I am not doing the 3.6 FORM deal

[alebrewer]

It sucks that appraisers aren’t leading the way, but that’s the world we live in.

Yes, but... have they ever?

 

[Mark K]

Shakespeare was an astute observer. So much truth there.

That was written about 400 years ago, IIRC. Just goes to show you that human nature never really changes.

 

[Overimprovement]

No longer my circus or monkeys, but an observation: If we have to provide the age of roof, appliances, flooring, washers in the faucets, and electrical tape in the junction boxes, what happens when we are wrong? Seems like this opens up a slew of potential lawsuits, especially for big ticket items like a roof.

I don't know about y'all, but I can't tell the age of a C3 roof by looking at it FROM THE GROUND. So it seems our options are:

1) Essentially become home inspectors to have the knowledge to really opine on ages including crawling into crawlspaces and attics and up onto roofs as well.
2) Trust the homeowner who says "oh the roof was replaced 3 years ago (they meant the shed roof)--lawsuit city here.
3) Make homeowner prove age with receipts. (I couldn't do that for many things on my house.)

I don't see any of those 3 being viable options in reality. How will appraisers handle this when the lawsuits start coming in?

 

[J Grant]

No longer my circus or monkeys, but an observation: If we have to provide the age of roof, appliances, flooring, washers in the faucets, and electrical tape in the junction boxes, what happens when we are wrong? Seems like this opens up a slew of potential lawsuits, especially for big ticket items like a roof.

I don't know about y'all, but I can't tell the age of a C3 roof by looking at it FROM THE GROUND. So it seems our options are:

1) Essentially become home inspectors to have the knowledge to really opine on ages including crawling into crawlspaces and attics and up onto roofs as well.
2) Trust the homeowner who says "oh the roof was replaced 3 years ago (they meant the shed roof)--lawsuit city here.
3) Make homeowner prove age with receipts. (I couldn't do that for many things on my house.)

I don't see any of those 3 being viable options in reality. How will appraisers handle this when the lawsuits start coming in?

IDK, but it is an area of concern.

Unless I can find it online, permit center or receipt, I plan on adding a comment that due to lack of other sources, the word of the owner was relied on for age of roof estimate etc., and that report users are recommended to get a home inspection.
If I can not include such a statement, I will quit. They expect us to add home inspector-level detail and flood measurement wrt flood certification risk to our reports. UAD 3.6 is made to mine more daa and lower the risk exposure for the stakeholders while increasing appraiser risk exposure.

This is what the tech bros fail to understand. The problem is not data entry or picking a software company. It is the burden of tracking down yet more information which is hard to find esp with a deadline. Tehir freaking generic data can not do it. My last two assignments - the biggest time drain on one was tracking down information about a condo assessment, and the next appraisal, uncovering the RE agent's falsehood that a very expensive solar panel system was owned ( it was leased ). Each search entailed numerous phone calls, emails, and asking for proof - hours total.

 

[Airstream]

Alamode sent out the initial Mobile UAD 3.6. There are a few glitches that have to be worked out, but it basically just follows you through the form. But OMG the amount of detail and drop down menus is incredible. Definitely going to take considerable time to do a property. For example for each flooring type, you have to take a photo, etc. And if you miss something...not good.
This is far more complex than the old UAD on the Total app. I could whip through that in no time. Just as the form in the program makes my head hurt, this makes my head hurt.

Once you mark "single family" there are 18 sections you have to go through and enter data. Some fields require photos if you mark "yes." Others don't. Good luck trying to remember that without an app to tell you!!! No way I would want to do this paper and pencil in the field. There would be no way to keep track if you needed a photo or not. Now granted there are some sections you can probably fill in at the desktop and then upload to the app. And there are some sections you could simply ignore while in the field. The biggest problem would be if you had to take a photo. If you skipped that section, and didn't take a photo, it would be back to the property. For example any nearby influences (and there is a long list) you have to take a photo of it. So let's say you are doing a rural property and there is a cornfield across the road. You have to take a photo of the cornfield, state the proximity, and it's affect. Or say the subject is by a school (across the street). Have to take a photo, etc.

