Discussion about AMC worth watching

[Surf Cat]

He's easily triggered and think's everyone loves AMCs. But what he doesn't consider is there are many appraisers that do like working for AMCs especially ones who never did work for direct lenders. So it's a life experience perspective.

Agree... I've heard there are good AMCs to work for which pay customary and reasonable fees. I haven't experienced such. Location comes into play too. Here in Los angeles, there's a glut of appraisers.... That means low fees. The AMC preys on the LA appraiser like vultures.

Also, there are many here who thought fee shops were sweatshops. I had the opposite experience and enjoyed working in the fee shop environment.

 

[AppraisingLA123]

Nobody's ever told you to be Pro AMC but if you don't work for them why do you even care ? There's nobody you interact with on the AF that's out promoting the AMC model but there are folks who may have no choice they need the income.

we are all being impacted by bad AMCs, there is not enough appraisal work for appraisers to choose only the good AMCs, direct lenders, or non-mortgage appraisals. We need AMCs reform.

 

[Zoe]

we are all being impacted by bad AMCs, there is not enough appraisal work for appraisers to choose only the good AMCs, direct lenders, or non-mortgage appraisals. We need AMCs reform.

Separating fees on truth in lending disclosures would be reform. There is a lawsuit going on in your State by somebody pushing for that to happen and I don't think they are an appraiser. The person filing the lawsuit is a borrower. Separating fees would change the market structure on single family mortgage home loans and create intense competition between AMCs.

One AMC would be trying to charge less than another AMC for their services to the Bank.

 

[chad hampton]

I'm still floored by the comment that "most appraisers prior to hvcc worked in fee shops on fee splits and now like AMCs"

I've known 1-2 guys that worked in fee shops and it was after the crash and it was either do that or die from hunger. They got out as soon as they could.

For the AMC model to survive, most AMCs (and all of the larger players) need to change how they operate. Go back to what their intent was when they were more or less created out of thin air. Not what they have morphed into. It's up to them to become better actors in the profession.

I originally was open to the model. And like you said, it did cut down on marketing costs. But at the same time, you lost the face to face local contact that should be vital in this profession. Unintended consequence I suppose. Marketing and local agent/broker meetings are something I really miss. I still go to broker events from time to time, but it rarely matters. Maybe you get some private work, but private work sucks IMO. I always regret taking those jobs.

 

[HVNY]

If you diversify you can ignore the AMCs, and eventually fannie/freddie. I invite conversation from the left, but unfortunately they resort to name calling within the 1st two sentences. So it seems appropriate to throw out a warning flag.

 

[Carnivore]

I believe some AMCs are “price‑checking” each other by pretending to be potential lender clients. They call other AMCs acting like they’re shopping for appraisal management services, but what they’re really doing is gathering fee intel. Once they know what other AMCs are charging lenders, they can reverse‑engineer how low they can push appraiser fees while still keeping a big margin for themselves.

This creates a feedback loop where AMCs aren’t competing to pay appraisers fairly they’re competing to see who can keep the biggest slice of the appraisal fee. And because they control the assignment flow, appraisers get stuck with whatever fee structure the AMCs decide is “normal.

Let me be clear, I am in no way suggesting they our colluding with each other.

 

[Carnivore]

Some have suggested forming a union, well that won't work,

Appraisers can’t form a union because we’re legally classified as independent contractors, not employees. Under federal labor law, only employees can unionize. If independent contractors band together to set fees, it’s considered price‑fixing under antitrust law, not collective bargaining. That’s the legal barrier.

 

[Carnivore]

A lot of people bring up the idea of forming some kind of “appraiser association,” but that only goes so far. Sure, we can create groups for networking, education, and advocacy that’s totally allowed. The problem is, an association still can’t negotiate fees or set minimums.

Because we’re legally treated as independent contractors, anything that even looks like coordinating fees gets labeled as price‑fixing under antitrust law. So an association can help us organize our voices, but it can’t function like a union or bargain on our behalf. That’s the legal wall

So to conclude Bottom line: residential appraisers MUST build a real marketing strategy and push harder into the private sector.

That ain't easy and it cost money and time

So I did not tell any of you anything you didn;t know nor anything new, It is what it is

 

[alebrewer]

i said leftist but same thing. i don't know what you are talking about. you seem bored.

I'll try to dumb it down a bit next time. Sorry about that.

 

[alebrewer]

Agree... I've heard there are good AMCs to work for which pay customary and reasonable fees. I haven't experienced such. Location comes into play too. Here in Los angeles, there's a glut of appraisers.... That means low fees. The AMC preys on the LA appraiser like vultures.

Also, there are many here who thought fee shops were sweatshops. I had the opposite experience and enjoyed working in the fee shop environment.

Agreed - location is a significant factor for how appraisers are treated individually. Those are actually two separate issues though. The rural folks get treated better by ALL AMC's - simply because of the lack of competition. The GOOD AMC's (and there are becoming fewer and fewer due to those folks being eaten up by the VC behemoths) treat their appraisers decently regardless of location. But to your point about not having experienced any 'good' AMC's, they really are being bought up by the VC folks. The compliance costs are just too high for the small ones.

FWIW - I also believe there is a correlation between size and treatment of vendors. The smaller the AMC (typically), the better relationship they have with their vendors.