hybrid appraisal - Appraisers Blogs

Flags Over Facts: The Road to Obsolescence

Desiree Mehbod — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 12:30:03 +0000

The latest round of modernization comes wrapped in friendly language, but the flags are hard to miss if you’ve been paying attention. For years, appraisers have been warning that the mortgage industry was slowly engineering us out of the process. We were told we were paranoid. Resistant to change. Stuck in the past. Then the newest Mortgage Credit Executive Order arrived, and the appraisal section opened with a single line that confirmed everything we’ve been saying: expand AVMs, desktops, hybrids, and AI. That’s the priority. Everything else in that section is just polite filler wrapped around a strategy to shrink...

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The Trainee Inside the Fast and Cheap Model

AppraisersBlogs — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 13:30:29 +0000

The trainee walked into a job expecting mentorship and instead found a crash course in misconduct. There is a widening gap in this industry between the people who actually protect the public trust and the people who only talk about it. A recent Reddit post from a Georgia trainee captured that gap with uncomfortable clarity. Not because his experience was unusual, but because it showed exactly what happens when the demand for fast and cheap collides with a profession built on accuracy, accountability, and real judgment. The trainee described a year of being sent out alone to inspect properties, told...

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“No Name” Licenses, No Accountability: From Highways to Housing

Desiree Mehbod — Fri, 24 Oct 2025 12:30:34 +0000

Two fatal crashes, one in Florida and one in California, have reignited national concern over so-called “no name” commercial driver’s licenses issued to foreign nationals without lawful immigration status. According to reports, truckers and government officials are sounding the alarm. Some states are allegedly issuing CDLs without verifying full legal names, allowing individuals with unverifiable identities or even criminal records to operate 80,000-pound trucks on public roads. This is not just a transportation issue. It is a systemic warning. The same structural failures that enable “no name” CDLs are now surfacing in the real estate and mortgage industries. Property data...

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The 24-Hour Appraisal Funded by Appraisers

AppraisersBlogs — Thu, 23 Oct 2025 12:30:19 +0000

The 24-hour appraisal model runs on borrowed time and borrowed credibility. Guess who’s underwriting both. Reggora’s “24-hour appraisal” pitch was flimsy from the start, and now that we’ve seen the fine print, it’s not innovation, it’s a liability handoff wrapped in buzzwords. Their shiny new “Streamlined Appraisal” is just another hybrid, bifurcated product dressed up to look like progress. And like most hybrids, it assumes appraisers are either desperate, asleep, or willing to sign off on someone else’s work for peanuts. Brian Zitin proudly explains that Reggora sends a property data collector to the home before the borrower even commits...

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When Appraisers Rally: Korea Sends the U.S. a Wake-Up Call

AppraisersBlogs — Fri, 03 Oct 2025 12:30:30 +0000

In Seoul, appraisers didn’t write op-eds. They didn’t file quiet complaints. They rallied. And Korea took notice. On September 29, the Korea Association of Property Appraisers (KAPA) staged a public protest outside KB Kookmin Bank’s headquarters, condemning the bank’s in-house collateral valuations as illegal under Korea’s Appraisal Act. The Ministry of Land had already ruled the practice unlawful, yet banks continued hiring internal appraisers to fast-track high-value loans. KAPA’s response? Signs, speeches, and a full-throated demand for accountability. Meanwhile, in the United States, appraisers face a quieter, but no less existential, threat. Not just from the GSEs, but from banks...

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The Town With No Bank: How Rural America Lost Its Mortgage Lifeline

Dallas T. Kiedrowski, MNAA — Fri, 29 Aug 2025 12:30:24 +0000

For decades, we’ve been told that the problem is demand. That people don’t want to live in rural America anymore. That lending dried up because the buyers disappeared. That it’s just the market working as it should. But what if we’ve been telling the wrong story? Because when you look closely, when you actually follow the data, the decisions, and the people left behind, it turns out rural America didn’t walk away from mortgage credit. Mortgage credit walked away from rural America. The Collapse of Local Lending Up until the 1980s, a family in a small farming town could walk...

