Anyone else as slow as I am?

[Joe Flacco]

The rate of new pendings over the last seven days is actually higher than the rate of new pendings the last 30 days, except for detached homes in DC. Whats up with that. DC detached homes is showing a pretty steep drop off in contracts the last seven days.

Comparing the last 7 days with the last 30 days, it actually looks like the jump in rates is pushing people into contracts.

The rate of new pendings last 30 days is higher than May 2025 for detached homes and townhomes, but lower for condos.

 

[Sandra Koutsopoulos]

I was crazy busy with pre-foreclosures primarily early-April til first week of May, then virtually nothing!
I'm taking it as an opportunity to re-focus on different angles of real estate in anticipation of not taking low-pay AMC work with the 3.6 in late summer/fall. Time to prepare for move in a different direction.

 

[Tom4value]

Business was good in March & April. May hits and all the work stops. I am getting random jobs in areas I do not cover (all over the state). I have never been this slow in May except during Covid and I have been doing this since 1998. No jobs in almost 3 weeks. I am in Northern New York near the Saratoga/Lake George area. This is nuts.

Don’t know why but sounds like you are the exact opposite of me. Things were fine until the end of February. Then things went very slow for March, April and into May, averaging 2-3 orders a week. However, last 3 weeks picked up dramatically.

Also, the “Covid years”, 2020, 2021 and 1st half of 2022, were the best I ever had in my 30+ year career.

 

[Alsie35]

Don’t know why but sounds like you are the exact opposite of me. Things were fine until the end of February. Then things went very slow for March, April and into May, averaging 2-3 orders a week. However, last 3 weeks picked up dramatically.

Also, the “Covid years”, 2020, 2021 and 1st half of 2022, were the best I ever had in my 30+ year career.

Similar down here. As always, it's your market area #1, then the breadth of your client base (or lack thereof) and finally, your system - i.e. having help with the business part of it, to allow you to actually do more appraising work.

Been doing 10-11 a week down here for the past couple of months. Frankly, it's getting old . During the "COVID Years" as you call them, that might have been a part-time week.

But the properties are uniformly MUCH more difficult on average now - its either an FHA with deferred maintenance or (or course) a home bordering on some big bad externality that must be bracketed, hence much more research time. Plus, there are the additional requirements added on by the GSE's since the "Happy Times" of 2015-2022, like doing time adjustments on every single comp. Not exactly rocket science, but it all adds more time per report.

And the easy-peasy refinances are mostly gone, partly because of the % rate situation, partly due to the AVM/waiver BS. 10 more weeks. Just 10 more weeks and then I'm putting the clip board and the roller and the clunky old camera down - for good.

 

[Overimprovement]

Similar down here. As always, it's your market area #1, then the breadth of your client base (or lack thereof) and finally, your system - i.e. having help with the business part of it, to allow you to actually do more appraising work.

Been doing 10-11 a week down here for the past couple of months. Frankly, it's getting old . During the "COVID Years" as you call them, that might have been a part-time week.

But the properties are uniformly MUCH more difficult on average now - its either an FHA with deferred maintenance or (or course) a home bordering on some big bad externality that must be bracketed, hence much more research time. Plus, there are the additional requirements added on by the GSE's since the "Happy Times" of 2015-2022, like doing time adjustments on every single comp. Not exactly rocket science, but it all adds more time per report.

And the easy-peasy refinances are mostly gone, partly because of the % rate situation, partly due to the AVM/waiver BS. 10 more weeks. Just 10 more weeks and then I'm putting the clip board and the roller and the clunky old camera down - for good.

Just out of curiosity, are you selling your book of business to anyone? You could do 50% gross, to start, reducing by 2% a month for 4 years...

 

[Alsie35]

Just out of curiosity, are you selling your book of business to anyone? You could do 50% gross, to start, reducing by 2% a month for 4 years...

I don't exactly know what you're referring to. But if you mean selling my business model, I don't need to, because I've freely given it to everyone who's been reading my posts for 6 years. And unfortunately, it's very circumstance and talent specific. Not easily reproducible, and possibly not reproducible at all once the 3.6 abomination hits. But I got 10 weeks to go buddy. That's it. And I believe that you are already there.

 

[Overimprovement]

I don't exactly know what you're referring to. But if you mean selling my business model, I don't need to, because I've freely given it to everyone who's been reading my posts for 6 years. And unfortunately, it's very circumstance and talent specific. Not easily reproducible, and possibly not reproducible at all once the 3.6 abomination hits. But I got 10 weeks to go buddy. That's it. And I believe that you are already there.

I'm retired from appraising but still working full time.

 

[Alsie35]

*SNIP*

Also, the “Covid years”, 2020, 2021 and 1st half of 2022, were the best I ever had in my 30+ year career.

For me, I always reference the 4 years 2019-2022.

2019 and 2022 were within a couple of grand of each other. And after 2019 I remember thinking: "This was a once-in a lifetime year, I can't believe we did this well, it surely cannot be ever repeated". (It was a +37% increase over 2018, and 2018 we did VERY WELL. )

BUT THEN.

2020-2021 hit. And those two years were +30% and +43% higher than our 2019 totals Then - 2022 matched 2019. So for us, 2019 & 2022 were the solid "bookends" to the unbelievable, once-in-a-lifetime 2020-2021 years. Those 4 years helped to move our family to TX and then - a few years later - into happy retirement.

But it took an UNBELIEVABLE amount of work by all three of us - like 7-days a week non-stop, year in and year out. It wasn't easy. But it STILL is possible to do - in America!

 

[Sandra Koutsopoulos]

I received a request a couple days ago from one of my best direct lenders, wanting me to show/prove/say? that I'm prepared to do the 3.6 so they can put together their 'new' roster of appraisers to enable a smooth transition come November. Although my intent is to continue working with them even with the 3.6, until I have experience with it, I can't put a realistic fee on it, and so I'm reluctant to even respond.

Today AlaMode notified me they have more 'training' sessions to sign up for (in 2 2-hour chunks over 2 days). All this seems an utter waste of my time until the software providers produce a usable product. It seems they want us as guinea-pigs to show them where the problems are to be addressed... or am I just being negative?

 

[Trihard]

It seems they want us as guinea-pigs to show them where the problems are to be addressed... or am I just being negative?

You are not being negative. Any additional information you give the AMC will be fully used against you.