Desktop Appraisals Becoming the New Normal

[shrubberyvaluation]

Oh, this is a fun one that just came in a blast order for a beachfront Duplex. Available to anyone with a pulse.

View attachment 59351

I won't take it for less than $200!

 

[Mejappz]

I won't take it for less than $200!

I'll place the bid for you.

 

[RCA]

I got an email from my software provider today regarding fanniemae's new take on desktop appraisals and wanted to hear your thoughts. Especially about the requirement for a floor plan with interior walls and #8 on page 2.

https://singlefamily.fanniemae.com/media/30361/display

8. What should the appraiser do if they cannot verify information? If the appraiser does not have information to create a credible report, they should take the necessary steps to verify or obtain the information necessary for a credible report.

LOL. That sounds like an answer I would have given on a test when I was in 5th grade (I hated discussion questions as a kid.)

My interpretation of that answer is to tell the lender that there is not enough credible information to follow through with a desktop. I need to visit the property myself.

Well, I think the intention is to use this for appraisals of newer subdivisions where you can be pretty sure the property conforms to the rest of the subdivision - which you have experience with. This is never without some risk of course. Otherwise, the appraiser who most likely will get the assignment is the one most likely to gamble his career as an appraiser on assuming it is similar to his expectations.

Risk averse appraisers will avoid these.

So, maybe this is a way to more quickly remove poor appraisers from the pool of available.

 

[Mike Ault]

You usually have an agenda with these posts ... what is it on this one...

Yes, he will pleasantly lead you down a dark alley for three or four posts and then pull a knife on you. You have to stay on your toes around "Brother George".

 

[shrubberyvaluation]

Well, I think the intention is to use this for appraisals of newer subdivisions where you can be pretty sure the property conforms to the rest of the subdivision - which you have experience with. This is never without some risk of course. Otherwise, the appraiser who most likely will get the assignment is the one most likely to gamble his career as an appraiser on assuming it is similar to his expectations.

Risk averse appraisers will avoid these.

So, maybe this is a way to more quickly remove poor appraisers from the pool of available.

Maybe once the market downturns, the properties are being foreclosed on, and there is little work to go around. By that time its a bit late.

 

[George Hatch]

You usually have an agenda with these posts ... what is it on this one...yes, Fees have risen for some direct lenders, and for AMC;s due to supply and demand, though not evenly for all, and some direct lenders already paying a high fees saw no reason to change it. Inflation and the fact that appraisal fees were too low for a long time meant a long overdue rise was bound to happen.

However, an AMC treats supply and demand differently than a direct order lender does. Both AMC;s and direct order lenders have been paying higher fees recently , but ONLY the predator AMC;s will push them lower if market slows down and orders decrease. Even now, with fees higher, AMC;s still shop for the lowest they can get within that reality.

This is what you (and Mejappz) are attempting to do:




To which I will tell you I have no motives other that to challenge your warped thinking on such issues. I sell nothing to appraisers, not CE courses, not appraisaware programs, not books, nor anything else. I'm not associated or personal friends or a fanboi of people who are selling things to appraisers. I might be wrong sometimes but I am nobody's lackey, undercover or otherwise.

It's like my advocacy for revisions to the Fannie forms back when they were exposing the current versions. I wasn't doing that because it had any effect on what I do because I wasn't working in the GSE loop, even back then. It's like when I stopped working my day job for a week to quickly cobble together the 1004MC worksheets and the instructionals and distributed those as freeware - even though I've never had a client that required the MC. I saw that there were a lot of appraisers who were stressed out about how to perform that analysis and there were vendors who were looking to cash in on those concerns and I knew that many of you had no money to be wasting on this, so I wanted to provide everyone with a freeware application so they'd be ready when the requirement went active.

I don't participate here because it makes me money. I do it because I like appraisers and I believe in the profession and I want to wave the pom-poms for doing right in our day jobs.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

Lender direct and other clients do not internet shop for low fees

while that is true, OTOH, when AMC fees are low, it does impact the fees negatively as clients understand the law of supply and demand. From 2002 to 2014 we charged the same exact price for a residential appraisal. Zero raises in that time. First it was the AMC bidding system, then the Great Credit Crunch. When AMCs were paying $295 and even less, it was hard for the non-AMC appraiser to raise rates beyond $325-350. It was only at the end of the down cycle (2014 here) were we able to finally add $50 more to our fee. The banksters will be happy to claw that back.

 

[alebrewer]

You know like the engagement process and panel management is like an AMC.

What fee did you start at and what is it at now after adjusting three times?

All direct engagement lenders have approved panels - like and AMC - as far as I'm aware?

Depends on the market, but generally, I'd say from around $450 to a bit over $600 - over the 3 year period I mentioned. Some markets lower, and some markets higher. The adjustments made within the past year were mainly in response to hot spots.

 

[cstu11]

I'm looking at the desktop requirements that an AMC sent me and I don't understand how they would be much faster. I still have to inspect the property and take exterior photos. Saving maybe 30 minutes on interior photos and comp photos, but that's it.

Why am I relying on a third party sketch when I have to visit the property? Really confused at how this product is good for anyone.

 

[DWiley]

I'm looking at the desktop requirements that an AMC sent me and I don't understand how they would be much faster. I still have to inspect the property and take exterior photos. Saving maybe 30 minutes on interior photos and comp photos, but that's it.

Why am I relying on a third party sketch when I have to visit the property? Really confused at how this product is good for anyone.

If you are required to visit the property, then that is not a desktop appraisal. It is certainly not the GSE variant.