Has Anyone Completed A 3.6 Yet

[Trihard]

One of the many frustrating things about AMCs. They ask you to set your fees in the beginning with no area for variation.

Then they send you a $500,000 purchase for a simple cape COD 3 miles from my house. $500.
The same day they will send a $950,000 purchase for a property 90 min drive from my house on 6 acres built in 1809 on the national historical registry. $500.

Then you go to them and say you need additional fee and they come back with "why? what is atypical or complex about this house? what is common for the area and why is this not common?" then they have to go back to the lender to approve the fee... at which time they find a desperate appraiser who will do it for less because they don't have work.

The AMC knows exactly what they are doing. The reason they pay the same on both is because its a bigger profit margin for them when someone goes out and does the million dollar 3,000 sf home for $375. The AMC absolutely up-charges the lender for larger houses but they pay the appraiser the absolute minimum. Its one of the many ways AMC's rip off appraisers on the back end. Another way the AMC rips off the appraiser is when you ask them for a fee raise, they will come back and say they can't raise your fee because other appraisers in your county do work for $375. Then when another appraiser asks the same AMC for more money, the AMC tells the other appraiser that you charge $375 so they can't raise their fee. They rival casinos in scum behavior. As the saying goes, its a feature not a bug.

 

[ilsindaco2628]

The AMC knows exactly what they are doing. The reason they pay the same on both is because its a bigger profit margin for them when someone goes out and does the million dollar 3,000 sf home for $375. The AMC absolutely up-charges the lender for larger houses but they pay the appraiser the absolute minimum. Its one of the many ways AMC's rip off appraisers on the back end. Another way the AMC rips off the appraiser is when you ask them for a fee raise, they will come back and say they can't raise your fee because other appraisers in your county do work for $375. Then when another appraiser asks the same AMC for more money, the AMC tells the other appraiser that you charge $375 so they can't raise their fee. They rival casinos in scum behavior. As the saying goes, its a feature not a bug.

At least casinos are heavily regulated haha

 

[Surf Cat]

The AMC knows exactly what they are doing. The reason they pay the same on both is because its a bigger profit margin for them when someone goes out and does the million dollar 3,000 sf home for $375. The AMC absolutely up-charges the lender for larger houses but they pay the appraiser the absolute minimum. Its one of the many ways AMC's rip off appraisers on the back end. Another way the AMC rips off the appraiser is when you ask them for a fee raise, they will come back and say they can't raise your fee because other appraisers in your county do work for $375. Then when another appraiser asks the same AMC for more money, the AMC tells the other appraiser that you charge $375 so they can't raise their fee. They rival casinos in scum behavior. As the saying goes, its a feature not a bug.

Posted this in another thread:

Appraisal Logistics Solutions LLC is a privately held appraisal management company (AMC) headquartered in Annapolis, Maryland. The company operates with approximately 28–31 employees and generates an estimated annual revenue of $5.7 million.

The appraiser is doing all the work and the AMC could not survive without appraisers. Why do AMCs have appraisers over a barrel then? The answer is obvious.....

 

[Tom D]

What part of this (from post #456) do you need explained for you?
View attachment 109737

Do not your interior shots already show some walls and ceiling. But now they want you to write on the photo; living room, wall and ceiling. Cause they can't tell themselves from all the interior photos you put in the report.

 

[Bobby Bucks]

For years appraisers have been deliberately ignoring the “walls” block on the 2.6 form, the 3.6 form fixes this. Lenders and clients will now know if the subject has walls.

 

[HVNY]

I received an invite from National Association of Realtors (I'm a broker too) for a seminar on 3.6 from our friends at Aivre... So now NAR is shilling for them.

 

[Alsie35]

Okay pal.

I'm a licensed appraiser (two years left until I can get certified) and it hasn't been easy getting added to panels and getting work.
So as a young appraiser trying to put food on the table, I sincerely apologize for trying to make a living. Honestly really stupid of me.

Stay strong! Call me "Been There, Done That".

Don't know what the future marketplace looks like, but I was licensed in 2004 when I was in my early 40s ... took all of the Cert classes in 2009 over the Summer ... but did not test and get certified til 2018 (when my wife put her foot down and said "This year you WILL get certified!"). She and her daughter assembled my appraisal logs - what a PITA! - she even sat me down and patiently explained the math formulas needed for the Cert Test in a way I could understand them (they made me almost bail on the project - but, she had been a teacher in a past life). Then I found Bruce Legg's in-person Certification class, travelled to Anaheim for the weekend, took the class, then crammed with his materials for a week non-stop in my "Certification Station" that I set up in my garage on a couple of folding tables - and PASSED the M-F the first time!!! (It was WAY harder than the Bar Exam I took and passed decades earlier, and the Licensing Exam I took in 2004 by comparison I could have 'mailed in' it was so easy).

