Appropriate Or Inappropraite Review Question?

[residentialguy]

But, Denis’s point is treading on appraisal practice without a license depending on jurisdiction so you could be very wrong in your assumptions

Then every student in appraisal class is in trouble. Denis is just putting up a scenario without a client, without a subject, without an assignment.
IOW, he's fine.

 

[Tim The Enchanter]

It must be slow for some of you. This is one of those threads that goes from 0 - 60 and beyond so fast I can smell the tire smoke over here.

Where is the line between educating / giving advice, and arm twisting / undue pressure.
Sounds like a topic of much debate, if it's not actually subjective.

 

[residentialguy]

It must be slow for some of you. This is one of those threads that goes from 0 - 60 and beyond so fast I can smell the tire smoke over here.

Where is the line between educating / giving advice, and arm twisting / undue pressure.
Sounds like a topic of much debate, if it's not actually subjective.

Those yellow smileys with no legs and with her looking up to her Lord is getting dangerously close to discriminating against any person or persons on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, handicap...
You are an appraiser, right?

 

[Tim The Enchanter]

So...

Guess I should not post that pic of Tattoo and the bikini girls despite his priceless facial expression, eh?

 

[Eli]

I think their should be a non STD 3 review form. I don t know what you call it.

Tech 1 form. Idk.

Somebody has to sign it though and be accountable.

 

[TRESinc]

What are you talking about??? Denis' post is treading on appraisal practice?

your (sic) not suttle (sic).

 

[Deleted member 130081]

I suppose I didn't help keep the thread on track, so here's my short answer, followed by a longer one.

"Therefore, given the situation above, and assuming I was the reviewer and I called the appraiser and asked,

Did you consider making a market-condition adjustment to the comparables based on your market analysis, thereby bracketing the concluded value, and if not, do you think it would be appropriate?

• Is that an inappropriate question for a reviewer, who is not concluding their own opinion of value, to ask?
• If the appraiser decides to make an adjustment and, as a consequence, brackets the value, is that directing the appraisal process?
• If the appraiser says, "I hear you, but I'm not sure how to do that..." and then I say, "Well, if it were me, I'd consider X, Y, and Z and do it this way...... but what you do is up to you." does that cross a line?"

No lines crossed IMO - Short Answer.

Longer answer - I suppose if you took the stance that the reviewer should only say what happened or did not happen and anything past that is developing an appraisal, then maybe the wording does come a bit close. And also if you took that stance, it would be inappropriate to contact the OA in the first place too, for anything I suppose. The first line asks the appraiser if they considered an adjustment, which could be insulting, as they would have put it in there if they did right? Plus, asking if they did asserts/implies you think maybe they should have. Maybe a better way to word it, so the super-sensitive Sally's don't get all ruffled up and we really fine-tune the whole thing would be to say, "I did not see a comment concerning the absence of a market condition adjustment in the report and if an adjustment was something you considered, I would love to read your conclusion on the matter". Not a heck of a lot of difference in the wording really, except instead of wording it like its possible their stupid, it puts the emphasis on your quest for clarity only. It includes the option of you simply missing it. Make sense? Or did I just confuse the other half of everyone? LOL. Frankly I think its silly we are in a position to even have this conversation. I do appreciate you actually take a second to consider how you might come off to an OA.

What I am more interested in, is what you would do if they didn't put the market adjustment in there? But I am not asking you answer that.

 

[Deleted member 130081]

A thought that just occurred to me is that the best way to address this with an OA would be on the phone. Written word is the worst for everyone but the most talented writers, and anyone who fits that bill is likely not an appraiser!!!

 

[hastalavista]

What I am more interested in, is what you would do if they didn't put the market adjustment in there? But I am not asking you answer that.

I will...
It depends.
If I thought the report made the argument persuasively enough without the adjustment and thought, therefore, the value could be relied upon, I'd make that notation in the review and refer it to my client for their ultimate decision (Just because I and the appraiser are ok with it doesn't mean the lender will still sign-off; they can always reject the deal or ask for something more).
If I thought the argument isn't persuasive enough, then I'd conclude that the report does not adequately support its value conclusion, as presented. Before I do that, I try to see if my concerns (whatever they are) can be addressed with the original appraisal in the original report. If not, the lender would then have the option to order a replacement appraisal or pass on the deal.

It really boils down to this: To sign off on the report, I need to believe, as presented, it supports its conclusions. If I do, I don't need to have everything explained in footnotes and excessive discussion. In my review, I can address my observations and lay out why, "although X and Y wasn't explained in detail" based on "A, B, and C" the conclusions are reasonable and supported.
That is one of my responsibilities as a reviewer: To provide an opinion of the quality of another's work. And I do. Sometimes, those observations are part of my due diligence requirements; typically, they are not material. But my client has to know that I actually reviewed the report; since I did, here is what I found but it doesn't materially impact the reliability of the report. A typo is a good example (and I'm not talking about "then" vs. "than"); a date might be transposed in the narrative; everywhere else, the data is appropriately identified to the date. I'm not going to ask for a correction if that one typo isn't material. But I am going to explain, in my appraisal review report, that I saw it and why I didn't think it warranted any action.

However, if an item exists that I cannot explain on my own based on what is in the report, and I cannot get to the finish line like the appraiser did, then those are the items I'm going to ask to be supplemented.
Sometimes, when I talk to the appraiser, she'll tell me, "You know, I hear what you are saying, but that's really not what I meant. I meant this...." Depending what it is, I can either say, "I get it now. I didn't get it because of this... but now that you explain it, it makes sense to me. I can deal with this in my review; thanks!" Sometimes the issue is more substantial, and I'll ask the appraiser to more fully develop that explanation in the report. Whatever is in the report, it has to convince me and the client. If it is something I can deal with in the review, easier for me to do so. If not, than I'll ask for it to be addressed in the original report.

A thought that just occurred to me is that the best way to address this with an OA would be on the phone. Written word is the worst for everyone but the most talented writers, and anyone who fits that bill is likely not an appraiser!!!

I prefer to talk direct rather than email.
However (and this may be my character flaw), I hate to cold-call an appraiser as a reviewer and start asking questions about their report. For some appraisers I deal with on a regular basis, I'll do that. For others where the interaction is infrequent, my preference is to send them an email outlining my observations, asking them to review it, and then giving them some options. Sometimes the issue is a bit complex, and it is better to discuss it; but I'll still email them first, outline the item, and ask when they are available to communicate.

In all cases, in my emails, I let them know if they have any questions, they can email me back or call me direct; or, ask me to call them.
As I said, this is a personal style: I'm just uncomfortable calling out of the blue and interrupting someone's work-flow with questions about an appraisal they may have thought was long-gone. My preference is to give them a heads-up first, so they can review what I'm asking and the report, and not be in a position to feel pressured to give me an off-the-cuff answer or response.


Walking the tightrope has been.... interesting.
And as good as I may think my people skills are, they haven't been good enough to avoid friction from time to time.

 

[timd354]

I think their should be a non STD 3 review form.

No offense, but different users of appraisal services have different needs a and really don't care what you or other appraisers think about how they should review/underwrite appraisals. Thus, there will never be a universal non-STD 3 review form.