Desktop Appraisals Becoming the New Normal

[George Hatch]

One poster (recent transplant to TX) has already commented on that.

Austin Appraisal Slowdown

Moved to Austin in June and was immediately swamped with work and able to charge twice as much as I was charging per appraisal in the state of PA (my hometown). Things stayed steady through December but orders coming in have drastically dropped and the fees I am able to charge have plummeted...

appraisersforum.com

Moved to Austin in June and was immediately swamped with work and able to charge twice as much as I was charging per appraisal in the state of PA (my hometown). Things stayed steady through December but orders coming in have drastically dropped and the fees I am able to charge have plummeted.​

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Obviously someone who is new to their market and who hasn't yet established their client relationships is going to be more vulnerable to fee volatility in the market. However, the point remains: in an internet-enabled marketplace for services where an AMC or other client can easily shop by price it won't take them very long to find the low cost vendors. Nor will it take those vendors very long to adapt to the reduction in demand by dropping their pricing. And vice versa when the demand surges.

Way of the world.

Taking these trends to their logical conclusion, fees *could* get so sensitive to changes in the demand that they could change on a weekly basis.

 

[J Grant]

Yes it absolutely is about the hypocrisy. And the foolishment the hypocrites are attempting by cloaking their financial concerns with the mantle of moral outrage.

A discussion that's about the money should be about the money; not citing credibility as their primary concern.

So let's talk about what happens when appraiser productivity gets leveraged by technology-enabled desktops and hybrids. The demand for appraiser hours declines. We will need fewer heads to service the remaining effective demand. That means that if the number of appraisers doesn't decline in parallel to the reduction in demand then the fees will also decline. That means that nobody should be taking trainees on in the face of a declining demand for their productivity.

Noting the obvious doesn't amount to advocating those changes or those outcomes. It only serves to put the idea out there that the march of technology and changing users expectations should be taken into account by appraisers and some of them might do better for themselves by adapting to the changing environment as opposed to attempting to obstruct it.

I find it hypocritical that some appraisers, for ? reasons, repeatedly make it a point to post about the hypocrisy of appraisers for normal concerns about income !! It is very strange, and has been going on for years, Why don't you point out the hypocrisy of the clients, pretending these products are just as credible ?

Just because you claim it is an either or does not make it so, appraisers can be concerned both about credibility and about fees.

 

[J Grant]

One poster (recent transplant to TX) has already commented on that.

Austin Appraisal Slowdown

Moved to Austin in June and was immediately swamped with work and able to charge twice as much as I was charging per appraisal in the state of PA (my hometown). Things stayed steady through December but orders coming in have drastically dropped and the fees I am able to charge have plummeted...

appraisersforum.com

Moved to Austin in June and was immediately swamped with work and able to charge twice as much as I was charging per appraisal in the state of PA (my hometown). Things stayed steady through December but orders coming in have drastically dropped and the fees I am able to charge have plummeted.​

​

Obviously someone who is new to their market and who hasn't yet established their client relationships is going to be more vulnerable to fee volatility in the market. However, the point remains: in an internet-enabled marketplace for services where an AMC or other client can easily shop by price it won't take them very long to find the low cost vendors. Nor will it take those vendors very long to adapt to the reduction in demand by dropping their pricing. And vice versa when the demand surges.

Way of the world.

Taking these trends to their logical conclusion, fees *could* get so sensitive to changes in the demand that they could change on a weekly basis.

This is only true for AMC orders in the appraisal world. Lender direct and other clients do not internet shop for low fees for regular res lender orders.

 

[George Hatch]

I never said or suggested it was hypocritical to be concerned about fees. I said it was hypocritical to cloak those concerns with moral outrage about credibility when it wasn't a problem back when you couldn't perform inspections. Nobody uttered a peep about the credibility of those appraisals back then.

What I did say was that if you want to talk about declining fees then do so directly.

 

[George Hatch]

This is only true for AMC orders in the appraisal world. Lender direct and other clients do not internet shop for low fees for regular res lender orders.

If that was ever the case then the fees wouldn't have increased in the last couple years due to the increased demand. That's how I know your fees will eventually decline again if/when the market slows down.

 

[glenn walker]

Not for direct clients, the only ones making appraisers "compete" for low fees are the AMC';s.

Got to remember direct lenders also compete for borrowers and they also base their fees by what others are getting paid, Where it gets nasty as volume slows up loan officers and money center banks all are at each others throats also many direct lenders will not survive any kind of big slow down. We saw many close up in last cycle and AMCs will become extremely aggressive to keep clients they have. Some greed I saw out here was crazy like Fernando's $1,000.00 fees on California Bungalows. I have no doubt lenders and AMCs will be at each others throats and appraisers did not build any confidence with borrowers n the last two years What we experiences in last 24 months was shortage of appraisers which caused de laid inspections and so prices went up for speed not quality as it slows there will be no shortage of appraisers and no constraints of getting back to the 2 to 3 day turn times. DART AMC is looking for some new team members

 

[alebrewer]

This is only true for AMC orders in the appraisal world. Lender direct and other clients do not internet shop for low fees for regular res lender orders.

I can say with 100% certainty that, when an appraiser provides a quote to us (as direct engagement), if it is out of line with other fees we've gotten, we reject the quote. We don't shop fees, but we don't allow appraisers to take advantage of the borrowers either.

 

[glenn walker]

This is only true for AMC orders in the appraisal world. Lender direct and other clients do not internet shop for low fees for regular res lender orders.

I can say with 100% certainty that, when an appraiser provides a quote to us (as direct engagement), if it is out of line with other fees we've gotten, we reject the quote. We don't shop fees, but we don't allow appraisers to take advantage of the borrowers either.

Dang your not going to take Fernando $1,000 Covid-19 fees anymore LOL

 

[George Hatch]

I can say with 100% certainty that, when an appraiser provides a quote to us (as direct engagement), if it is out of line with other fees we've gotten, we reject the quote. We don't shop fees, but we don't allow appraisers to take advantage of the borrowers either.

It's primarily not a matter of altruism or good faith, either. If you hit your borrower with an unreasonable fee you run the risk of them shopping for a better deal from one of your competitors.

 

[alebrewer]

Dang your not going to take Fernando $1,000 Covid-19 fees anymore LOL

I miss that cat. Hope he's well.