Dear Mike, I’m personally tired of giving all my money to “services.” A monthly subscription fee, while profitable for the biller, is not in my best interests. It would have to be pretty darn fabulous to justify it. Re: Cloud based… agreed with you there. Anything in the “cloud” can be hacked and is less safe than what’s on my computer (IMHO, whether accurate or not). I keep the data, no one else.

Thanks for the tip on Homeputer. I’ll take a look at that!!

Homeputer has to be set up from scratch as to forms you will use but otherwise seems simple enough. I haven’t bothered with it yet.

Freedom sounds great if you are ok with cloud-based services and a monthly subscription fee. The developer developed appraisal genie previously. I was impressed by his presentation and desire NOT to release til all bugs worked out. I am SO anti-cloud-based subscription software that it’s hard for me to be objective, and perhaps properly appreciative of all he’s done. Keep an open mind is my best advice.

Mike, Mark Skapinetz said it was scheduled to be unveiled at AppraiserFest. He said he would touch base after to give me details since I couldn’t attend.

What was the deal with Homepeuter? Does it require a ton of time?

Hi Dawn, I think the name of the software Mark was posting about was “Freedom”. Last I heard is is about ready but not quite. I’m personally thinking about SFREP (No idea what it is). I already bought Homepeuter but not sure I have enough time for it. Cant beat the price though. Owner is incredible in terms of customer service.

I have used Clickforms (Bradford) and have friends that swear by it. It’s fine but i dot like the price. I’m sure a lot of folks will report back from AFest about whose using what.

And when are appraisers going to do anything about it, other than complain to other appraisers about it?

Compiling our fees and presenting them as ‘non AMC fees’ is highly suspect when the provider is an AMC (Corelogic). Additionally ‘inviting others’ to charge a specific fee IS an FTC violation. It is an invitation to price fixing. Then there is the issue of giving out our private business information in a published document. Its bad enough to steel our professional work product, but to then tell people what we have charged for specific work in a specific area is wrong.

Yes, let’s handle the practical application first. What better way to gather data than from the source itself, the appraiser? Based on corelogic’s own website, I would be willing to bet that they have and still are. I have had suspicion for years that our data was being lifted. Especially when Mercury Network advertised that they were selling a guide to reasonable and customary fees by county and state. I took a glance at this data that they were selling. Tell me how they could have come up with this detailed info without peeking in on the appraisers software, invoices, and reports, and listing the form it was reported on! The appraised value! The room count! Seriously!!?? CoreLogic Mercury Network Fee Analytics

Purchasing Alamode just made the gathering game easier. And when corelogic clearly hasn’t complied with FTC orders in the past on other data collection companies that they acquired, I would say they surely aren’t worried about a bunch of appraisers. https://www.corelogic.com/about-us/data.aspx

“Appraisal report data has been collected by upstream platforms in the lending system with no reciprocation to appraisers for their own benefit.”

Translation: ‘We have been stealing your data for years, and you guys weren’t bright enough to pick up on this until recently’ Therefore it’s OK?

WHO exactly is the royal “We” that Johnny Doe/Dustin Moore is/are referring to? alamode SOLD so it is not a separate ‘we’ anymore. It IS CorelaMode.

Note to CoreLaMode: When you have to argue with your ‘valued’ customers to get them to accept a product they never asked for in the first place, then maybe your product is so bad as to even reflect negatively on your other services. Instead of continued insulting of our intelligence, if you really give a damn about customer retention, then stop your bad businesses practices.

You guys at CoreLaMode/FNC/AppraisalPort ARE the ‘upstream platforms’ your lament opines about.

Sorry, those statements by Dustin Moore and reposted by John Doe have absolutely nothing to do with violating State Law or USPAP.

Hate to tell you this Dustin, but it sounds like all b******* to me.

This is absolutely, positively false. Here are a few reasons why.

The timing of SmartExchange

We see a lot of appraisers associating CoreLogic and SmartExchange as if SmartExchange wouldn’t have happened if a la mode wasn’t acquired by CoreLogic. This isn’t true. Many of you remember having conversations about “CompsXchange” in the early and mid-2000s. Development began years ahead of our acquisition and was announced in October 2017, seven months before our acquisition. SmartExchange has been part of our strategy for many years and wasn’t introduced by CoreLogic after they acquired a la mode.

You might ask, “If you’ve been talking about it for a decade, why now”? Two things have happened in the last few years:

1 – Appraisal report data has been collected by upstream platforms in the lending system with no reciprocation to appraisers for their own benefit. AMCs, delivery portals, lender clients, and UCDP all collect data as appraisals pass through their systems. Appraisers have known this for years and have been vocal critics of having their report data used against them to fuel review questions.

SmartExchange is very clearly the answer to this problem because it democratizes the data that was previously locked behind others’ firewalls. Now everyone is on equal footing. With SmartExchange, you see how other appraisers have used comps in the past and have the opportunity to make comments on your comps to preempt questions from reviewers.

2 – Lenders have the need for speed. The (false) appraiser shortage narrative wasn’t created because of an actual lack of appraisers. It started because lenders and their borrower clients were frustrated with longer than normal appraisal turn-times. We could debate whether near-instant appraisals are a good thing, but frankly it doesn’t matter. Lenders are the appraisal client, and they want the reports turned faster.

