Tagged: NAR

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

June 7, 2016

Survey about FHA Assignments

Tell them what it will take to get you to re-start FHA assignments. FHA Appraisers, A new ‘attitude’ survey about doing FHA assignments has been prepared by the Illinois Coalition of Appraiser Professionals (ICAP). ICAP has a planned meeting with FHA, and will use survey results in their discussion. ICAP has asked that I distribute this, and by association, anyone who gets this may re-distribute via any other outlet, email list, etc. Link to the survey. It will take 4 minutes +/- to do this survey, depending on if you add additional comments at the end. One item the survey...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News / Federal Housing Administration / FHA

May 4, 2016

Requests from Lenders with Specific Statements

Lenders’ Requests, C&R Fees, Email Blasts, SOW, Unlicensed AMCs and more… What is the best way to ensure you receive a customary and reasonable fee for an appraisal? Answer: Only accept assignments with a customary and reasonable fee! That being said, here is a reminder of a USPAP requirement to consider before you respond to that email or text blast…. Scope of Work Rule Identify the problem to be solved. Determine and perform the scope of work necessary to develop credible assignment results. Disclose the scope of work in the report. Comment: Scope of work includes, but is not limited...

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

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

April 7, 2016

Real, Real Estate Reform Needed

What a crazy system we have grown into since Dodd-Frank. All this talk about “Big Data” and “Standardization” makes me want to scream! Enough is enough. Before we get to the appraisal process discussion, let’s talk about how real estate is priced all across this country. Realtors® price homes, period. No Big Data, no thoughts of mortgage risk, accuracy, consistency, transparency, and no one is looking over their shoulders asking “why” on every choice they make. No regression analysis, no quality or condition ratings, not too much of anything that resembles an appraisal these days. Yet, they are quick to...

American Measurement Standard / American National Standards Institute / AMS / ANSI / Appraisal / Appraisal News

April 5, 2016

An AMC Takeover is Coming!

AMCs completing appraisal reports in direct competition with the independent appraiser As an appraiser, you have probably seen or heard that AMCs are hiring staff appraisers to complete appraisal assignments in local markets. What does this mean for independent fee appraisers? Here is some background information to consider. 54.1-2020 of the Code of Virginia states: An Appraisal Management Company is “a person or entity that (i) administers a network of independent contract appraisers, receives requests for appraisals from clients, and receives a fee paid by the client for the appraisals and (ii) enters into an agreement with one or more...

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

March 7, 2016

Desirable, Rite or Rong?

Desirable, banned or permitted? I was caught up in a minor ‘dispute’ last week when a review appraiser wacked my knuckles when I described a ‘neighborhood’ as being “Desirable.” My original message was re-distributed on various forums and I’ve tried to read all comments to see how I might learn from this episode. Lots of appraisers offered their input. Some supportive and positive, some cautionary, and some who believe much of what we have to deal with is pretty trivial. “Banned words” were originally identified in the Fair Housing Act law many years ago (not the EEOC law as I...

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

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 21, 2015

Stop the Housing Tax for Transportation

Hidden tax on homeowners The California Association of Realtors® in conjunction with the National Association of Realtors® has published a widespread “Call to Action”, Stop Congress From Taking Money From Future Homeowners. I have already contacted my Congress Member and received a reply. In a nutshell, the bill being discussed is a hidden tax on homeowners. Whether on a refinance or on a new purchase, anyone with a mortgage of about $400,000 could expect to pay an additional $8,000 for federal transportation infrastructure funding through an add on mortgage tax included in their monthly payment! For decades the Federal Highway...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / NAR / National Association of Realtors / Political Action

September 10, 2015

An Open Letter to the Valuation Profession

An Open Letter to the Valuation Profession from the Appraisal Foundation regarding the rift with the Appraisal Institute Value. Appraisers grapple with this concept daily as they analyze data and information to arrive at an opinion that is credible. Some information found is valid, some is tainted, and appraisers work diligently to separate the good from the bad to arrive at their conclusions – opinions that can withstand future tests. Likewise, The Appraisal Foundation (TAF; the Foundation) remains constantly attuned to what is going on in the valuation realm, conscientiously analyzing information and working to uphold the appraisal profession so its actions...

AARO / AI / American Society of Appraisers / Appraisal / Appraisal Institute / Appraisal News