Is pulling comparable sales an appraisal?

[J Grant]

Yes you can. You just have to stay away from providing an opinion of value or even a value range. You provide the sales (stay away from calling them “comps”) that’s it. That is not an appraisal and you do not have to keep a file.

Idk. I think its one of those grey areas that is normally not a problem, until it is.

What I see here with a trend of recent queries is appraisers, due to mortgage work drying up, are trying to find ways to offer something, anything, to the general public. The thing to remember is mortgage lenders, for all their faults , have a level of professionalism and won't go after an appraiser unless it is for good and provable reasons. That is seen by how seldom it happens. The public on the other hand, are emotional beings who can sue or complain or cause trouble, just because they can, or in their mind, they feel ripped off or misled. And yes, they might do that even if the product they paid for was only $50. They'll do it for $20. Most of them won't, but the public sphere is unpredictable.

If an appraiser filters the sales, the appraiser has used some level of professional judgment on why some sales were included and some were excluded. It might come down to if a customer complains, a judge might asks them why they hired you, and the answer is BECAUSE THEY ARE AN APPRAISER. You marketed yourself as having expertise as an appraiser, regardless if whether you provide an "appraisal"

A judge might not care about USPAP, or what is defined as an appraisal, a judge might see it as the person relied on your appraisal expertise and therefore was damaged because of ( reason of the complaint, they set a sale price or divorce settlement based on the value range of the list of sales provided... for an example)

How far can disclaimers go with these things? I marketed myself as an appraiser, I got paid for some kind of professional expertise, even as low level as a filtered list of sales, and the person chose to rely on them. All this risk for some dinky fee- I see expense and liability for little $....ever deal much with the public? They'll write a bad yelp review and go to small claims court over a $25 dollar restaurant meal. They'll be calling and texting with questions about the list of sales -ignore them and they'll get mad, answer them the wrong way and they can use it against you.

 

[Dale Floyd]

wrong...you were chosen for being an appraiser therefore it is appraisal practice. You need a workfile

You are mistaken Terrel about this, in the vein of the OP’s original question. One should use caution, but there’s no violation of providing data or even making statements of fact. I suspect you are thinking this involves something more.

We don’t need workfiles unless we are appraising something.

 

[djd09]

This is just the old "comp check" of yesteryear. And yes, you can do a Comp Check but there are hoops to jump through and it is an appraisal and needs to be workfile.

comp checks...who cares...the MB are estimating value via waivers #fastapp

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

That is seen by how seldom it happens. The public on the other hand, are emotional beings who can sue or complain or cause trouble, just because they can, or in their mind, they feel ripped off or misled.

Bingo again. They didn't choose a random person off the street to do this search.

You are mistaken Terrel about this, i

sorry. No I am not. Go read your USPAP. Page 3 is a good start. The fact is you are acting as an appraiser, in the role of an appraiser, and therefore you are in appraisal practice. As such "opinions or conclusions, NOT LIMITED TO VALUE, ....

While physical characteristics are not assignment results, the ethics rule still apply to the explicit description of the OP...

 

[J Grant]

You are dealing with the PUBLIC now, folks.

Here is a good review:
" I called Appraiser Henry based on his ad and asked for a list of sales in my neighborhood because I have a house there. They sent it over in 10 minutes and I was pleased with the service."

Here is a bad review:
"I called Appraiser Henry based on his ad and asked for a list of sales in my neighborhood because I have a house there. They sent it over in 10 minutes and it was garbage. Half the sales are nowhere near as nice as my house, I looked them up. When I called the appraiser, they were very rude and wouldn't talk to me for more than five minutes. This is a rip off and I want my money back and already asked for it back from my credit card company "

 

[Tom4value]

Idk. I think its one of those grey areas that is normally not a problem, until it is.

What I see here with a trend of recent queries is appraisers, due to mortgage work drying up, are trying to find ways to offer something, anything, to the general public. The thing to remember is mortgage lenders, for all their faults , have a level of professionalism and won't go after an appraiser unless it is for good and provable reasons. That is seen by how seldom it happens. The public on the other hand, are emotional beings who can sue or complain or cause trouble, just because they can, or in their mind, they feel ripped off or misled. And yes, they might do that even if the product they paid for was only $50. They'll do it for $20. Most of them won't, but the public sphere is unpredictable.

If an appraiser filters the sales, the appraiser has used some level of professional judgment on why some sales were included and some were excluded. It might come down to if a customer complains, a judge might asks them why they hired you, and the answer is BECAUSE THEY ARE AN APPRAISER. You marketed yourself as having expertise as an appraiser, regardless if whether you provide an "appraisal"

A judge might not care about USPAP, or what is defined as an appraisal, a judge might see it as the person relied on your appraisal expertise and therefore was damaged because of ( reason of the complaint, they set a sale price or divorce settlement based on the value range of the list of sales provided... for an example)

How far can disclaimers go with these things? I marketed myself as an appraiser, I got paid for some kind of professional expertise, even as low level as a filtered list of sales, and the person chose to rely on them. All this risk for some dinky fee- I see expense and liability for little $....ever deal much with the public? They'll write a bad yelp review and go to small claims court over a $25 dollar restaurant meal. They'll be calling and texting with questions about the list of sales -ignore them and they'll get mad, answer them the wrong way and they can use it against you.

 

[djd09]

Bingo again. They didn't choose a random person off the street to do this search.

sorry. No I am not. Go read your USPAP. Page 3 is a good start. The fact is you are acting as an appraiser, in the role of an appraiser, and therefore you are in appraisal practice. As such "opinions or conclusions, NOT LIMITED TO VALUE, ....

While physical characteristics are not assignment results, the ethics rule still apply to the explicit description of the OP...

sooner or later they need to take the handcuffs off appraisers so we compete with all the new unlicensed MB appraisers and CU

 

[Tom4value]

I was answering the OP’s question because this was covered in a recent CE class I took so it was fresh in my mind. Would I make a habit of it? No, mainly because of the points you made.

 

[ucbruin]

Bingo again. They didn't choose a random person off the street to do this search.

sorry. No I am not. Go read your USPAP. Page 3 is a good start. The fact is you are acting as an appraiser, in the role of an appraiser, and therefore you are in appraisal practice. As such "opinions or conclusions, NOT LIMITED TO VALUE, ....

While physical characteristics are not assignment results, the ethics rule still apply to the explicit description of the OP...

What is acting as/role of an appraiser....

 

[Sadie]

If you were hired because you are an appraiser, you need to adhere to USPAP. If you filter the comparables to a range of numbers, then you are providing an appraisal. So what you do is simply create a workfile and make sure you dot your USPAP is and cross those USPAP T's. I have done this before and ran my stuff by a USPAP instructor to make sure I stayed out of USPAP jail.