NLCApprMgr-
The way you speak it is as if you think Realtors are the most knowledgeable people in the real estate field and they can be asked to justify almost any adjustment. Most appraisers I know have FAR more experience in terms of volume than even the busiest Realtors and they are who I call when I have a question about an odd ball. I have Realtors call me several times a year to pick my brain and/or they ask me questions when I call to schedule a listings. An average appraiser does 5 reports a week, a busy one does 7-10 (depending on how may hours/days they work). I have completed thousands of appraisal reports as most appraisers have once they have 10+ years under their belt, how many realtors do you seriously know that have sold thousands of homes? The vast majority of Realtors have a handful of listings at best and sell virtually nothing, it is just a part time job. I cannot tell you how many times I have talked to a realtor in an attempt to figure out how they arrived at a price or the square footage of a home when it is way off and they are so far out in left field it is comical. I called a Realtor this past Friday because their listed sq footage on a purchase I was appraising was off by almost 300 sq ft. I asked her how she determined her measurements. She told me she included the "pool house" (which was actually just a typical storage shed sold at Lowes, Menards, etc.) in the rear yard because it had drywall and electricity and a "home style door". Well the shed is just a shed and the shed was a 10'x12', not 300 sq ft. It is no offense to you or Realtors, but the vast majority of Realtors I run into are fairly clueless and get the vast majority or their information or opinions from another realtor or from themselves. I cannot imagine that you were a field appraiser and did not come to the same conclusion that only a handful of Realtors are actually all that knowledgeable. You have been at your job for four weeks and you come on this forum telling people how they should be doing their jobs, who they should confirm data from, how to support their adjustments through talking to realtors, how they should use their time, you reference in this post how most of the bankers think/feel..... How long were you an appraiser prior to getting your appraisal manager job at the bank? Some of the things you have posted over the past week or so have me questioning how much experience you really have. You thought VA appraisers set their own fees, you stated that the bank has no control or responsibility over the appraisers that an AMC hires, you stated that all of the info in a report is supposed to be verified by a "participating party", as opposed to a disinterested source as listed right on the URAR. Again, no offense meant, but maybe you need to sit back and get a little more seat time before you try to reinvent the wheel. If 95% of the reports you look at are all deficient in some area as you seem to speak, maybe it is your interpretation of how things should be done that is off. If the Vast majority of appraisers seem to be doing something the same way their peers are, maybe that is just the way it is done. An appraiser is judged in part by what their peers typically do in their individual markets. I have read reports from other states that speak of things I have never heard of in my market. You told someone in a previous post that if they get their report done "early" they should use that extra time to go back over the report and make sure this long list of things that you thought important were addressed. I don't know about other appraisers, but when I get one report finished 99% of the time there is another one laying there ready to be completed. No offense, but you sound kind of like one of those appraisers that was always waiting on the next assignment and had all the time in the world to work on each report. I guess what I am trying to say is that just because you did something a certain way or like something done a certain way doesn't mean that it is the right way or the way most appraisers and their peers in an individual market do things. What is standard/acceptable practice in Ohio may not be how it is done in another state or market that may have completely different data sources. For instance, most listings on my local MLS have 10-20 photos of the property, I was visiting an appraiser buddy in Florida and they had 2-3. I can learn a lot more looking at my MLS listings than he can his.
