The Op -Ed- Really Says Your Career as a Loan Production Appraiser can't be fixed so learn other Non-lender Things to make a Living and Join an Association.
To remove the last shred of independent, objective human perspective from the mortgage process –
however imperfect it may be – follows the trend we’ve all been living for some time. But somehow this
change feels more meaningful, as though an inflection point has been reached. Perhaps it comes down
to knowing all the men and women whose livelihoods are negatively affected by this change and what it
means for them personally, not unlike the buggy whip makers over a century ago.
Maybe it is the
impersonalization of home-buying, down to a simple exercise in getting what we want when we want it -
No matter whether we can, or should, or its affects on others writ large should markets turn.
For whatever reason, something feels so inherently wrong about Fannie’s direction, so detached from
how we can and should view the home buying process; one of relying on trusted professionals, members
of our community, to help us make an informed decision that will impact much of the rest of our lives.
Now, it is another box to be checked, a thing to be done, regardless of the answer to the bigger question
of “should we?”for appraisers, the future is clearer than ever:
Work directly with buyers who still care to know what their home is worth, without the encumbrance of over-designed forms and datasets. Find non-lending work in its many forms. Perhaps upgrade one’s credential or seek a designation to grow professionally. And, most importantly, keep the perfectly imperfect humanity to the question of value while always-seeking to do better at how it is answered and for whom the answer is sought.