In the app if you don't have enough data it warns you with a big red exclamation mark. Then you have to go back and try and figure out what you are missing. Sometimes it is significant, sometimes not. But I had a few red exclamation marks, and honestly I didn't know why. This could be simply a glitch in the program, since this was just released today.

THE UPSHOT....you will need an app. NO WAY you can possibly remember all this crap. And it will be long and tedious in the field. Far more information needed. There are a few things that I don't like, and maybe they will fix them later on. For example in the sketching program I could tap on the room, and automatically take a photo of it and take notes. That didn't work. And that will be a hassle. It means doing the sketch, and then going back and taking photos of everything. That will be a time waster.

I didn't go through every section, but I went through enough to know THIS WILL HAVE A STEEP learning curve.

 

[Non Sequitur]

Alamode sent out the initial Mobile UAD 3.6. There are a few glitches that have to be worked out, but it basically just follows you through the form. But OMG the amount of detail and drop down menus is incredible. Definitely going to take considerable time to do a property. For example for each flooring type, you have to take a photo, etc. And if you miss something...not good.
This is far more complex than the old UAD on the Total app. I could whip through that in no time. Just as the form in the program makes my head hurt, this makes my head hurt.

Once you mark "single family" there are 18 sections you have to go through and enter data. Some fields require photos if you mark "yes." Others don't. Good luck trying to remember that without an app to tell you!!! No way I would want to do this paper and pencil in the field. There would be no way to keep track if you needed a photo or not. Now granted there are some sections you can probably fill in at the desktop and then upload to the app. And there are some sections you could simply ignore while in the field. The biggest problem would be if you had to take a photo. If you skipped that section, and didn't take a photo, it would be back to the property. For example any nearby influences (and there is a long list) you have to take a photo of it. So let's say you are doing a rural property and there is a cornfield across the road. You have to take a photo of the cornfield, state the proximity, and it's affect. Or say the subject is by a school (across the street). Have to take a photo, etc.

In the app if you don't have enough data it warns you with a big red exclamation mark. Then you have to go back and try and figure out what you are missing. Sometimes it is significant, sometimes not. But I had a few red exclamation marks, and honestly I didn't know why. This could be simply a glitch in the program, since this was just released today.

THE UPSHOT....you will need an app. NO WAY you can possibly remember all this crap. And it will be long and tedious in the field. Far more information needed. There are a few things that I don't like, and maybe they will fix them later on. For example in the sketching program I could tap on the room, and automatically take a photo of it and take notes. That didn't work. And that will be a hassle. It means doing the sketch, and then going back and taking photos of everything. That will be a time waster.

I didn't go through every section, but I went through enough to know THIS WILL HAVE A STEEP learning curve.

Yep. This is why the smart software providers are baking AI-photo recognition into their 3.6 offerings.

Anyway, I ran across this on LinkedIn. I'm not a fan of country music but I am a fan of comedy:

Song: Augment the Appraiser

Song: Augment the Appraiser

Listen and make your own on Suno.

suno.com

 

[shrubberyvaluation]

To be honest, I’m having a very hard time absorbing all of this. I’m far from a tech bro, but have always tried to keep up. That’s the only reason I haven’t drowned yet. And I’m a realist, 3.6 or not our industry was long overdue for change. It sucks that appraisers aren’t leading the way, but that’s the world we live in. I’ll pm you with a little more info.

I have no problem using technology. My problem is that "modernization" instead means just cutting fees and an overreliance on less reliable data.

 

[cashcatz]

Yep. This is why the smart software providers are baking AI-photo recognition into their 3.6 offerings.

Anyway, I ran across this on LinkedIn. I'm not a fan of country music but I am a fan of comedy:

Song: Augment the Appraiser

Song: Augment the Appraiser

Listen and make your own on Suno.

suno.com

I can't afford the dental work that comes along with Nashville cubical farm written country music (meth + mountain dew does a number on the teeth).

