Moving away from AMC's. Need some clarification.

[OG80]

I am trying to never use an AMC again.

IF you dont do AMC's, please tell me what other work you do and what form do you use.

Thank you in advance.

 

[DWiley]

The thing that AMCs have done is establish connections with the lenders that use them and secure work from them. There is a lot of mortgage work that does not go through AMCs. The key to getting non-AMC lending work is to establish the same kind of connection with those lenders that the AMCs have established with their lender clients. This involves marketing and research to find how who you need to market to. I would start with your local lenders, as they tend to use direct appraiser engagement rather than AMCs.

If you want to supplement your business with non-lender work, then you have to make connections with non-lenders who are are potential clients. This is best accomplished with a marketing plan, but that is something that is foreign to many residential appraisers, especially those who have focused on AMCs. AMCs are relatively easy to market to - you just sign up to join their panel. Marketing for non-AMC work takes more effort, more time, and may involve spending money on marketing. This is why so many opt to just go down the AMC route.

Some of my most fruitful marketing efforts involved targeting groups like, estate planners and attorneys, attorneys who specialize in real estate litigation, agents (for pre-listing appraisals and tough-to-price properties, residential property managers. I also got a lot of work from local builders and developers. It may also help if you develop specialized skills. I had a lot of success with estate stuff because I developed an expertise in partial interest appraisals after I learned that estate planners often use partial interest gifting to shift the burden of estate taxes.

Litigation work is some of the most profitable, and it is some of the most difficult to break into. Once you land the first one, if you do a good job, then word gets around in the legal community. Divorce and bankruptcy cases are often the first litigation related assignments for appraisers. For that, you can target local attorneys who specialize in those areas.

I cannot emphasize enough how important I think a marketing plan is. Almost all successful business have a written marketing plan and a marketing budget. My experience was that at first the money we put into marketing seemed like it was going into a black hole. Then, things start to click, and after a while money spent on marketing is just a smart investment. There is a saying in Nashville about singers and song writers - it took him five years to become an overnight success. I think it is that way with marketing. It took a while to establish our company in some of the niches I have mentioned, but once we did, the jobs and fees were well the time, effort and money.

I would look at my calendar and my books every month and see how much time and money I had spent on marketing/promoting my company. How many agent sales meetings did I speak at? How many attorney events did I sponsor or speak at? How many business cards did we leave with people? That last one is pretty simple. I know a lot of appraisers today do not even have business cards. We had them and the appraisers were required to pass them out like candy. You never know when you will hand a card to someone and that will turn into hundreds of appraisals.

 

[chad hampton]

It’s a small piece of the pie. I do maybe 1 to 2 non-lending assignments a month and they’re always worth the trouble of about five lending assignments. Private appraisals, pre-listing appraisals, etc. I would have no interest in having non-lending work be the bulk of my income. I couldn’t see doing 30 plus of those a month.

The best work out there right now is direct lenders. They pay decent and still at least give the appearance of professionalism towards the appraiser. Hard money lending is good work too. They sort of still do appraisals the old-fashioned way. And they actually have a human being reading the report since it’s not socialized government money they are lending.

I don’t do much work for attorneys, but I’ve also never marketed to them. I would expect they would look more at your résumé, do you have a legitimate math/econ/scoence degree, maybe an MBA? They want to know they’re dealing with a professional.

I do wish you luck, but there’s a lot of people going after the 20% of work that the AMC’s don’t have a monopoly on.

 

[Vermonter]

Been AMC free since 2012ish and don't miss it at all. Stick with local banks and credit unions. Private work fills the gaps.

No difference in forms for non-AMC lending work. They still require 1004UAD and are moving to 3.6 as far as I know. In house loans depends on the client. GP form or narrative for private work.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

IF you dont do AMC's, please tell me what other work you do and what form do you use.

It's called shoe leather. Hit the road with a brochure or resume, and visit Community banks. Research first and see if they use an AMC, portal, or do their ordering in person. Then check lawyers and CPAs offices. Again, check the website and see if they specialize in estates. Estates are also handled by the Trust Department of a bank. Even if the loan department uses an AMC, the trust department may order the appraisal.

Forms? Learn to build templates in a word processor for maximum flexibility. And get your CG. Much of the non-lender work is non-residential. Specialize. Agri is almost always short of appraisers. Check out classes from the ASFMRA. If you insist on forms then the general purpose forms are the best you are going to get. Do not use the URAR and adjust your certifications to meet the assignment. Lender forms are worthless.