SmartExchange aims to reduce appraisal turn-time in two ways. First, if you get a good comp hit from a peer in SmartExchange, one click on the “use” button is a heck of a lot faster than typing the 50+ UAD-required data fields. Second, if you note discrepancies between your comps and other appraisers’ uses, you’re going to cut down on time spent answering reviewers’ questions.

What data from my reports is added to SmartExchange?

First, if you don’t opt in, no data is uploaded to SmartExchange. If you do opt in, the only data uploaded to SmartExchange is the comparable property characteristic data from the comps grid. No adjustments are uploaded and no data from your subjects are added to SmartExchange.

I’ve seen my data in SmartExchange even though I haven’t opted in. How did that happen?

There are two ways this is possible. First, if you’ve got the property in your own local comps database, we’re going to show that data to you in the grid. This is a local database search, not a download from SmartExchange. Again, if you haven’t opted in, none of your data is uploaded from your machine.

The second way you could see your own data without opting in is a byproduct of the data collection practices of the broader industry. AMCs, delivery portals, lender clients, and UCDP all collect data as appraisals pass through their systems. CoreLogic owns some of those systems and collects data in compliance with their own agreements. When we were acquired by CoreLogic and gained access to data that appraisers would have never had access to otherwise, it was a no-brainer for us to be transparent and provide that data back to appraisers through SmartExchange.

How am I protected from having my data used against me?

You’re protected by the SmartExchange terms of use. Specifically, paragraph three:

“You hereby grant ALM and its affiliates a nonexclusive, perpetual, worldwide, fully paid license to contribute Your Property Data into SmartExchange and create derivative works in the form of products and data which may be provided to other members of the SmartExchange service.”

Here it is clearly stated that a la mode and its affiliates can CONTRIBUTE data to SmartExchange. But also note the only ones who can CONSUME the data are other members of the SmartExchange service. Only SmartExchange members (appraisers using TOTAL) have access to the data in SmartExchange.

Is CoreLogic is going to take all our data and build an AVM?

No. This would be a bad idea both logically and in practice.

Let’s handle the practical application first. The SmartExchange terms of use state that a la mode and its affiliates can CONTRIBUTE data. Not CONSUME data. Building an AVM would most certainly require the consumption of SmartExchange data, so it’s prohibited by these terms. The only people who can use SmartExchange are the other members of SmartExchange.

Logically, it makes zero sense. Many of CoreLogic’s business units count appraisers as their customers. Why would any business work to eliminate their customers? Further, how would AVMs get data in the future if appraisers were put out of business? The AVM argument is false.

If you’re not using the data to create an AVM, what is the “derivative works” language in the SmartExchange terms of use?

In SmartExchange, when there is a discrepancy between your data and another appraiser’s we color the text in that field red so you can easily see the differences. Since the original appraiser didn’t submit the report with a red font color, we’ve changed the appraiser’s original use. This constitutes a “derivative product” because it’s different than the original.

We’re also hearing that SmartExchange users get good data hits, but the original use was in ALL CAPS. We’re considering a feature that would allow appraisers to transform the all caps instance to normal case. This would constitute a derivative work.

Also note from this paragraph in the Terms of Use that the derivative products are provided “to other members of the SmartExchange service”. This means that if you’re not a member of SmartExchange, you don’t get access to the data. It would violate our own terms of use to provide the data to a non-member.

How does this save time when all the data contributed by other appraisers is wrong?

If you see instances where you don’t agree with another appraiser’s use, simply don’t use their data. No time lost there. However, you can be fairly confident that your data will be compared to that other appraiser’s by some other system. You can indeed save time by noting why your data differs from other instances, so reviewers won’t email or call you for an explanation.

And it could be that the other appraiser is right. We’ve heard from customers who saw differing data in SmartExchange, made a few phone calls, and discovered that their own data wasn’t correct. Having access to that other appraiser’s “wrong” data actually made for a more accurate report.

One other thing to note on this idea that doesn’t have anything to do with the SmartExchange technology…

There is a publicly visible survey on appraisersblogs.com (http://appraisersblogs.com/smart-exchange-pros-cons-4-appra…) where 95% of appraisers say they don’t trust other appraisers’ data. From a broader industry perspective, this is a bad look. I understand that the writer is trying to illustrate a point on SmartExchange. But the survey translates to “Look, even appraisers don’t trust each other’s data”.

In a climate where some appraisers believe so strongly that they’re being pushed out of the business, a show of solidarity and confidence in the profession would have been a better move.

Again, feel free to quote me on any of the items above. We’re not up to anything nefarious. We’re not stealing data. And we’re certainly not aiming to put appraisers out of business. In all three cases, the opposite is true.

Dustin Moore
a la mode”

Now you’re seeing the game plan!

LOL.

See now it’s all coming together. They need to keep the overtime down after all those dang slave labor lawsuits forcing unpaid overtime on their appraisers.

Of course not. That’s why I’m desperately seeking another form software… Whatever Happened to that comment from Mark Skapinetz about another form software option?

http://appraisersblogs.com/corelogic-acquisition-appraisers-ditch-a-la-mode

CoreLogic does have staff appraisers, the Landsafe / Bank of America appraisers were sold to CoreLogic. Poor bastards !!!

Hey, big picture thinking going on here. Does corelogic have staff appraisers? Sometimes you just have to do yourself a favor if nobody else will.

Just think of all the outsourcing from AMCs and their “staff” appraisers.