Tagged: rural

Appraisal Thresholds Raised $500K. How Long Before Its Raised for SFR? 12

Appraisal Thresholds Bordello

Anyone wants to place a wager on how long before appraisal thresholds are raised for SFR? Retirement, with a part-time job working as a bouncer at a bordello in the Nevada desert is beginning to look appealing. Activity there is similar to what appraisers are experiencing these days. From the article: “The FDIC board of directors today (Mar. 20, 2018) approved a final rule to raise the appraisal thresholds for commercial real estate transactions from $250,000 to $500,000…” While the individual 1-4 unit investment properties are being kept at $250,000, would anyone like to place a wager on how long...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News

Rural Areas Appraisal Waiver Threatening Appraisers & Bad for America! 34

Another Threat Looming

Senate Bill raising de minimus value to $400,000 will also waive appraisals in certain situations in rural areas Folks, while the TriStar Bank appraisal waiver issue is important for appraisers, there is another insidious threat looming: Senate Bill 2155 passed the Senate this week, and is now in the hands of the House of Representatives. That bill, if fully ratified as it stands, and is signed by the President, will undercut the need for appraisals in two ways: the current de minimus value of $250,000 is raised to $400,000, which means lenders can use non-appraiser evaluations to establish property value for...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Political Action / Trending

ASC Call for Comments: Dangerous Slippery Slope if Waiver is Granted 6

ASC Call for Comments

It is important for every appraiser to submit comments… The Appraisal Subcommittee wants to hear from appraisers on Tristar Bank’s request for appraisal waivers. The comment period is open until April 9, 2018. VaCAP has previously participated in a group letter with other organizations and expressed our concerns on this topic. We will once again be part of a group letter as well as send in our own comments. It is important for every appraiser to submit comments on how this is a dangerous slippery slope if the waiver is granted. Consumer protection is the issue and the door will be...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisal Subcommittee / Appraisers News / ASC

The Way Things Used To Be - Appraisal fees unchanged in two decades 127

The Way Things Used To Be

“We haven’t had a raise in two decades.” Give me a break! It’s a common complaint in our industry that real estate appraisers haven’t had a raise in two decades. The argument goes that twenty years ago, the standard fee for an appraisal was $350. Fast forward twenty years and it’s still $350. That’s a great sound bite, but the actual logic is deeply flawed. In real terms, we’ve had a huge raise thanks to the massively reduced amount of time we spend on our appraisals. It’s something I’ve written about before (Never Had a Raise in 20 Years), but...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Trending / Valuation Technology

Community Banks Appraisal Waivers Deja Vu - If I Could Turn Back Time 61

If I Could Turn Back Time

Community Banks want to bypass appraisals in rural area… Evaluations are the answer, right? There have been lots of discussions lately concerning property inspection waivers, waivers of appraisals in rural areas, and allowing appraisers to complete Evaluations outside of USPAP standards. Doesn’t this all sound familiar? It should, we have already lived it 30 some years ago, prior to FIRREA. Back then Savings and Loans had staff appraisers to complete appraisals. The appraisal was not completed by a licensed appraiser, because licensing to protect the public did not exist. Today Community Banks want to bypass appraisals in rural area. Their...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Trending / Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice / USPAP

Stop Senate Bill 2155 in the Senate, Fake Claim of an Appraisers Shortage 49

Stop S.2155 in the Senate

Call to action to oppose Senate Bill 2155, also opposed by an overwhelming majority of Americans… Appraisers, We are placing an immediate nationwide call to action to oppose Senate Bill 2155 currently in the United States Senate. Senate Bill 2155 has a provision, (sec 103) which allows a bank to waive an appraisal in rural communities. This will be detrimental for homeowners and communities in rural areas. A loss of income will also occur for appraisers who cover rural counties. To see the text of S.2155, click here. The Independent Community Bank Association has been hard at work promoting this bill....

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News / Customary & Reasonable Fees / Dodd-Frank Act / C&R Fees

Location Reporting - Where, 'Exactly', is Your Subject Located? 9

Where, Exactly, is Your Subject Located?

Appraisers, I have another ‘observation’ to discuss, based on separate reports where I found the same type of subject location reporting by different appraisers working in different areas, nowhere close together. This ‘observation’ concerns the reported physical location (on form page 1 Neighborhood comment section) of the appraised property verses its street address and ZIP Code. This is especially relevant to appraisers who work in Suburban and Rural areas. Street addresses and ZIP Codes are assigned by the United States Postal Service, for THEIR convenience and operations. Those addresses and ZIPs may extend far from city limit lines which is the primary...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News

Rural Areas Appraisers at Risk by Dangerous Pending Bill in US Senate 22

Dangerous Pending Bill in US Senate

Appraisers, If you work in Rural Areas [that definition is referenced in (b)(1) below], your appraisal livelihood is threatened by this pending bill in Congress. This bill, if signed into law, will allow lenders to bypass appraisals for any property with a ‘transaction value’ of $400,000 or less (this is moving the de minimus goal post) if the lender was unable to find an available appraiser to complete an appraisal “within a reasonable amount of time”… that time frame apparently as determined by a regulator agency with jurisdiction over the lender. The bill shows ‘exceptions’ to this as per other laws. Appraisers...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Political Action / Trending

Suburban Inside Urban City Limits 26

Suburban Inside Urban City Limits – Really?

Pre-filled template with ‘Suburban’ already checked… Appraisers, Another appraisal report was delivered by a homing pigeon to my windowsill the other day. After leaving a ‘deposit’ on the sill that kind of matches the goop I observed in the report, off it went. The subject property is within a built-up neighborhood area within the largest city in this particular area; it is within city limits. The neighborhood was developed in the 1950’s and 60’s. It is fully built out (i.e., all subdivided lots are developed) and has a couple of neighborhood parks. Population density is similar to other areas within...

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

mysterious device revealed 2

Mysterious Device Revealed

On Monday, I distributed a photo (see below), which was taken by a western US appraiser at the subject property, and asked if anyone could accurately describe what this device is: The property owner was not at the property when the appraiser was there, and the appraiser was frankly stumped as to what this ‘thing’ is. By late afternoon Monday, the appraiser was able to talk with the property owner, and was told about this contraption. Meanwhile, dozens of appraisers wrote back with suggestions or positive “it’s a” statements. One appraiser actually has an administrative assistant who is a HAM radio...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News

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