chad hampton
Elite Member
- Joined
- Nov 10, 2006
- Professional Status
- Certified Residential Appraiser
- State
- North Carolina
I think this current system of 'bidding' for appraisal orders is a big part of the problem. It enables AMCs to get a bunch of different fees in a matter of a few minutes, so they know what it will take to get an appraiser to bite on it. Personally, I give my quote, and maybe 20% of the time I get the order, and usually those are not the 'cookie cutter' ones. When we had lender clients, they knew our work quality, and if we had established reliability and competence we could talk to them if a fee didn't take the property's peculiarities or special features into account. The lenders I worked with knew that whatever/wherever the property was within my work area, I would accept the order and deliver the report on time. There's something very positive and reassuring about having people in your orbit you can count on.
That doesn't happen with the appraisal quote/bidding system.
Bidding was never supposed to be part of the appraisal ordering process with the exception of higher end/complex homes. It was strange when it started a few years ago. It coincided with the same time hedge funds and PE started purchasing AMCs.
The first few times I thought I was missing something, this looks like a typical single family home, it’s not a 9000 sf home on 4 acres, why is this out to bid?
The playing field changed when 1 group still lived in fear of the regulatory board enforcement and the other discovered that they didn’t need to worry about them.