Category: Trending

Third Party Services Prohibited - Prohibition is Back! 24

Prohibition is Back!

AMC strictly prohibits the use of third party services. A recent review of an engagement letter from a large national appraisal management company revealed something pretty peculiar… “An appraiser is prohibited from using any third party services.“ Wait, What? No third party services? I am no attorney, and certainly do not know all the aspects of law, but it seems that the definition of third party services is pretty self-explanatory. To be sure I am not mistaken; I researched the definition of third party. FreeDictionary.com: “A person who is not a party to a contract or a transaction, but has...

Subject Inspection for Hybrid Appraisals & USPAP Compliance 62

USPAP Compliance & Hybrid Appraisals

WHO does the SUBJECT INSPECTION? Appraisers, Some appraisers have questioned the name ‘Hybrid Appraisal’ because the requesting client WON’T USE THAT NAME for the product. When they call or email you, they’ll say something like “We have a really fast appraisal for you to do that you can do on your desktop without leaving your office.”, or “Can you do an exterior appraisal for us?” or they might identify it by the ‘name’ that client uses for the product. The FIRST question you need to ask is simple: WHO does the SUBJECT INSPECTION? If they say ‘someone else does that’…...

Salary Range for Real Estate Appraisers in the US? 29

Average US Appraiser Salary

Are you curious about the salary range for appraisers in the United States? Click this link for info on salary ranges for Real Estate Appraisers. Rising fees across the country has fueled the growth in appraiser income. That’s a good thing! Why should we be the only ‘workers’ to have their income potential held down by lenders who don’t want to pass on true costs of doing complicated appraisals to their bank clients – the actual mortgage loan consumer – while EVERYTHING else has increased? Thankfully over the past two years that has changed, as most appraisers across the US...

Comps Sharing & Big Data By Appraisers For Appraisers 28

Big Data Assisting Appraisers

Big data comps sharing assisting appraisers… I admit to having a dog in the fight. Maybe even a pony, camel, or even a pure bred Clydesdale horse… On 10/09/2017, the owner of alamode software informed customers of a significant new change in how ‘comps’ can be added to a current report – which will be implemented sometime early next year. Read his message here. This is significant because the ability of ‘Big Data’ is being put to work ASSISTING appraisers, rather than being withheld from us as is done with the GSE’s highly touted Collateral Underwriter – even though ‘we’...

Community Bankers Voice Their Concern About Real Estate Appraisal 19

Bankers Concerned About Appraisals

Community bankers said appraisals are becoming a concern… A survey was distributed by state banking regulatory agencies in April and remained open through July. More than 600 community bankers from across the U.S. lent their voices to this year’s survey, and those views are captured in this volume. Responses are summarized and presented in following five major areas: Local market conditions; regulation and supervision; small business lending; management structure and succession planning; and technology. The responses provide context for the data gathered through the survey and highlight some of the dierent challenges faced by community banks in different states. The...

Greedy Players Engaged in Illegal Activities, Lie-Ability & Tax Payers 30

Lie – Ability

Tax payers should not be LIE-ABLE for the actions of greedy bad players! Michael Simmons, Principal and founding Director of AXIS Appraisal Management Solutions, a national AMC had an article published in Appraisal Buzz titled  “What If?” on October 2, 2017. The article, which I believe was intended to spark interest and membership in the Collateral Risk Network (CRN), is an epic failure. Thank you Appraisal Buzz for shedding some light on the garbage being discussed at a CRN meeting! Of course no independent appraiser even remotely gives any credibility to this group. We all know who and what they are. First, let...

Hybrid Appraisals Survey Results 26

Hybrid Appraisals Survey Results

Appraisers, about 1.5 weeks ago, I asked Washington State appraisers to respond to a survey I designed, having to do with HYBRID appraisals. The tabulated results of that survey are displayed below in the embedded PDF, with ‘quick’ responses below. Of the surveys distributed to nearly 400 appraisers, the response was better than other types of market surveys, meaning the results are statistically acceptable… and could be transferred ‘by inference’ to the appraiser population across the US. A HYBRID appraisal is a ‘desktop assignment’ where the subject property inspection and photos is done by a non-appraiser, and that info/data is turned...

Reviewer Following AMC Instructions May Be Violating State Laws 42

Knowledge is Everything

Conversation with an AMC Reviewer The following was sent to VaCAP from a member. We thought it was important to share as it demonstrates how important it is for each appraiser to be knowledgeable of the statutes and regulations we all must follow. It may help make your interactions go a little more smoothly. “I completed an appraisal for a purchase transaction in a rural area and the opinion of value was below the contract price. The report included five comparable sales, three of which were within 2 miles and had equivalent gross living area. The other two sales were...

AMC management fees exceeding the appraiser’s fee more frequently 40

AMC Fees Exceeding Appraiser’s Fee

AMC management fees exceeding the appraiser’s fee more frequently Over the past year, the AMC industry growth model – taken from the backs of residential appraisers – has been broken by a growing number of residential appraisers that won’t accept fees below the custom & reasonable rate. So in order for AMCs to grow revenue, appraisers are seeing their fees surpassed by the AMCs themselves. In other words, hiring the valuation expert – the whole point of getting an appraisal to begin with – to make less than the company that manages them. We hear the GSEs and lending industry...

MLS Photographs to Be Used for Comparable Sales Says Freddie Mac 23

MLS Comp Photos

Using MLS photographs for comparable sales… In its September 2017 Bulletin, Freddie Mac updated its appraisal requirements. One change worth noting is the use of MLS photographs for comparable sales. Freddie Mac now allows copies of MLS photographs to be used for comparable sales without an explanation from the appraiser. While most appraisers welcome this change, others believe that this is another step to remove the appraiser from the process. One appraiser commented: “Anyone that thinks this is great should think about the long term. Freddie is now saying you don’t need your own pictures to prove you did an...

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