Tagged: Freddie Mac

Temporary Appraisal Requirement Flexibilities - FHFA Allowing Alternatives 18

Temporary Appraisal Requirement Flexibilities

Temporary Guidance From Fannie Mae… FNMA has issued temporary guidance on appraisal requirements, including allowing desktop & exterior-only appraisals… Folks, due to the ongoing COVID-19 national emergency, the GSE regulator FHFA and both GSE’s have issued new (temporary) guidance on Monday, March 23, 2020. These remain in effect through May 17, 2020, but could be extended due to the on-going situation. NOTE: I have seen nothing yet from FHA or VA. Appraisers (and AMCs) CANNOT modify assignments or reports without specific authorization from the lender client. Appraisers CAN choose to do, or not do, assignments under the inspection guidelines, and per directives...

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

Low Mortgage Rates and Plentiful Appraisal Waivers - Appraisers Blogs 9

Low Rates and Plentiful Appraisal Waivers

The graph below comes from Len Kiefer, the data guru at Freddie Mac. Are we due for even lower rates? Who knows. But they have been lower not long ago. Theoretically, appraisers should have been really busy since about November 2018 through this past year. Were you? Me, not so much, but I don’t work for many AMC’s either. The fact that the GSEs and others have diminished the value of getting an appraisal done has adversely impacted our work. Waivers are plentiful now, and the raising of the de minimus threshold to $400K for non-GSE loans has reduced the...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News

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

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

Credit Worthiness Based on Magazine Subscriptions 3

Low Credit Score? Don’t Fret Over It

Got a low credit score and can’t get a loan? Don’t fret over it, just subscribe to a magazine. Sounds absurd doesn’t it? According to an article on MSN, banks are using other means to determine your credit worthiness. We all understand alternative credit, such as phone and power bills, but companies are now considering consumer data such as magazine subscriptions, the stores your shop at, what you purchase, what restaurants you eat at and how much you spend at them. Based on your consumer data a risk score on your ability to repay a loan is determined. For decades,...

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

We Became Complacent... Appraisers Are to Blame - Appraisers Blogs 33

We Became Complacent

We raised a fuss when it first came out, but we became complacent and accepted what was being dictated to us. Appraisers are supposed to be messengers of the market, right? If that statement is accurate, the question everyone needs to be asking is why appraisers are not allowed to do their jobs? Without getting into a lot a finger pointing and blame, I am just going to come right out and say it. Appraisers are to blame. Not because appraisers wanted to influence the market, but we allowed others to take control and we sat by and did nothing....

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

Price Fixing & Discrimination - FNMA & FHLMC Bond Price Fixing Claims 7

FNMA & FHLMC Bond Price Fixing Claims

Are the profits being reported by Fannie and Freddie being skewed because of price fixing? In an article released on CNBC by Reuters, US District Judge Jed Rakoff ruled investors can pursue antitrust claims against banks for conspiring to fix prices of bonds from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. According to the article, there are transcripts of chat room discussions that prove a conspiracy to price fix mortgage backed bonds from Fannie and Freddie between January 2009 and January 2016. Rakoff wrote. The chats unmistakably show traders, acting on behalf of those defendants, agreeing to fix prices at a specific level before...

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

The Rumble of the Bifurcated Appraisal Train Before It Crashes 7

Do You Feel the Rumble?

“Can you hear that? Do your hear the rumble? It’s a train going 80 mph toward a 25 mph curve” There is an excellent article by Richard Hagar, SRA that hit everyone’s email yesterday from Working RE Magazine. The title of the article is Why “Bifurcated” Won’t Work. This is an excellent read and we ask that you take the time to read it and pass it along to all your contacts. Lots of great examples of why these products are a danger to not only appraisers, but to communities. See the article here. The pressure has begun…all they need...

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

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