But the Cert Test - to a math-challenged guy - was really hard. Good thing I can iterate problems by moving the variables around in the equation rapid-fire til one answer matches the choices - then move on. Those math formulas were something I NEVER used again because they are irrelevant to the cookie-cutter appraisals I do - but getting Certified opened a HUGE new swath of clients and my fees immediately started going up.

Before certification I was happy to get a new AMC client and happy to do whatever they had for 'cheap' fees in order to pay the bills, turning them out as fast as I could. There are a lot of A-holes on this forum who can't run a business worth a G-D and think they should get paid $1500 an appraisal for the privilege of only having to do 4-5 a week!
So yeah - getting certified is worth it! Good luck to you!

 

[Alsie35]

I believe the vast majority of appraisers are doing just that. The appraisers I know who don't spend much time in forums or on facebook have certainly said this. The industry parasites which include the Buzz, certain CE and software venders, etc. are still selling fear with a pat on the back from the GSEs, all while pointing the finger of blame at the independent appraiser. 3.6 is a mess and they have no one to blame but themselves.

They are desperate. Today I got another one of those "3.6 Abomination" Mail Chimp surveys - first one in a couple of months - from an AMC that has never, as far as I can recall, sent me work. Yes, I blocked them (standard practice) but before that I completed the survey with comments that would make a sailor blush. And it felt good. Real good.

 

[Bobby Bucks]

They are desperate. Today I got another one of those "3.6 Abomination" Mail Chimp surveys - first one in a couple of months - from an AMC that has never, as far as I can recall, sent me work. Yes, I blocked them (standard practice) but before that I completed the survey with comments that would make a sailor blush. And it felt good. Real good.

The last few I've received I've played nice, but phrased the answers in a manner that someone up the AMC food chain will be likely to read it and have a conniption fit. There are not many ways to have fun in this business, but placing burrs under the saddle of AMC management is one of them.

 

[Sandra Koutsopoulos]

I received an invite from National Association of Realtors (I'm a broker too) for a seminar on 3.6 from our friends at Aivre... So now NAR is shilling for them.

Actually, IMO, Realtors don't have a CLUE as to what is coming. I suspect that IRL there will be a bunch of sales that don't close on time for lack of 3.6 appraiser availability. From my point of view as a Realtor and appraiser, the most significant issue is the invasion of privacy. If ppls info/photos are 'in the cloud', available online to anyone who can access that database (which I suspect will be virtually EVERYBODY...for a fee), then their privacy is gone. Their artwork, valuables, car, cute little girl's bedroom photos will be open to every lurker in the entire WORLD!

At this point, agents are totally unaware of this. I spoke to a certified CRMLS trainer/mediator/Realtor Monday, and he knew nothing about the 3.6 implications, told me to call the MLS legal/lawyer line....duh! Too late, DUDE!! To my knowledge, my local CRMLS has no plans to inform agents about anything re: 3.6 and how it will affect them. This trainer-guy said that agents should tell their SELLERS, before an open house or showing, to put all valuables in secure place where they aren't seen, and specifically mentioned prescription drugs in their medicine cabinets. OK, that's fine if they are selling and moving away, though the Buyer might 'inherit' some exploitation he wasn't expecting.

But from our point of view, why should simply getting a loan, refinance or whatever, expose ppls personal stuff to the world via Cloud FOREVER? If someone is simply doing a re-fi, must they remove all their art? sculptures, expensive TVs & equipment, jewelry, etc? Try telling an owner THAT at the door when you want to take your lender photos. I wouldn't doubt that some ppl would think twice about pursuing a loan if they knew all their valuables, including little Sweetheart's pink bedroom photos, would be online and available to anyone. And we all know that databases are broken into all the time, so they are absolutely not secure. (I received notices last week that my medical info has been compromised in the doc's database, and also ChatGTP was broken into, which carries millions of ppls personal info.)

I did an appraisal a couple months ago in a high-end neighborhood, where the walls had 16th c. Flemish tapestries hung in the entry, dining room and study.... value probably over $mil. The public is not aware of this looming invasion of privacy. I'm no psychic, but I predict that it won't be long before someone gets robbed and they find out the perp targeted his victim via 3.6 appraisal lender photos. Who's liable? Typically, everybody who's had their fingers in any way on those photos and their accessibility.