Proof, We have a over supply of appraisers, we need PAREA

[NC Appraising]

The following is a real exchange between a AMC and a desperate appraiser. This post is for entertainment purposes only.

Hi!
I was referred to you by a lender friend in Palmdale/Lancaster area. XXXXXXX.

I would love to join your team of appraisers. I cover the counties of Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino. My standard 1004 fee is $350, but am flexible to meet needs. My typical turn time is 2-3 days and am always available for same day when needed.



Please let me know next steps towards joining the team.

All the best,
zzz - Certified Residential Appraiser

zzz - Office
XXXX - Direct

XXXXX

AMC RESPONSE:
Good morning –

Unfortunately at this time, we are very saturated with appraisers in the that subject area . I can keep this on file so if/when the need opens in this area, I can reach back out to you to get you set up.

me:
See, we have a undersupply of appraisers that are willing to work for $200 an appraisal. We need PAREA so that they can hire more newbie appraisers at $18 an hour.

Come on appraisers, get back to 2012 mode....$200 an appraisal so that the AMCs can make $300 a pop for doing little to nothing, except for using computers to do the assigning and reviewing LOL.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

200 an appraisal so that the AMCs can make $300 a pop

Last secondary market "fee" for the appraisal I saw was some odd number... like $845. I don't know many appraisers around here that get over $500 and some that take less than $400.

 

[glenn walker]

Some areas have shortages others do not- As far as the appraiser who said he works Quote: I cover the counties of Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino. My standard 1004 fee is $350, but am flexible to meet needs. My typical turn time is 2-3 days.

( My Note : Our Counties in SO CA are bigger than most States. For this guy to say he works all those counties and for $350 bucks is either plain BS or he is dumb as a rock. Parts of Los Angeles to San Diego can be as far as 150 miles one way by freeways and roads and not as the crow fly's . His driving time alone could be as much as 5 hours a day with inspection maybe 6 hours. If this guy sent me his Resume I would throw it in the trash as he is either delusional or desperate or both .

There is no shortage of appraisers in any of those Counties he mentions in his resume.

 

[George Hatch]

The most depressing aspect of that story is that they didn't even make an effort to negotiate with him for a lower fee. Not even a "we have appraisers who will do these assignments for $200. If you can do them for less then we'll entertain it". If he had been motivated to approach them with that offer to work for less then that would have been an example of him trying to undercut the market, not of the AMC going out and "shopping by fee".

If an AMC has appraisers approaching them with offers to work for less then they don't need to make an effort to get what they want. I would guess that the same is happening with the lenders; if there are two AMCs competing for the same contract and one is offering to deliver for less then the lender doesn't need to make any effort to solicit competing bids. Those competitors have two choices - either meet the new-lowest bid or not meet the new lowest-bid.

 

[NC Appraising]

Some areas have shortages others do not- As far as the appraiser who said he works Quote: I cover the counties of Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino. My standard 1004 fee is $350, but am flexible to meet needs. My typical turn time is 2-3 days.

( My Note : Our Counties in SO CA are bigger than most States. For this guy to say he works all those counties and for $350 bucks is either plain BS or he is dumb as a rock. Parts of Los Angeles to San Diego can be as far as 150 miles one way by freeways and roads and not as the crow fly's . His driving time alone could be as much as 5 hours a day with inspection maybe 6 hours. If this guy sent me his Resume I would throw it in the trash as he is either delusional or desperate or both .

There is no shortage of appraisers in any of those Counties he mentions in his resume.

That was what I was thinking. Never been to Cali, but what I have seen the traffic is horrendous. The drive time......I would just cover one county. How can anyone truly know all of those sub-markets?

los angeles county population 9.83 million people.......and there is a OVER supply of appraisers. Puts things into perspective.

 

[NC Appraising]

The most depressing aspect of that story is that they didn't even make an effort to negotiate with him for a lower fee.

They either have so many appraisers....

or

They already have so many appraisers that are willing to work for cheap cheap, so no need to negotiate?

 

[Overimprovement]

Some areas have shortages others do not- As far as the appraiser who said he works Quote: I cover the counties of Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino. My standard 1004 fee is $350, but am flexible to meet needs. My typical turn time is 2-3 days.

( My Note : Our Counties in SO CA are bigger than most States. For this guy to say he works all those counties and for $350 bucks is either plain BS or he is dumb as a rock. Parts of Los Angeles to San Diego can be as far as 150 miles one way by freeways and roads and not as the crow fly's . His driving time alone could be as much as 5 hours a day with inspection maybe 6 hours. If this guy sent me his Resume I would throw it in the trash as he is either delusional or desperate or both .

There is no shortage of appraisers in any of those Counties he mentions in his resume.

Those 5 counties are over 36K square miles (granted San Bern is 20 and mostly empty, but still...). If those counties were a state, it would be larger than 11 states, including IN, SC, WV, and ME. Just a little smaller than KY, TN, VA, or OH.
Imagine being an appraiser in one of those states, and claiming to cover the entire state...utterly ridiculous.

 

[shrubberyvaluation]

Those 5 counties are over 36K square miles (granted San Bern is 20 and mostly empty, but still...). If those counties were a state, it would be larger than 11 states, including IN, SC, WV, and ME. Just a little smaller than KY, TN, VA, or OH.
Imagine being an appraiser in one of those states, and claiming to cover the entire state...utterly ridiculous.

Some cover 11+ states.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

How can anyone truly know all of those sub-markets?

"Submarkets" in a densely populated multi-cultural urban area is far different than the "sub-markets" in a rural area in the Midwest. And truly rural areas typically are impacted by the same factors of access to jobs, income ranges, etc. over a broad range of small towns and rural areas. I feel comfortable working two states which have overlapping MLSs and even cover a larger area including parts of Kansas and Missouri as well as Arkansas and Oklahoma. There are nuances but the actual economies are straight forward and we don't have clans of cultural segments occupying a different demographic.

 

[Alsie35]

I have heard exactly what Glen said: That there is a MASSIVE number of appraisers in LA County, hence there is little competition and fees will be low. NorCal Sacramento county, OTOH, and nearby counties towards the coast (Solano, Yolo and Napa) are not overpopulated with appraisers, are growing, and (I am told) appraiser work is still plentiful there.

Edit: Just searched on BREA and came up with 2567 active appraisers in Los Angeles County (out of about 9375 that are active state wide). That's 27%. I am guessing if you throw in the counties to the North and South you'd pad that number quite a bit.