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UAD 3.6: The Appraisal Industry’s Shiny New Straightjacket

AppraisersBlogs — Fri, 30 May 2025 12:30:22 +0000

UAD 3.6, the appraisal industry’s shiny new straitjacket, promises efficiency but threatens to bury appraisers under a mountain of data demands and tech troubles, risking the integrity of valuations in a quest for modernization. The appraisal industry is bracing for the rollout of the Uniform Appraisal Dataset (UAD) 3.6, a supposed game-changer slated for an optional beta in September 2025 and a mandatory debut by November 2026. Promising to drag appraisal reporting into the modern age with a sleeker, property-specific framework, UAD 3.6 has appraisers across the country muttering a mix of cautious hope and outright skepticism. But let’s be...

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The Appraisal Profession’s Perfect Storm: A Veteran’s Take on a Dying Craft

Desiree Mehbod — Fri, 02 May 2025 12:30:49 +0000

The new UAD form, the AMC fee gouging, the waivers, the false bias claims. It’s a perfect storm of assaults. I’ve been an appraiser since 1993, back when fax machines were cutting-edge and the internet was a clunky novelty. Over three decades, I’ve seen this profession weather storms, economic crashes, regulatory overhauls, you name it. But what’s happening now? It’s not a storm; it’s a tsunami. Our industry is hemorrhaging talent, drowning under false accusations, and getting squeezed by corporate greed and bureaucratic overreach. As someone who’s stubbornly refused to bend the knee to Appraisal Management Companies (AMCs), I’m here...

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A Cry from the Appraisal Trenches: The Fall of GSE Oversight

Guest Author — Fri, 25 Apr 2025 12:30:13 +0000

That could bring our best and brightest back to GSE lending, leveling the playing field with fairer work distribution. Picture this: a system built to protect homeowners, backed by taxpayer dollars, now teetering on the edge of betrayal. The regulatory framework governing Government-Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) was once a fortress of consumer protection, transparency, and fairness. As an appraiser, I’ve watched this fortress crumble. The rules imposed on GSEs and their partners—our trade-off for their congressional charter—have been chipped away through years of cunning maneuvers by trade groups and stakeholder interests. What’s left is a hollow shell, far removed from the...

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Hybrid Appraisals – Flawed Data or Flawed Agenda?

Guest Author — Thu, 10 Apr 2025 12:30:45 +0000

Brian Zitin’s self-serving interpretation of Reggora’s survey results on hybrid appraisals is a textbook example of twisting flawed data to fit a preconceived flawed narrative. He triumphantly proclaims that 60% of appraisers plan to perform hybrid appraisals, painting it as some groundbreaking shift in the industry. But the reality is far more nuanced and less flattering to his agenda. “Our main question to appraisers: Do you plan to perform hybrid appraisals? The result was a 60/40 split with 60% saying yes they will! That is quite the controversial result and indicates a lot more education and effort will need to...

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The New Con: Hybrids, Waivers & AMCs Threaten Public Trust

VaCAP Board — Mon, 16 Dec 2024 13:30:39 +0000

Hybrid Appraisals, Appraisal Waivers and Appraisal Management Companies are the new Con. Last month marked the 7-year anniversary of Appraiser Fest. The conference was truly like nothing that had been done before. It was organized by appraisers for appraisers. The agenda was more about bringing the profession together and protecting the public trust. Appraiser Fest was not about promoting the profit of others at the expense of appraisers; nor was it about hiding the unchecked facts of fraud and ill doings against consumers. It was about public awareness and trust. It all started with a renewed sense of energy with...

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Valuation Connect Demands Licenses, Denies Fair Pay

Jonathan Miller — Tue, 09 Apr 2024 12:30:04 +0000

Based on the local market appraisal fee, Valuation Connect values the “appraisal expertise” component of a hybrid appraisal at 18% of what the consumer pays for an appraisal. This firm hasn’t awarded us work in about two years, and they only hire us when they are in a jam, and we require the local market rate. Immediately after asking for our driver’s licenses, which we didn’t provide, we got a request for a hybrid appraisal in Manhattan, the most expensive housing market in the U.S., for a whopping $220 (sarcastically). They plan to have an unlicensed inspector walk into a...

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Let’s All Build the Gallows Together

Guest Author — Thu, 15 Feb 2024 13:30:10 +0000

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have issued a clarion call to all appraisers to pitch in and help build the gallows from which they will hang us all in 2025. The mission is to “modernize” the appraisal profession into a skeleton crew of compliant zombies who will be rubber stamping appraisal reports for $25 each (Source: Voice of Appraisal) from the dark confines of their private offices. “Grab some nails, get your hammer, pick up that saw and let’s build a new gallows… I mean model, that gives lenders everything they want and need to inflate the housing market into...