 

[DWiley]

It’s a small piece of the pie. I do maybe 1 to 2 non-lending assignments a month and they’re always worth the trouble of about five lending assignments. Private appraisals, pre-listing appraisals, etc. I would have no interest in having non-lending work be the bulk of my income. I couldn’t see doing 30 plus of those a month.

The best work out there right now is direct lenders. They pay decent and still at least give the appearance of professionalism towards the appraiser. Hard money lending is good work too. They sort of still do appraisals the old-fashioned way. And they actually have a human being reading the report since it’s not socialized government money they are lending.

I don’t do much work for attorneys, but I’ve also never marketed to them. I would expect they would look more at your résumé, do you have a legitimate math/econ/scoence degree, maybe an MBA? They want to know they’re dealing with a professional.

I do wish you luck, but there’s a lot of people going after the 20% of work that the AMC’s don’t have a monopoly on.

If I were in the OP's shoes, I would initially focus on gaining more work with direct lenders. That would offer a good balance between effort required vs return on that effort.

Speaking at agent sales meetings always generated a lot of pre-listing appraisals for me. I would try to do at least one of those every month. When I went to an office I tried to to give that office something useful for that office. For example, if I spoke at an office in Spring Hill, I would prepare a deep market analysis of Spring Hill and use that as the basis for my presentation (price trends, what types of homes are sitting on the market vs what types of homes were selling quickly, absorption rates, etc.). Also, when i did pre-listing appraisals, I did not use forms. I did a Restricted Report using a template I set up in Word. That was faster, and it avoided having someone come back and ask me to "transfer" the report to a lender. They basically got a short Word doc, a sketch they could use in a listing, and a MLS print out of the comps I used. I would only include an adjustment grid in the report if there were features that warranted that.

Legal work, specifically litigation work, is generally the most lucrative, but also requires the most effort and time. My last year of fee work I spent over 75% of my time working on litigation work with an hourly rate at or near the price of a non-complex URAR. But, it took me years to get to that point. I think the easiest way to break into legal work is to seek out bankruptcy and divorce work; that starts networking with attorneys, which might lead to estate work or litigation work. Many avoid divorce work, but in my experience most of those cases actually settle and do not turn into the nightmare that some envision.

 

[sputnam]

I am trying to never use an AMC again.

IF you dont do AMC's, please tell me what other work you do and what form do you use.

Thank you in advance.

AMCs have never been the only source of assignments for appraisers. They have been an easier source.... some of them will hire anyone.

There are still direct lenders plus lenders get appraisals for non lending purposes... lawyers... sometimes Realtors or property owners... title insurance companies. You'll have to do some sales work.

As for which form, when you report the appraisal, you use the form or format that's most appropriate given the Intended Users and the Intended Use. Good chance, if you are working for a direct lender, they will tell you what they want the appraisal report to look like. The GP form is a good go to if a particular form hasn't been requested by the Client.

 

[J Grant]

Put aside $, or do some crap AMC work to pay the bills until you get enough other clients.

To get non-AMC work via direct lenders, you need very good work samples and a higher skill set than the average appraiser. I have several good non-AMC clients who came through RE agent referrals or managers of review departments who switched companies. I never marketed for any of them. I had good work samples and was able to handle a wide variety of assignments from starter homes to high-end custom waterfront and oddball properties. FWIW I feel threatened by the AMC predation to take over remaining lender or wholesale clients who run their own panels. How long can those clients hold out? IDK.

Upgrading to a CG license is the answer but that is out of reach for some, and they face their own pressures.

There are for res license, county assessor jobs that offer stability and benefits.

 

[J Grant]

Imo to stand out from the herd, take as many advanced education courses as you can, including from the Appraisal Institute, where perhaps you can network. UAD 3.6 might see some retiring or moving out of res lender work - but the volume is also down from waivers so that might be a wash

I would say if you are going to apply, just mass market apply to every lender and entity out there, because you never know which one might need an appraiser or might move to some direct ordering.

 

[Essexfenwick]

Get an SRA
network estate attorneys
Network direct lenders and hard money lenders
Network divorce attorneys and mediators
Network cpa's

The way to network is to start with one friend or aquaintance or cold call. Get 2 names from them and ask if you can use them as having referred you then ask them for 2 names and so on


If you spend 3 months with some discipline you'll be set .