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[gorillakimchi]

It's just the way it is set up. AMCs are literally drug dealers.

The bank charges the customer 650 for an appraisal and the AMC's job is to get it to someone who will do it the cheapest and fastest... so they can keep as much of the fee as possible.

I remember a few years ago they started requiring us to disclose the fee in every report... and I don't know what that does for anyone. It sure hasn't meant anything good for appraisers.

It really sucks in times like these when things are slow. 2021-2023 you could double your fees and just get auto assigned work... now everything is a quote request.

I think AMC must disclose their fees from the bank or lender, so we know it's reasonable or not... We work asss off, but the middle man takes ridiculous amount of money. I'm so sad

 

[boardman]

I just got charged $19.99 for February and I didn't even complete them through Valuelink! They were uploaded to the AMC website and the AMC shared with Connect (Amerimac and AstroAmc).

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

This profession needs to unionize

Professional organizations success with "unions" somewhere between zero and negative infinity.

Appraiser just need to use their heads for something besides a hatrack. Turn down these jobs period. Counter with fee offers 2 or 3x the original and point out why a certain property is complex (it's unusually large, had multiple buildings, large site, located in rural area, etc.)

FOMO. Fear of Missing Out. Afraid not to take the job at these absurd levels because someone else might be that stupid or even stupider. And if they get desperate and take the offer you make try to turn it around in 24 hours because they are not going to stop looking to replace you and will withdraw the offer if they find someone cheaper.

PS - you are aware there is an Appraiser's Guild already and its impact upon prices has been zilch.

 

[Tom D]

Well, when you work on the AMC plantation and the master whips you, you cry out loud. Please massa, don't beat your poor servant. I pick more for less next time boss.

I gotta find that box of tissues for you enduring AMC workers and the pain you suffer. Tears are starting to come to my eyes. Wiping tears from eyes, laughing.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

work on the AMC plantation

I honestly ponder why any appraiser would be so limited in the services they provide that they are a slave of the AMC. I mean it is not like the writing wasn't on the wall 25 years ago about the AMCs. By 2005 they were promising more work if you just cut prices and many people did. But when the Great Recession hit, those "more" jobs because scarce and fees were slashed even more. Hint. It was time to up your game.

Why would a LA or CR not want to scramble to take a few college courses if they lack a degree, not take good CE and not piffle, work towards that CG license, expand their practice to include non-lender work? Are they such introverts they don't want to be seen in public except a 30 minute inspection once a day? Are they too bashful to even visit with trust departments, bankers, Realtors, estate lawyers and CPAs trying to drum up work? Do they think some generic website will draw a bunch of work? Are they so incompetent that they cannot read up enough to understand the difference between the various types of non-lender assignments and too stupid to learn how to manipulate and create templates in a $90 word processing program? Even if a Word Processing moron, you can buy narrative writing programs.

Some might say they have no interest in a commercial appraisal. But the CG is better equipped to value those million plus properties, better able to do land assignments and surely nothing is very complicated about valuing a simple garage, stand alone retail, warehouse or mini-storage. The math part of it is not rocket surgery.

Look at all the specialty properties where finding an appraiser is difficult = C Stores, Airport hangars, churches, eminent domain, ROW valuation, on and on. You don't have to take on the most complex jobs, but can do the easy ones, right?

I never understood not wanting to up your game in any profession, but residential appraisers seem stuck in a rut that they happily remain in and then blame the AMCs for their plight.

 

[KHS445]

I work in a rather rural area of northwest Michigan and in my 25 +/- years as an independent fee appraiser I have completed exactly one report for an AMC and regretted every minute of it. It was for a relative of my mentor, otherwise I would have turned it down. And yes, I did disclose the relationship prior to accepting the assignment and a copy of their authorizing response is contained in my work file.

Frankly, I find the small commercial projects to be much easier to complete than most residential requests. Probably the toughest part of obtaining a CG license is passing Income I & II. Most of which isn't covered on the licensing exam and very rarely used in the real world, except by those completing the larger and more complex valuations.