Valligent

[gregb]

Why are you wasting your time.
They call me I tell them I love appraising property not grading paper would have been a school teacher

xxxxClassic

 

[Robert Burke]

So, again there is a lot of money to made/recaptured based on the result/adequacy of the appraisal and still nobody cares to charge enough for this apparentyl very valuable documentation.

Same old song and dance, we need these things and no we won't pay (properly) for it.

Still crazy after all these years.

I don't think in these cases the fee paid is the issue. There are some appraisers that charge the highest fees out there and get it and I can tell you the product they return is some of the most horrible reports I have ever seen. While others charge and are paid a significantly lower fee and return some of the best reports there are. Fee does not equal quality-That comes from within each appraiser.

 

[Noreen]

This is from an email I received from them recently:

We have a potential order in your area and wanted to see what your fee’s and turnaround times were? The property address is as listed below and it is a Field Review. Please let me know as soon as possible. Thank you!

Client is paying $200

Enhanced Field Review - Enhanced field reviews require two (2) additional comps with adjustments in support of value. When value is NOT supported, please supply a minimum of three (3) additional comps in support of revised indicated value. Please provide photos of additional comps along with original comps and indicate additional and original comps on location map.

You must be a certified residential or certified general appraiser and carry E&O insurance.


My response, you're looking for 2 assignments that in total are more work than original appraiser did and you want me to do it for $200? No thanks. I can count on one hand how many jobs I've done for them. They don't ask me too often because they don't like my fees. I guess I'm the last choice when someone else around here won't work for the scraps their paying.

Paul, I have gotten about five calls ( or emails, can't remember which, emails I think) from them in the last month, wanting fee quotes and turn times. They must have gotten the bulk of the New England field reviews. (these were retrospective field reviews).

 

[DTB]

So, again there is a lot of money to made/recaptured based on the result/adequacy of the appraisal and still nobody cares to charge enough for this apparentyl very valuable documentation.

Same old song and dance, we need these things and no we won't pay (properly) for it.

Still crazy after all these years.

I don't think in these cases the fee paid is the issue. There are some appraisers that charge the highest fees out there and get it and I can tell you the product they return is some of the most horrible reports I have ever seen. While others charge and are paid a significantly lower fee and return some of the best reports there are. Fee does not equal quality-That comes from within each appraiser.

What it means is that if the fees are not consistently high enough, you are not attracting the better appraisers on a consistent basis. Anectdotal evidence of high fee/crap report is not the issue.

Some companies choose to hire the best and brightest, they do so by offering those people something. They do not put out lowball salaries and hope they get a good one.

 

[Robert Burke]

What it means is that if the fees are not consistently high enough, you are not attracting the better appraisers on a consistent basis. Anectdotal evidence of high fee/crap report is not the issue.

Some companies choose to hire the best and brightest, they do so by offering those people something. They do not put out lowball salaries and hope they get a good one.

I am not sure what defines anectdotal evidence. I have seen literally hundreds upon hundreds of reviews and see the fees they are charging and the reports. The fee being paid is not at all consistent with the quality of work being delivered. The highest fees does not mean great reports no more than lower fees mean bad reports. And the higher fees does not mean the best and the brightest either. Well, I am sure if you asked them they would say they are but the product they produce does not reflect that.

 

[Doug Wegener]

Just my opinion, but I think it would be human nature for someone to do their very best when they are paid adequately. If they are not, they may, as a Professional, meet the basic standards but are they really going to do their very best?

That is not my experience with human beings.

 

[Robert Burke]

Just my opinion, but I think it would be human nature for someone to do their very best when they are paid adequately. If they are not, they may, as a Professional, meet the basic standards but are they really going to do their very best?

That is not my experience with human beings.

I would hope they would be doing their best-As a professional I think you do your job correctly with all the due dilegence required regardless of the fee IF YOU ACCEPTED IT AT THAT FEE. And you should. If you did not plan on doing that then I think you should have never accepted the assignment.This would include any professional. From Doctors to lawyers to ball players to accountants to the professional lawn service guy that cuts my grass.

I don't make near the money I did 5, 10, 15 or even 20 years ago. But I would tell you the reports I do are better now than they were then.

