Why Do Some Appraisers Believe, Fees And Fees Alone, Determine Ethics?

[ucbruin]

Residential appraising can be a great part time gig for mothers with preschool and young school age kids....
Even better if they are married to a full time bread winner....
Many of the women appraisers, in my office, enjoyed the flexibility, income and pretty much stress free working conditions....
They came and went as they pleased...

Because of the obstacles to becoming an appraiser and/or changing conditions....
Maybe.....
Residential appraising can be a great part time gig for grandmothers with preschool and young school age grandkids....

This type of employment could be appealing to a segment of appraisers....

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I posted the above comment in another thread....
If an appraiser were willing to accept the fee structure because the overall employment structure is better suited to her overall needs (working conditions vs income)....
Is it a given this appraiser would conduct herself in an "unethical" manner????.....

I don't believe so....

 

[hastalavista]

I posted the above comment in another thread....
If an appraiser were willing to accept the fee structure because the overall employment structure is better suited to her overall needs (working conditions vs income)....
Is it a given this appraiser would conduct herself in an "unethical" manner????.....

I don't believe so....

I don't believe so either.

Employment structure (in your example) is the key for that particular employee. But that employee-type isn't unique to one set of circumstances. There are a number of circumstances where, for a particular individual, a trade-off of pay vs. employment structure makes great sense.

I've posted in other threads that the fact that another appraiser may charge less than me might be "bad" for me but that doesn't translate into being bad for the profession and certainly the implication is that some of that lower-fee benefit would go to the consumer.

You don't need a highly skilled appraiser to do a detailed report on a relatively low-risk/simple assignment. Why pay for what you don't need as long as what you do pay for meets what you do need (regulatory requirements and credible results)?

The following is not a news flash: There is a shift in the type of collateral valuation that large users of appraisals are beginning to require. In some cases, they do not need a detailed 1004 and in some cases, they do not need an appraisal at all. That shift isn't going to stop; it will continue.
Larger companies (such as Corelogic) are attempting to create a structure where they can provide an appraisal service at a price and speed that will compete with the next-lower collateral valuation option so that despite the higher cost and longer delivery-time, the lender believes it is a worthwhile trade-off.
There are likely appraisers who, for their own personal circumstances, would not object to work in such employment structures where lower pay is traded for steady work that requires a different SOW and that can produce credible results on a higher volume basis.
Not all appraisal assignments will fit into the "less than the traditional 1004" type reports.
Those of us who want to compete in the traditional appraisal arena will have a smaller appraisal slice-of-the-pie market to work. But, the competition in that smaller market may be fiercer or it may be less fierce (who knows how many appraisers will transition to the lower SOW/structured-employment environment?).

So, in sum, I think it is reasonable to expect that the Corelogic (for lack of a better word) type of employment structure and appraisal product (with a different SOW and/or process) is here and will likely grow in its market share.
I do not think it is reasonable to assume that those who chose to work in that structure are less ethical than those who don't. I also think that the two types of products cannot be evaluated as if they are "equal" because (under my scenario) they are not; the Corelogic type product is a lower-risk assignment that will likely require a different SOW. So, they are not "apples to apples" and the fee-to-fee comparison doesn't quite fit.

Somebody use to constantly point out that a bifurcation in our industry was occurring, and defined the two segments as "technicians" and "analysts". The technicians would be akin to the Corelogic, lower-SOW appraisers and the analysts would be akin to the traditional 1004-type assignments. This same guy said that it would be logical to forecast that the technicians would be paid lower on a per-assignment basis but would have a higher volume, and the inverse (higher pay/lower volume) for the analysts. Both types were needed and each served an important role. One was not inherently better than the other. The choice appraisers would have to make is if they want to stay focused within the mortgage-finance market, sooner or later they'd probably have to choose one path or the other.
I think we are getting closer to that fork in the road, where one will have to choose his or her path.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

I think we are getting closer to that fork in the road,

Oh, we'll get forked alright...

 

[Meandering]

I'll assume that you did just focus on the "ethics" and not the "moral", good.

You include volume discounts as part of the industry ethics?
Some appraisers don't....

I include reading and following the written laws/rules/regulations as industry ethics,

and volume discounts are part of the AMC final rule.

Not that you ever bothered to read it, to know what you're talking about,

so where are your morals?

Make it up as you go along?

Or find some hero and believe everything they tell you is gospel truth?

.

 

[ucbruin]

I include reading and following the written laws/rules/regulations as industry ethics,

and volume discounts are part of the AMC final rule.

Not that you ever bothered to read it, to know what you're talking about,

so where are your morals?

Make it up as you go along?

Or find some hero and believe everything they tell you is gospel truth?

.

Talking ethics....
Not talking morals.....

 

[Meandering]

Talking ethics....
Not talking morals.....

You don't find it unethical to be selling a service that has to meet laws/regulations and guidelines, which you did not bother to read??

Really??

.

 

[Tim The Enchanter]

Fees have nothing to do with morals or ethics.
You get your fee or not.
You have morals and ethics, or not.
They are independent factors.

Side note to prod the dragon. Organized religion mainly wants the fees.
Otherwise the emperor frequently has no clothes.

 

[ucbruin]

Because you are much smart than me....
Can you explain how your post relates to my question why some appraisers believe fees reflect ethics????

 

[J Grant]

I don't understand why fees and ethics were combined in a question in this matter...

an unethical appraiser is unethical at a low or high fee, same for an ethical one, and that would hold true whether they are employed or an independent contractor.

I will say that ethical appraisers would avoid working for certain clients whether for fee or salary.

 

[Meandering]

How can I stick to the original question, when you derail you're own thread, and demonstrate your ignorance of the laws/regulations/rules, that govern your work, which, you are supposed to know, on the very first page of a thread about ethics?

I'll assume that you did just focus on the "ethics" and not the "moral", good.

You include volume discounts as part of the industry ethics?
Some appraisers don't....

See what gummy bears do to your brain?



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