected by the De Minimus Increase

NCUA is advocating for an increase in the de minimus to $400K for loans provided by Credit Unions… The $400,000 de minimus is now ‘official’ but it doesn’t apply to most appraisals. Here’s an article from HousingWire, published on 10/8/2019, which correctly states when this change took effect, which you should read. From the article: Now, it’s important to note that the new rules do not apply to loans wholly or partially insured or guaranteed by, or eligible for sale to, a government agency or government-sponsored agency. What that means is that loans sold to or guaranteed by the Federal...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Fannie Mae - Freddie Mac / Federal Housing Administration / FHA

Appraisal Waivers and Hybrid Appraisals False Narrative - Quality Matters 23

Appraisal Waivers and Hybrid Appraisals

The fallacy of those who endorse Hybrid appraisals is their assumption that the appraiser’s field work is less valuable, less important, than their analytical work behind a computer. They feel the task of inspecting the property and driving comps is best farmed out to someone else with less training. The real truth is that the field work is critical! There is no way an appraiser can credibly analyze a property through the eyes of another… The Need for Speed: In a previous post entitled The Need for Speed, I explained that lenders and Appraisal Management Companies are on a mission to shorten the...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Fannie Mae - Freddie Mac

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

War on the Appraisal Industry. Another Great Real Estate Depression 11

The Collective Rot

Over 11,000 appraisers signed that petition… The US Congress completely ignored it and, as a result, The Great Real Estate Depression followed. Déjà vu: Or is it Déjà Poo (I’ve heard this crap before)? The Collective Rot Growing Within the Shadows of the Great Real Estate Depression We are just 11 years past the beginning of the Great Recession. Some estimate the US suffered a $14 trillion loss in wealth. Others estimated the loss as high as $21 trillion. This event is more commonly referred to as The Great Real Estate Depression by those of us who are or were in the real estate industry...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Automated Valuation Models

Crowdsourcing Appraiser Data - Hyper-Local Database - Appraisers Blogs 32

Crowdsourcing Appraiser Data

Just imagine the possibilities of having a hyper-local database… If you are not in the business of data you will be out of business. I’m not sure if I heard this somewhere or not, but this mantra has been in my head for a while now. Being in the data business is essential for every business today. We see it across all industries where the companies that embrace data are still in business, and the companies that didn’t make that pivot are out. In our profession we saw Fannie Mae get into the big data business with the creation of...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Automated Valuation Models

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