Appraisal Management Employee Seeks Appraiser Advice...

[Pamela Crowley (Florida)]

Joe,

I know you are one of the better guys in the AMC biz. I believe the AMCs could be THE answer for many of the problems in this industry. BUT, they set it up all wrong to begin with. AMCs are charging the wrong people for their services. Larger appraisal shops running the numbers through many trainees that are willing to accept low pay do OK with AMC work. There are few small shops and even fewer individual appraisers that can afford to work more hours for lower pay in order to get the 'volume' of orders.

In the Jacksonville area, the appraisers that accept the AMC orders for those low fees are mainly the unethical shops. It sounds like this is the case across the country. You and I have talked about this before and we both know where the other stands. I would love to be able to accept work from your AMC.... I don't because I can't afford to. We all have to make our own business decisions. I base mine on quality and make less money because of it. The few clients I have want quality over cheap and fast and those are the only kind of clients I want. So be it....

I'm not rude to the AMC people that call me. I still can see no benefit for the appraiser in working with an AMC that takes part of the appraisers fee. This just does not compute for me. If other appraisers want to accept that, I really don't care. What I want to see more than ever is the AMCs sending the fraudulent or incompetent appraisals they receive in to the state boards for disciplinary action. That would make AMCs much more tolerable. It's unfortunate that I also believe it would take a big bite out of their vendor base.

 

[MARKETVALUE]

To clear the air a little here---

I meant to mention, that I am never rude to these people. Always professional, always.

Interesting memory though--had a rep from an AMC tell one of my girls that 'your fees are too high for us'

Talk about Man bites dog page 2.

MRM

 

[Neil (Texas)]

Joe,

I respect your reasoning but have to disagree, especially with:

"The real problem out there is the poor quality and out and out fraud, with the sad facts being demonstrated through the obvious numbers of appraisers more focused on profit than ethics and honesty, as evident in the rampant fraud in Baltimore, Saint Louis, North Carolina, Florida, and other parts of the country. This is compounded by the fact that is there no standard, license, or designation that can guarantee competent, ethical, professional work and service on the part of the independent appraiser outside of a management system."

Let's see how the above phrase reads when we substitute "AMCs, lenders, and appraisers" for "appraiser." It takes two or more to tango when it comes to fraud, dishonesty, poor quality, and unethical behavior. That is evident by the number of so-called respected national lenders that have received but "slaps on the hand" for their indiscretions. The blame reaches far and wide.

By the way, it's good to see you back.

Neil (Texas)

 

[Verne Hebert]

I just walked into the office after being in the field all day. I thought it was hot outside.....until I pulled up Shelby's post. I thought ....."isn't this interesting? And after going through the post and responses I can see that everyone will feel a little better this evening--except Shelby.

I think the post is forthcoming and with concience.

Its a good thing Richard has a report to write. And its a good thing Pamela has handled paying a little overhead.

What is most apparant is what we(the appraisers) already know. It is unfortunate however that the employees of the AMC and those using those services do not.

But I returned a call to a realtor prior to pulling this up. A seasoned broker of 20 years, owner of an office with 8 agents. And unfortunately she is as clueless as everyone else.

Shelby, tell everyone there we have alot of overhead. I have a 3 person office. $ 220 a day to open the door. Tell everyone the loan agents and the parasites on our business are making the dough, not us. Shelby, tell your colleagues your world is riddled with 90 % clerks and 10 % professionals ( and the appraisers make up 7 %)

Hey Joe, there is no separation by the AMC's to promote improved ethics. I have performed full field reviews and has a clerk (sorry Shelby its the truth) tell me the review of this substandard appraisal was not acceptable because the loan would not close and I would have to get another review that would work (these appraisals go to the state). Come on Joe--wake up!

Its getting to the point where we should get 8 very important continuing education credits for CLERK MANAGEMENT.

 

[BarbaraNJ]

HOT TOPIC !!!!!!!!!

Guess you could say that the AMC subject is a controversial one by the number of posts.

I'm with (as usual) Tim, Richard, Pamela, and other similar posts.

All I can say is that it is apparent that Shelby has been exposed to only one side of the "story" and is not aware that a realistic conclusion cannot be made without having been in the business since "B.L." (before licensing)

At the risk of sounding terribly sarcastic, I have to make this post short as I have to search for my violin to accompany the next POOR AMC post.



BarbaraNJ

__________________________

The Harder I Work, The Luckier I Get

 

[Doug in NC]

In case you haven't gotten the whole picture from the appraisers' point of view, "Get back to work and quit whining!" If we wanted to work for low wages under constant supervision, we would just get a job at McDonalds.

