Tagged: IRS

February 24, 2017

Baby or Bath Water? And Is it Time to Take Back USPAP?

About half of AICPA members don’t believe in USPAP… When I first heard that “they” were trying to do away with the Appraisal Practices Board (APB) of the Appraisal Foundation (TAF), I tried to keep an open mind. I also wondered who “they” are. Did the Appraisal Institute (AI) finally get a sympathetic ear in Congress? Was it preemptive action by the Board of Trustees in anticipation of budget cuts by the new administration? By the way, what does the APB do? I certainly had it wrong. I thought they helped develop the Advisory Opinions (AOs)! To be candid the...

AGA / AI / American Society of Appraisers / APB / Appraisal / Appraisal Institute

August 25, 2016

ACI Sky Causing Distress for Appraisers

Are you giving in to ACI Sky? An appraiser who will remain anonymous tells us… “within the last week, I have had two issue of concerns with “UAD” compliance and ACI Sky Delivery ( I can hardly write that; as, it is a significant source of stress when I have to deal with it). I have tried to submit reports, with issues that prevented the upload (no surprise with “Sky”). The first involved the 1004MC form. The comparables that were available for the subject were extremely minimal – something like 4-6. The last period only included 1 comparable (no valid...

1004MC / ACI / AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News

GLA Adjustment & Pizza Slices – They Do correlate!

August 4, 2016

GLA Adjustments & Pizza Slices – They Do Correlate!

Determining the GLA Adjustment in Appraisal Reports I promised in a previous post I’d send out my method for determining the GLA adjustment in appraisal reports. Goodness! Appraisers actually found that statement buried in the prior post, and have ‘rung my chimes’ requesting this info! OK, but first, the pizza analogy. I often tell clients and other appraisers that appraising (residential) real estate is far more complex than grabbing a store-bought pre-boxed pizza (that has exactly the same ingredients from box to box no matter which store you shop in) at a grocery and then applying 425 degrees of love...

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

July 25, 2016

Appraiser’s Response to LRES Order Blast

LRES Standard Interior Appraisal Request? Your special requirements and micromanagement of the appraisal process dictate that I charge a fee commensurate with the additional, but typically unnecessary work needed to produce credible results. You are the potential client (agent), so that that is your prerogative and it would be my pleasure to accommodate you as long as appropriate compensation is provided. Respectfully, there is little about your appraisal request that is “standard”. Please explain briefly what you consider to be a ‘standard interior appraisal’. That definition does not appear in The Appraisal Institute’s Dictionary of Real Estate Appraisal. To be...

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

July 13, 2016

Collateral Underwriter Crumbles

CU Robot Keeps Score on Appraisers Appraisers, No, this is not about “cuukie” crumbles. It’s about what the Fannie Mae Collateral Underwriter (CU) process is finding in far too many appraisal reports. A few days ago, I had an opportunity to speak with someone on the ‘inside’ of Fannie Mae. The discussion evolved to “what are the most serious items the CU process is finding in appraisals?” The CU process, which became effective January 26, 2015, is a giant electronic robot collecting tons of specific data from submitted appraisals to FNMA. This data can then be tied directly to the...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisal Quality Monitoring / Appraisers News / AQM / Collateral Underwriter

June 29, 2016

Let’s Talk Fees

How different fees can affect an appraiser’s income. OK, before you lob spears and bricks my way, we can. This is not a ‘public event’ filled with associates in an open meeting setting. In places like that, the FTC takes dim view of any fee discussion, fearing price fixing and collusion. But privately, fees can be discussed among peers, with no agreement that any certain, mandated fee be charged by everyone. The gubmint can’t stop you from talking with an associate. For weeks and months, appraisers across many of the forums I read have been discussing the need for appraisers...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Customary & Reasonable Fees

April 11, 2016

The 1004D for Disaster Inspections – Advice

When Disaster Happens… Appraisers, The phrase “disasters happen” is, unfortunately, all too common. Fires, floods, vehicle accidents, wind storms, hurricanes, tornadoes are all factors that can affect real property. When a local disaster happens, and is officially declared, lenders often ask appraisers to observe the current condition of their mortgaged properties. The assignment date may be days, weeks or months after the declared disaster. The hiccups, hang-ups and head scratching occurs when the lender or AMC asks for a ‘Disaster Inspection Condition Report’ to be done on the wonderful 1004D form. Something it is not designed to do. And this...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice

February 10, 2016

College Degree Requirement is Flawed

Why the 4-year college degree requirement is flawed and how to make the requirement work? Many, many years ago, my local college offered appraisal classes. You could take a couple classes, go take the state test and start knocking on doors. New people didn’t need a mentor. And new people learned by trial and error. It probably wasn’t the best way to do things. But it did allow for new people to freely get into the profession without a bunch of hurdles to overcome. Times have changed. Today, new people have to have a 4-year college degree in anything first,...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Trending

October 5, 2015

A Contrary Response to The Future of Valuation

Recently an article appeared in WorkingRE about the Future of Valuation. The author is the President of a large and highly respected Appraiser Peer and Educational Organization. My own contrary response was either too lengthy, or deemed too critical of a big advertiser for publication in WorkingRE. I thank the hosts of this blog for granting the space. My concern with the author’s views starts with the description of our Real Estate Appraisal profession as ‘valuation.’ The concern is more than mere quibbling over semantics. Valuation is the phrase preferred by the Business Valuation community. They have long been dominated...

AI / AMC / American Society of Appraisers / Appraisal / Appraisal Institute / Appraisal Management Companies

August 14, 2015

Appraisal Fees ARE Being Manipulated

Gas prices in California were $4.25 to $4.50 when oil was last at $100 a barrel. A week ago they were $50+/- a barrel and our pump prices were still over $4.00 a gallon. We are told ‘environmental’ mandated blended methanol is the cause of the $1.30 higher pricing than anywhere else in the Continental US. When those environmental laws were being passed we were told they’d only add from $0.05 to MAX of $0.15 per gallon-NOT $1.30 or 43% more! We KNOW that California politicians have also very recently heavily increased gas taxes in their never ending war against internal combustion....

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