Desktop Appraisals And The Future Of Our Industry

[Wayne Henry]

I completed a desktop appraisal a week ago just to see how long it would take. It took me two hours to complete and I am in my early 40's. The fee was messily $60. The report came back with corrections since it was my first assignment and that took another half hour to correct. This client sends one job once in a while so there's not a lot of volume to maybe compensate for the low fee. I do not believe I will be doing this type of appraisal again. Lesson learned.

I honestly do not give a fats frog if they have us complete appraisals on a toilet paper; just pay us a fee that we can survive on. This industry is ridiculous. I hope the government is ready to start paying their citizens a living wage with all the jobs being lost by automation, if not, there will be food riots in the streets...that’s my prediction.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

Why do them for $60 when an evaluation by a non-appraiser costs the bank $175-225 and no AMC involved.

 

[bnmappraisal]

I completed a desktop appraisal a week ago just to see how long it would take. It took me two hours to complete and I am in my early 40's. The fee was messily $60. The report came back with corrections since it was my first assignment and that took another half hour to correct. This client sends one job once in a while so there's not a lot of volume to maybe compensate for the low fee. I do not believe I will be doing this type of appraisal again. Lesson learned.

Glad to hear another voice on the topic. Digger has another thread regarding (what I'm pretty sure is) a similar topic. "Desktop" "Hybrid" "Bi-furcated/Bifurcated" appraisals. (the other thread has Ati and/or valuenet in the thread title)

As I said in that other thread, my biggest thing is the fee(s) involved. I've done some desktop appraisals for private parties (never left my office - relied on my clients info/pics, etc). All of this is agreed upon SOW between myself and my client. BUT...my fee wasn't much less than my typical fee had I actually gone and inspected/measured the property (generally $50-75 less depending). But these $50-75 (maybe $1XX seems to be the highest I've heard of) fees are b@!! buster fees. As you say Wayne, it took over two hours for you to complete and then another 1/2 hour for revisions. Granted I'm sure once you "got the hang of them" you'd cut down the time, but still, for $60? ... I don't like it.

 

[gregb]

My signature has never blessed a document for $60. What is the line, "you will make up for it in volume"? A notary stamp here has a fee of way more than $60, with way less involved than any desktop appraisal.

 

[jay trotta]

As in any niche market portion of a business, you have to see what's out there, Test the waters and see if it works within your business model. The $50-$60 Model came from RE Agents doing these types of reports/evaluations probably started about 30 years ago. At that time it was a (1) page document, copied / abbreviated / cloned / Bi-Custer fkd. up for Agents to fill out; yet here we are some 30 years later and the Fee for services is Not anywhere near what it should be.

Then again, the Fee structure for most of the services (in our Industry) today are 30 years old and those who write those C&R Fee garbage and claim they provided some survey that supports the issue, whether from a reliable source or not (and if it's University driven) where is the Support for the "Inflation Factor" over the past 30 year cycle ?? And these same people that make up this sheit, want You to act Professional and be Ethical in regards to the Risk Factor involved in the security of a Multi-Billion Dollar Industry. This isn't even a "common sense factor", it is purely Greed driven and supported by your Tax Dollars.

 

[Randolph Kinney]

The irony of a licensed real estate appraiser doing desktop appraisals for $60 reminds me of college graduates working for minimum wage. Surely that will not attract more appraisers just like working for fast food employment will not attract more people graduating from college with a 4 year degree.

Maybe the market has signaled to the appraisal profession that there is a demand for fast food workers with appraiser licenses?

 

[Carnivore]

Here is a novel idea! Everyone of us could do one of these Desktops TODAY! Why do you need a client/assignment. Just pick a active/under contract listing out of your MLS system, make it your subject and complete a desktop.

 

[Randolph Kinney]

Reminds me of Zaio where you own a zone and you do a non-concurrent desktop appraisal based upon information you photographed and updated in your zone data base within a year.

 

[Randolph Kinney]

https://scontent.frkh1-1.fna.fbcdn....=8c2521b10819cf0d4667e5a7c0e12794&oe=5B74B39A

Zaio all over again.

 

[Deleted member 130081]

Sometimes ill affects take time to materialize. It will be the case if these ever become the standard. After some time, appraisers will become disconnected from that which they appraise. Eventually you will have a generation of appraisers signing reports when they have stepped foot in next to zero homes. This is a short-sighted and irresponsible road to go down. In any other industry, it would be laughable. This will be like the newbie appraisers who become reviewers before they are appraisers, only worse. Someone needs to inspect the houses and saving a few bucks by getting a less-educated / lower paid person to do it is a bad idea.

The price model appears attainable to clients because they have been getting BPOs by the thousands in recent years for next to nothing in cost. The part of that story that does not get told, is that often the brokers pawn the work off on subordinate agents who are just starting out and do these as a means to make more than zero money. Its a trainee/apprentice/internship wage, not a living wage for an educated, experienced and licensed professional.

Greed, plain and simple, with zero vision of the future consequences.