Be the Driver, rather than just a passenger of your appraisal practice

[George Hatch]

I never said I speak for all appraisers. I said I write about this topic from the appraiser's perspective

What you call tunnel vision is direct decades of experience about the topic I am writing about. The content of your posts are mainly representing the AMC or lender perspective. I am aware they have their priorities ,but those two power groups do not need more advocates for their interests -

I'm not advocating their interests. I'm simply refraining from pretending that fee appraisers matter, or even that we should matter. We don't, except to the extent we are able to identify and exploit our business opportunities in the market.

I think the "appraisers matter" tunnel vision is actually counterproductive WRT thriving in the environment as it currently exists. IMO it amounts to thinking you're where you're at due to what you have been given as opposed to thinking you're where you're at due to what you have been able to take for yourself.

 

[J Grant]

I'm not advocating their interests. I'm simply refraining from pretending that fee appraisers matter, or even that we should matter. We don't, except to the extent we are able to identify and exploit our business opportunities in the market.

I think the "appraisers matter" tunnel vision is actually counterproductive WRT thriving in the environment as it currently exists. IMO it amounts to thinking you're where you're at due to what you have been given as opposed to thinking you're where you're at due to what you have been able to take for yourself.

I am thriving - but that has not changed my perspective on the topic wrt the field in general for mortgage lending/AMC intersection.

 

[George Hatch]

From what I can see of you.....

If it was actually true that you considered yourself to be thriving you'd be sharing suggestions with others on how to do the same. After all, you genuinely care about appraisers. Right?

 

[J Grant]

From what I can see of you.....

If it was actually true that you considered yourself to be successful you'd be sharing suggestions with others on how to do the same.

I do that here, by sharing advice to posts asking for help in solving appraisal problems so they can prosper and succeed. I PM's btw an appraiser from FL who was having a hard time and offered to share the name of a lender but they never responded.

I am thriving but not mega rulling in $ because I run my business how it works for me personally -I have a few good direct work clients and fill in with about 10 -20% AMC work from a couple of decen ones. By my prefernce I only cover one county and typically only the south half of it ( Palm Beach county is large )

If I wanted to increase my income I could expand my area and cover adjacent Broward County but that would be a traffic night mare for me.

 

[George Hatch]

The term you used was "thriving", not "appraising". Sharing a tip on how to thrive would consist of how to expand your client base or the range of services you offer or expanding your competency or the like. I don't recall you ever doing that.

In the past I've offered a number of tips on how to thrive, mostly obvious but still legitimate. One being to build your reputation for turn times, or report content or tackling tough assignments or not being the big PITA with your clients or trying to identify what your clients want to buy instead of fixating solely on what you want to sell. Stuff like that. Some of these are things I've done that have resulted in me being able to operate off of referral and direct engagement. I've seen other appraisers do some of these things to great effect, too.

 

[J Grant]

The term you used was "thriving", not "appraising". Sharing a tip on how to thrive would consist of how to expand your client base or the range of services you offer or expanding your competency or the like. I don't recall you ever doing that.

In the past I've offered a number of tips on how to thrive, mostly obvious but still legitimate. One being to build your reputation for turn times, or report content or tackling tough assignments or not being the big PITA with your clients or trying to identify what your clients want to buy instead of fixating solely on what you want to sell. Stuff like that. Some of these are things I've done that have resulted in me being able to operate off of referral and direct engagement. I've seen other appraisers do some of these things to great effect, too.

I've offered it on occasion but not a lot - you have offered that kind of help more often which is commendable. I do however post to offer help wrt appraisal problems which you do as well.

BTW I stink at marketing and therefore have nothing to offer in that area! I was able to get direct and high end work and in the past review work because I am capable of appraising many diverse property types and supporting the value well. That means a 100 k property or a 1,000,000 property. But I suck at marketing, I don't even try - my business is more of a boutique business that works for me personally.

I might be a good example of what not to do . I have no website, do not give my card to agents except on occasion, though I got two referrals to very good clients from agents. ( the clients called me, due to their giving my name ) I do think providing strong support for opinion and able to handle many different property types is useful for clients and they seem to need it. I have a background as a as a RE agent, (I sold RE for over 5 years prior to appraising ) and that imo has helped me understand markets and buyer behavior.

 

[Sadie]

Sorry - That is how I read her response



It seems that you, like most appraisers do not fully understand the system and how it works.
When lenders sell loans to the GSEs they make representations and warranties to the GSEs. In certain cases, the GSE may grant "Rep and Warrant relief."

In cases where an appraisal report is submitted, that report is evaluated by the GSE system, and the GSE may grant rep and warrant relief for the value (but not for condition or marketability). That would mean that the GSE could not pursue repurchase based on value. The GSE could still pursue repurchase for reasons other than value. Rep and Warrant relief for value is NOT granted for all appraisals.

In the case of a waiver, rep and warrant relief is granted for value, condition and marketability. That is why waivers are only granted when the data shows that the reliability of the appraisal alternative meets or exceeds the reliability of an appraisal report. And, repurchase for other things can still be pursued.

2007-2008 says what can possibly go wrong?
Wells Fargo says move along, nothing to see here.
There is room for lenders to misuse this with the potential for this to go terribly wrong industry wide.

 

[Tim Hicks (Texas)]

Shouldn't appraisers be marketing themselves to consumers for PMI removal before property values fall? Many home buyers have 20% equity if they bought over a year ago. I am sure every lender handles it differently, but some probably still require an appraisal to prove 20% equity for PMI removal.

 

[Sadie]

How you think it works, and what you persistently post about how it works, is not how it actually works. The lender does not get the AMC service for free. The lender has to pay for both the appraisal fee and the AMC fee. When the lender gets the bill from the AMC those fees are separated. That is how lenders can compare the fee charged by AMC1 with the fee charged by AMC2 and how lenders can monitor what is C&R in an area.

You view the total fee (the fee paid to the AMC plus the fee paid to the appraiser) as the fee that should have all been paid to the appraiser. That false premise is the foundation of your position.

Basically, you just want higher fees for appraisers. I get that, as I always wanted the highest fee I could get as well. But, I also understood that, like any other business, I could not reasonably expect my clients to pay more than they would have to pay if the engaged another firm that produced work of similar quality and provided similar service. It is the appraisers in a market area that set the fees in that area. Period.

When lenders engage an AMC rather than engaging directly they are well aware that the cost will be more than just the cost of the appraisal. They are willing to pay that because in the long term it is cheaper to pay an AMC $X an order rather than incurring the fixed costs of staffing their own team to engage and review.

It is not the lender who is paying the fee, It is the borrower. So there is that. Many AMC's blast out "opportunities to bid" in order to get the cheapest bid to maximize their profit. This is in violation of FNMA guidelines, however, a blind eye is turned to this process. They are not looking for anything other than the cheapest possible fee. No other criteria needed.

 

[DWiley]

They are not looking for anything other than the cheapest possible fee. No other criteria needed.

I understand why it can seem that way to an appraiser in the field, but I can assure that is not the case. When I was in AMC land there were many appraisers who had the lowest fee in their area but they were never our first choice. It was just business.

As I said in another post, it does no good for an AMC to select an appraiser who is $100 cheaper if it takes $150 worth of follow up on all of his/her reports. On the other hand, there were folks we would gladly pay more than the average in their area, because they always provided great reports. Most appraisers fall somewhere in between those two extremes.