As far as asking us to do work for the lowest possible wage, how about if we asked you to do the same? Maybe the more we do for you, the more you should have to pay extra out of your salary. How about that? Does that sound like a good idea to you? I didn't think so.

 

[Dale Smalley]

I think there is a place for AMCs They provide a layer of insulation from the rude know it all appraiser. These people have no management skills and dont know how to talk to a client that pays the bills. The lender only has to write 1 check a month to the management company. No big accounts payable dept no staff for placing and tracking orders. However management fees are just that and not part of the appraisal fee. If you as an appraiser decide to work for less then that is your choice. The management fees are over and above the cost of the appraisal report. Lenders need to decide how they want to absorb these cost by in house staff and equipment or by outsourcing to an AMC.

So for Shelby to know is that you get what you pay for. Good appraisers know what they are worth even if they are rude SOBs. If you are cutting the appraisers fee for yourself then you will get inferior products and service providers. Good management companies that pay the standard market fees on time will have a much better chance of getting a good product to provide to the client. If you are bottom fishing then keep on smiling and dialing

 

[Ross (CO)]

If only I was holding mores Aces......(interpreation)...if only I had four super AMC's and a wild card for #5. Well, I do not have five-of-a-kind, but I do have a few good AMC's and the secret is that they can and will pay "regular" fee if they like you and the product you provide and if you can like them. Yes, there are the faxes and the reminder updates. I can even make slightly more fee from one client if I go to a certain county nearby the one I live in, and I say more because that is how I "sold" the service and product they needed at that time and that fee became the standard for that county. I make more for that county and I accept only $25 less-than-normal fee in my primary county served. What would really knock some socks off a few folks is if one knew just how much the middle-man client has to "play with" when it comes to agreeing on a fee to get an assignment done. I managed to learn that fact one time, and perhaps by their slip-up. (Shhhhh! ) I get my full and expected fee and they still pocket a chunk-of-change. Yes, they have to profit too and pay out all those minimum wages to staffers there. I think they are getting much more money from their clients than they let on to. If I ever felt like I had too many clients....yeah, right, ....I'd start raising my fee quotes and see just which ones would not bite ! There are ways to get the client to say "yes" enough times in a conversation that you can almost feel their chin nodding up and down.....and then you pose the fee question....and you just may surprise yourself.

 

[Roger R. Patzold]

Shelby, sorry to refute you but I work for two AMC's on a regular basis. 2 to 4 appraisal request per month.

One sends me request asking that I fax it back to show receipt. I do

The other sends the request with a fee lower than what I will work for. I fax it back marked accepted with a note that I need confirmation of acceptance of the corrected fee which I have shown on the appraisal request. I usually get that acceptance back within 24 hours. Frequently the same day.

When I schedule the appointment I email the AMC to let them know appointment time, date, and any information I feel they should know at that time. large house, large land, more land than what they normally accept on the type of loan they are considering, usually the home equity as it is restricted to 5 acres or less in Texas.

I also let them know if the fee will be different based on the new information I have received from the owner, seller, or realtor.

I don't hear from them again until they receipt me for the appraisal report.

I have some other AMC's I work for from time to time but they are not as good and not as regular.

I don't work for anyone who bothers me with unneccesary calls. I fired GAC for just that reason and they continued to call me for over a year. I kept telling them I don't accept their request. Some people on the forum say they like to work with GAC. (I don't remember who) Maybe they are able to find different people at GAC to deal with and I wasn't.

I am not saying you were or are rude but an unprofessional response is never called for even if the caller is rude. I much prefer to let them slowly realize they are acting the fool and watch them try to get out of the hole they have dug. So much fun. Almost as much fun as waiting for the wheel to turn and put those dropping back on the plate of the person they came from.

Had a banker do me dirty back in the 70's. Watched him get fired in the 80's move on to another job and get fired there in the 90's. Now he is living in the woods trying to figure out where all the destruction went 1/1/2000.

As some others said. You might want to consider changing jobs. I don't know where you are but I bet there are several other appraisers here who could give you names of AMC's they work for that don't do it the way you describe.

Honey always catches more flies than vinegar

 

[larryhaskell]

Shelby:

Like others posting here I work for a limited number of AMCs. Those that I work with must meet the same criteria as any other client. The criteria is, be professional, have realistic expectations, agree to pay based on my fee schedule and on time, don't hassle me on a daily basis and don't ask me to lie. There are a limited number of AMCs who agree to these conditions. Those who don't, I tell them to have a nice life. In many cases, I have been treated worse by LOs and realtors than I have by AMCs. If AMCs were to go away I wouldn't care. However, I believe they are hear to stay so make the best of the situation. Treat AMCs like an appraisal department of a bank or mortgage company, nothing more, nothing less.