 

[J Grant]

Alamode sent out the initial Mobile UAD 3.6. There are a few glitches that have to be worked out, but it basically just follows you through the form. But OMG the amount of detail and drop down menus is incredible. Definitely going to take considerable time to do a property. For example for each flooring type, you have to take a photo, etc. And if you miss something...not good.
This is far more complex than the old UAD on the Total app. I could whip through that in no time. Just as the form in the program makes my head hurt, this makes my head hurt.

Once you mark "single family" there are 18 sections you have to go through and enter data. Some fields require photos if you mark "yes." Others don't. Good luck trying to remember that without an app to tell you!!! No way I would want to do this paper and pencil in the field. There would be no way to keep track if you needed a photo or not. Now granted there are some sections you can probably fill in at the desktop and then upload to the app. And there are some sections you could simply ignore while in the field. The biggest problem would be if you had to take a photo. If you skipped that section, and didn't take a photo, it would be back to the property. For example any nearby influences (and there is a long list) you have to take a photo of it. So let's say you are doing a rural property and there is a cornfield across the road. You have to take a photo of the cornfield, state the proximity, and it's affect. Or say the subject is by a school (across the street). Have to take a photo, etc.

In the app if you don't have enough data it warns you with a big red exclamation mark. Then you have to go back and try and figure out what you are missing. Sometimes it is significant, sometimes not. But I had a few red exclamation marks, and honestly I didn't know why. This could be simply a glitch in the program, since this was just released today.

THE UPSHOT....you will need an app. NO WAY you can possibly remember all this crap. And it will be long and tedious in the field. Far more information needed. There are a few things that I don't like, and maybe they will fix them later on. For example in the sketching program I could tap on the room, and automatically take a photo of it and take notes. That didn't work. And that will be a hassle. It means doing the sketch, and then going back and taking photos of everything. That will be a time waster.

I didn't go through every section, but I went through enough to know THIS WILL HAVE A STEEP learning curve.

If you create a template for each property type, such as SFR and condo, that prints out all the drop-down sections, then you have them all in front of you on paper, correct?

It can be a choice whether one wants to use the prompts in real time from the drop-down fields using a napp. , or print out the report and check mark and take corresponding photos using that. I asked ALAMODE and they said a template can be made ( basically, do a generic UAD 3.6 report for a property type and print it out )

Beyond that, as you said the amount of added data, photos and measuring will add immense time both to the inspection and filling out the report BEFORE one dives into the comps and research and other analysis.

It will need a fee increase. Whether the clients go along with it or agree to a fee to compensate remains to be seen. The other problem is time. They will want this as fast as we deliver now and that might not be feasible.

 

[Airstream]

If you create a template for each property type, such as SFR and condo, that prints out all the drop-down sections, then you have them all in front of you on paper, correct?

It can be a choice whether one wants to use the prompts in real time from the drop-down fields using a napp. , or print out the report and check mark and take corresponding photos using that. I asked ALAMODE and they said a template can be made ( basically, do a generic UAD 3.6 report for a property type and print it out )

Beyond that, as you said the amount of added data, photos and measuring will add immense time both to the inspection and filling out the report BEFORE one dives into the comps and research and other analysis.

It will need a fee increase. Whether the clients go along with it or agree to a fee to compensate remains to be seen. The other problem is time. They will want this as fast as we deliver now and that might not be feasible.

You can do a lot of it at the desktop before you get to the field. But unlike the present situation where you have an entire form to look at in the software NOW you have to drop down each section. That is going to be tedious. The other problem is knowing when a photo is needed. And there are numerous. Even with a template it seems you still have to go through all those fields to make sure you have all the information. I'm just saying, I don't see how one will save a great deal of time by templates. Maybe some. But not much.

This has solidified my position that I am done. It's going to take far more time in the field, because the level of information they want is crazy. On average house I probably spend 30 to 45 minutes at the house. This will double inspection times. No question.