E-Trac = Your Own AMC

[panappr]

Its finally here, the software needed to start your own AMC. Can they be serious?.... I can just see every appraisal company across the country converting themselves to be an AMC.

“It is a crucial time in the industry. Obviously with these new regulations many appraisers are expanding their businesses and starting AMCs. The AMC Edition has been enhanced to meet the needs of this expanding market,” said Global DMS President Vladimir Bien-Aime.

Real estate appraisal software from eTrac online appraisal management

 

[Non Sequitur]

Can they be serious?

Very serious.

 

[444nutman]

I just got back from out in the field and that same email was in my box. I was thinking the same thing. I find it funny that everyone makes money off of an appraisal but the appraiser.

 

[Offshore]

I got the same email this morning. Now the trainees who own fee shops can move up a notch and own an AMC. Isn't this just lovely?

 

[Mile High Trout]

E-Trac Email Response Letter

Hey guys, I sent this email in response to this E-trac solicitation I got in the mail as well. In fact, I'm known to write a letter like this to nearly everyone who solicits me. Please support the industry, and send in your letters to these people who solicit you.

Email copy:

Hey Matt,

I looked at the website for a minute, and read the email. I'm not that impressed. This looks like just another double blind system that is trying to make its money from the appraisers, rather than the mortgage personell, & per order skims. (I would not be suprised, if you were charging on every level though, if you thought it appropriate to try and charge me.) The appraiser is the worker, not a customer. Should you have a product that can gain me work, without me having to "pay to work", I may become interested. In Colorado, we are a legally a "right to work" state, and "pay to work" is generally not accepted here anywhere that I know of. Some temporary labor industries tried to sell pay to work here, but they failed miserably.

Perhaps I missed the actual product that I was being offered, correct me if I'm wrong. But I already pay for Wintotal & Alamode w/ order manager. With additional E & O, sketching, general liability, other pc related softwares, auto, home business expenses, etc,... I'm just not interested in paying for any of these "pay to work" ideas or softwares that people bounce off me weekly. I've had a lot of various bright idea websites trying to get me to pay them, so that they can launch, etc. If the idea works, you don't need my subscription, to make it work. I'm the worker, and having a larger, more comprehensive database of available appraisers is much more beneficial on the other end of your business. Really, you should partner with appraisers, offer free signups, and charge per order, if an order appears. Without any guarantee of volume, & yearly renewal fees, I'm right away not interested.

You see the appraisers are making less and less, and should not be the new target for all these hopefull AMC companies to gain revenue. The Appraisal Institute has reccomended that all mortgage related companies, and appraisal servicing companies seek more traditional means of income, by charging the business persons on the mortgage side of business, and not the valuation side. (supporting AI response letter to HVCC attached). I'm not buying this new thinking that these fast & loose, billion dollar banks need to cut costs, and I should absorb those fees for them, while at the same time earning less, due to biased AMC influence, as well as highly increased scrutiny from state appraisal boards, & lenders alike.

Great business presentation though! Much nicer than many other hopefull enterprises, I've seen lately. If you can find a way to be more appraiser friendly, let me know, I'll get more interested! I'm already on with a hundred AMC's & get no work. If I had to pay to list everywhere I'm listed, I'd have gone broke a long time ago. If I had to pay for every different ordering system & submission system I use, with my wide client base, well that would be excessively expensive. Like I said, I'm the worker, and I have a "right to work", based on my professional, state issued license. If clients want my highly quality, supported & thoroughly researched appraisals, they order them from me, and that is how I make money. It just doesn't seem like smart business to buy into the idea that I need to pay for that priveledge of working. My certified license is my pass through, not any new software out on the market, to assist t he other side of the real estate industry. Having pay to work sites attracts mainly larger appraisal firms, that are less independant, and turns away the majority of appraisers, that are truly independant operators, and cannot take the financial risks of paying for all these various sites, listings, & softwares. Your appraiser questions area seems geared to the larger firms as well, I could not relate to any supposed benefits there. Since AMC's have been out on the market, my earnings are already cut, and I don't have available gross income to write off any more spending.

Thanks for taking a moment to hear my opinions on the matter.

Please read through the attached AI response to HVCC letter. It's a long read, but will definently spell out appraisers concerns on a nationwide level, to anyone who does not hear from an appraiser regularly.



(sp check out, sorry)

End

So that's it. I'm still sending out the copy of the HVCC response letter from AI to all these people, and I will continue to do it. It's completely backing my opinions that they should not be finding revenue from me, the appraiser.:new_2gunsfiring_v1: Thanks for reading.

 

[Mile High Trout]

Follow up, what is E-Trac?

Its finally here, the software needed to start your own AMC. Can they be serious?.... I can just see every appraisal company across the country converting themselves to be an AMC.