 

[Riick]

Just my opinion, but I think it would be human nature for someone to do their very best when they are paid adequately. If they are not, they may, as a Professional, meet the basic standards but are they really going to do their very best?

That is not my experience with human beings.

You are going to get immense amounts of staic from that statement, from the "holier than thou" component on this forum.
The most interesting part of noise will be that though there is plenty of hard evidence showing you are correct as a generalization, what you will be reading are specific cases where Mr. Johnny or Doctor Suzie did extraoridinarily good work for 1/2 a peanut in reward; as if those small number of cases proved the general case wrong. Argument Ad Hominum
[Protective Shield ON]
.

 

[Frederick]

I think a high fee does not assure quality but a low fee deprives an appraiser of resources and time to do a superior report. He will be rushed and have limited data sources.

 

[Mike Kennedy]

IMO, the fee has nothing to do with an individuals ethics or conduct; a professional is a professional regardless of the fee involved. Having believed that until proven otherwise, and said that, Assignment conditions which restrict the valid amount of time necessary to complete an assignment are to be renegotiated or the assignment must be declined. Crying "they made me do it" after voluntarily accepting an assignment will be no excuse for an incompetent or slipshod work product. The SOW Rule clearly prescribes the process which must be used DURING an assignment when information, facts, circumstances arise which reguire COMMUNICATION with the client and agreement on an expanded, or revised Scope of Work. The SOW drives the attendant Fee. Either negotiate a fee commensurate with the complexity of an assignment - or decline it outright.

"an appraiser must not allow assignment conditions to limit the scope of work to such a degree that the assignment results are not credible in the context of the intended use.
Comment: If relevant information is not available because of assignment conditions that limit research opportunities (such as conditions that place limitations on inspection or information gathering), an appraiser must withdraw from the assignment unless the appraiser can:
modify the assignment conditions to expand the scope of work to include gathering the information; or
use an extraordinary assumption about such information, if credible assignment results can still be developed."

Having said THAT, accepting "blast" orders or auto acceptance orders without identifying what a subject is and where it is located etc. is a dull knife; completing and delivering an appraisal report which can easily be proven to lack requisite due diligence, accepted appraisal methodology and a supportable, credible value opinion because of 8, 12, 24, 36, 48, 72 day TAT will prove to be the scalpel that shreds an appraisal licence, and an Appraiser's life and family, to shreds.

Further, IMO, what 50% or more discounted fees guarantees a client is the appraisers who accept them are not among the tens of thousands of experienced professionals that they have never "met". The professionals who do not need 22 pages of "how to do an appraisal" following by 10 more on "how to write an appraisal report". The professionals who need no calls or emails each morning for status reports as status is instantly communicated as it changes. The professionals who need no "coaching" from 1-5 year either licensed or non-licensed "clerks without a clue".

Reams of threads abound on this forum, and others, whining, groaning, moaning and complaining about "the appraiser" from all corners including bankers, underwriters, realtors, consumers, state appraiser regulators, and thousands of Professional Appraisers who refuse to comply with coercive demands which clearly demonstrate that "you get what you pay for" is true in this Industry as it is in every other one. Lenders owe it to their customers to seek out, engage, compensate and establish true long term relationships with their "eyes and ears". When they do so they experience a "triple-win" enhancement to their business. The Consumer wins, the Lender wins, and their long-term Professional Appraisers win.

When they voluntarily farm-out their responsibility to Third Parties then fail to Audit their performance and compliance with banking regulations, and/or allow them to "rob Peter to pay themselves" they feed the fire of their undoing. When one finally goes under ( a la Indy Mac and others) their "mistake" is foisted upon the Taxpayer and/or Consumers in increased fees mandated by whichever Lender buys their "remains".

Under Federal and State Laws, they are obligated to select, engage, and fairly compensate Competence . Until they do - their entirely voluntary "game" continues providing them with the fodder they need for cannon broadsides at ASC meetings demanding the human be replaced by the machine - any machine as long as the Bullseye permits them to "do the deal".

further support for the opinions expressed above: http://appraisersforum.com/showthread.php?t=185452