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Appraisers Destroying Goliath’s Messaging

Guest Author — Mon, 08 Jan 2024 13:30:05 +0000

Goliath’s strength is in his messaging. It is appraisers who are destroying the message. The seeming destruction of the appraisal profession by the federal government, GSEs and lending stakeholders is a collective action problem. Appraisers are responding to new GSE and lending dictates with reactions based on our own personal well-being. Not enough people speak up or stand up to change the trajectory of the narrative. Or so it seems. Appraisal waivers, hybrid appraisals, automated valuation models, all based on the last 13 years of data collection by an entity I will call Goliath has created a paradoxical inversion of...

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Certified Appraisers vs. Unlicensed Data Collectors

Jonathan Miller — Tue, 25 Apr 2023 12:30:09 +0000

Here’s a great take on the difference between Certified Appraisers vs. Unlicensed Data Collectors by Leigh Brown, President of the NC Association of REALTORS. Fannie Mae has been working hard to get rid of appraisers for years. Their latest twist is to re-categorize many appraisers as “Unlicensed Data Collectors.” Fannie Mae will end up creating more instability for the trillions in the bond market – investors will have to process millions of valuations with the physical attributes of the home collected by unlicensed, uninsured, and unprepared individuals getting paid $10-$25 per inspection. AI meets with Fannie Mae regulators to...

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New URAR Redesign Spec Released

AppraisersBlogs — Fri, 31 Mar 2023 12:30:42 +0000

The Appraisal Forms & UAD Redesign Spec has been released and the current forms are being retired. This means that appraisers will no longer be using individual forms for each property type, but instead will have to use a single dataset with output varying based on property characteristics. If you want to get an idea of what this looks like, take a look at Appendix D-1 of the spec document. The new URAR form is going to be used for all types of properties as well as hybrid & traditional appraisals. It is important to note that this redesign requires...

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Eroding Consumer Protection

AppraisersBlogs — Wed, 29 Mar 2023 12:30:06 +0000

Waiving appraisal requirements on residential homes could erode consumer protection, stall attempts to create diversity in the profession… The recent announcement from Fannie Mae that they will waive the requirement for residential home appraisals has caused quite a stir in the industry. Fannie Mae’s decision to waive appraisals during this time of soon to come recession and bank liquidity issues is both surprising and concerning, and could have serious implications for both consumers and financial institutions alike. With falling values across many markets combined with rising mortgage rates putting even more pressure on borrowers’ wallets, this decision could potentially put...

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No Appraisals Required. The End of Appraisers?

Hamp Thomas — Thu, 09 Mar 2023 13:30:37 +0000

No appraisal may be required in the future! Fannie Mae took a direct shot at appraisers with the announcement of changes in their Selling Guide. Two options for the future, both of which do great harm to the appraisal industry. First, “third party” inspections. Appraisal trainees aren’t good enough, so now we will have unlicensed inspectors going through the homes of unsuspecting homeowners. And, with this inspection a traditional appraisal is no longer a requirement for the mortgage loan. Secondly, the 3rd party inspection is sent to a licensed appraiser. Fannie Mae wants an appraiser’s signature so the appraiser can...

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Exactly How Are Property Data Collectors Professionally Trained?

Dave Towne — Fri, 03 Mar 2023 13:30:51 +0000

Somebody explain to me exactly how Property Data Collectors are “professionally trained” per Fannie Mae directives. The fact is, Fannie Mae is explicitly working toward the elimination of appraisers for real property valuations. This is in their latest Selling Guide Announcement SEL-2023-02 to the Fannie Mae Selling Guide: Value acceptance + property data is a new option that utilizes property data collection by a third party who conducts interior and exterior data collection on the subject property. To ensure consumer protections, the lender must verify and be able to demonstrate that data collectors are vetted through an annual background check,...

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‘Opportunity’ to Work for Free is Not a Plan

Dave Towne — Thu, 23 Feb 2023 13:30:50 +0000

I gave this ‘opportunity’ further critical analysis in terms of time spent versus the fee income potential. Appraisers, I’d like to disclose a personal ‘opportunity’ that was presented to me last fall, early winter. A company with AMC roots was, or is, recruiting people to become “property inspectors” with the resulting reports potentially fed to other appraisers who do HYBRID, or maybe even DESKTOP reports. The GSEs never intended the DESKTOP report to incorporate separate ‘property inspections’ from a hired third party, but that’s been the evolution because they just look the other way. Last fall, due to the slowdown...

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