Could it also be used to convert a regular business to an AMC, I suppose so, if you had clients, because now you've got the software. All you would need is every appraiser you work with to buy the software as well. They will be getting the workers to do the selling for them!

It's kind of confusing what they are offering. I took the offer to be a competetive product to Wintotals double blind x-sites ordering system. It looks like you pay to use the software, that all AMC's will use, and you will be totally connected, and available for more orders, based on varied crieteria that goes along with the software, & vendor performance records. Although I don't think that will work, because not everyone will pay for it of course. It touts all the similar office management tools that wintotal already provides me. I'm not very impressed. Although the pitch is very professional. I wonder how many appraiser fees they can reel in. They seem to be offering the software, that will work with AMC's. It seems like another pass through product. If the AMC's want to work with me, they can provide me with this software.

It's a solicitation letter sent to AMC's to find uniformity, in business clients needs, as well as staying current with fastly changing rules. But it's also a solicitation to appraisers, to buy the software, so that they can work with the AMC's that also bought the software. Madness. "It's two things in one!"

 

[Mile High Trout]

Mr Matt McHale called me back!

Boy, this guy was really sharp, and had a lot more clarification for me, regarding E-Trac. I've got to put down a final opinion, that this program sounds really great, based on what Matt talked with me about. There is available free networking for appraisers. Varied companies that are fulfilling order management should be linked to appraisers free information, according to Matt. So that means than if a hopefull AMC buys the product, they will have access to you immediately through networked databases. That should take out some of the difficulty of signing up with a million AMC's!. Also mentioned was the opinion & dialogue that this product will facillitate more market competition, and has the potential to help correct lowballed appraiser fees, that current AMC's are propigating. Apparently there are already some more idealistic persons, and appraisers trying out this product, and running with the "co-op" idea. Where appraisers fees are more appropriate, and there is minimal fee skimming. A few dozen of those, and bigwig AMC's may find that they are no longer gaining control of setting industry pricing & typical appraisal cost pricing, but are using actual typical & standard appraisal costs & pricing, based on competetive, related AMC's run in a more co-op fashion. Savvy?..... I wonder if it would be beneficial to run my own AMC, and me be the only available appraiser.....HA!
So this appears to be running, based on more innovative, & congruent tech coding, & source, that is not proprietary. That seems to be the market competition I was hoping for, to go against these proprietary softwares, that you have to pay to use. According to Matt, if you get an order from an AMC who is using E-Trac, you do not have to pay to get the software, but only sign into the database. Then, depending on the company using E-Trac that sent you the order, and thier payscales, that is where fees play in. There had been quite a lot of talk about a co-op appraisal ordering system lately, but the holdups were that the software & tech were not pre-existing & developed properly already, or they were proprietary or costly. According to Matt, the coding is not proprietary, and should be usable by a wider base, is already developed for other previous uses, and this product is already supporting co-op AMC's, ran by appraisers.

So I wanted to post a follow up. Matt was supposed to send me some links to these sites, but I have not recieved them yet. Just wanted to clarify, as I had taken a position already. Looks like it's not something they are selling the appraisers to use, but it is a start your own AMC software. Which I don't mind, because more competition, brings better market results in any market. If I have to use AMC's, I want options, and the AMC's that treat appraisers best are the ones that should flourish. I'm excited about the idea that non-bank owned subsidiary companies and the like will be able to propigate appraisal managment. The reason I don't get fair shakes from AMC's are because they have the special interests of their parent companies, and of course, financial interests. Appraisers also have vested interst in appraisal management, and a common appraiser goal lately has been to run co-op apprsl mngmnt, so that appraisers have a voice, and get compensated fairly. I would not be suprised if large appraisal firms all became thier own AMC.

So I'm not clear on everything, because we only had a short conversation, and I have never actually used the product. I think they're still developing direction to properly advertise the product, and they did appreciate my feedback, which is rare, and always a good sign. I'll wait and see if opportunity rolls around from E-Trac, before I stand to a solid opinion on the matter. Just thought I'd share what I learned with the other appraisers here.

Have a nice day.

Nutman!@!!! I told you already~!~~~!@!! "Put Elmo down right now!!!!"

 

[panappr]

Jeremy

Thanks for that follow up.... That does put things in a little different perspective... A glimmer of hope?

 

[RICHARD D. FRANK]

This is our IT company, has been there all along.

 

[RICHARD D. FRANK]

There had been quite a lot of talk about a coop appraisal ordering system lately, but the holdups were that the software & tech were not pre-existing & developed properly already, or they were proprietary or costly. NOT SO! GO LOOK AT globaldms.com AND STUDY IT dont just look at the pictures and read the headlines. It has been available all along.