I keep getting push back on this stipulation from a reviewer

[CGinMN]

If I had to guess, this is not the result of new entrants into the field.

Because of the arbitrary 10-15-25 adjustment guidelines, many appraisers were taught to minimize adjustments to avoid scrutiny. That is why you see a $2000 garage adjustment, $40/sf GLA adjustment, no site adjustment, etc. The GSEs retired those guidelines 10 years ago but some appraisers and lenders still don’t understand.

 

[J Grant]

If I had to guess, this is not the result of new entrants into the field.

Because of the arbitrary 10-15-25 adjustment guidelines, many appraisers were taught to minimize adjustments to avoid scrutiny. That is why you see a $2000 garage adjustment, $40/sf GLA adjustment, no site adjustment, etc. The GSEs retired those guidelines 10 years ago but some appraisers and lenders still don’t understand.

An appraiser who may have been taught that still is responsible for it, and they have had plenty of time to get educated and stop making minimal adjustments to avoid scrutiny. This is an AMC think, IMO and the result of a broken system.

Perhaps a $40 sf was a credibly supported adjustment, or maybe not. Idk.

 

[Dublin ohio]

If I had to guess, this is not the result of new entrants into the field.

Because of the arbitrary 10-15-25 adjustment guidelines, many appraisers were taught to minimize adjustments to avoid scrutiny. That is why you see a $2000 garage adjustment, $40/sf GLA adjustment, no site adjustment, etc. The GSEs retired those guidelines 10 years ago but some appraisers and lenders still don’t understand.

Too many appraisers didn't understand the term "guidelines". They looked at it as written in stone. I've done rural for most of my time as an appraiser. Wasn't unusual to exceed the "guidelines". Had minimal pushback over the years.

 

[Tom D]

that is right grant & cg. how many reports have you seen where how anything was derived. it's called visual aids. you don't even have to write much. show them a graph, or chart, or a regression/sensitivity chart to show them that you at least really tried judgement & analysis more than looking at the adjustment chart from1960. i can look at any old report and see how i got there without looking at my work file. anyway, most questions come from underwriters, not reviewers.

 

[George Hatch]

I would say the "training" includes a heavy dose of the feedback loop from the users. The issue raised by the OP providing feedback in the form of a reviewer not understanding the difference between a GLA adjustment vs an aggregated price/sf of the property that includes contributories from both land and improvements. In the next assignment for this client the OP will know to cover that angle in their original report so as to avoid the stip.

 

[Salty]

When I was appraising I rarely saw support for adjustments noted in reports. Its the corner-cutters way to crank out volume at low prices. Good adjustments take time which is why you need to price your product appropriately.

 

[TerryRohrer]

You're about to get your wish.

I'm sure you listened to Phil's last podcast. The appraiser culling later this year he's referring to is FNMA/Freddie are ready to roll out their AI in the sky photo recognition tech. Word is, based on the AI's assessment of Q and C ratings, automatic complaint letters will be sent if the appraiser is "too far off." And it gets better, I've read several posts from people who are helping work out the bugs, 2025 looks like the year the government owned enterprises will give their blessing to borrower inspections via apps similar to the ones used during Covid. All of this just in time for the new "forms" roll out. The future is almost here.

One would think that complaints from anonymous sources, of unsupported claims, without any basis, will be easier to defend than complaints with substance. With luck, state agencies will dismiss them as garbage smelling the same as the recent spate we have heard about. How much credibility can accrue to entities who won't show their work and are so clueless they don't understand that measures of accuracy cannot be applied to comparisons between apples and oranges?

 

[CGinMN]

As a group, we are who we are because of the system that shapes us. The poorly designed forms, the changing and unclear client requirements and guidelines, blacklisting, fee constraints, lender pressure, poor education, appraiser risk, licensing requirements, national legislation, AMCs… all of these have shaped appraiser behavior. The fact that many find it hard to be independent and objective is just the reality. Yes we each have an individual responsibility to perform objectively and support our work, but if that's still not happening then at what point do we start looking at the appraisal bureaucracy instead of pointing fingers at appraisers? That the bottom feeders exist in this profession isn't my doing, or yours... it is because they are allowed and possibly encouraged to exist. I am only culpable to myself. Maybe systemic reform gets us results that individual efforts haven't. Too bad the system just spent 4 years focusing on a boogieman under the bed instead.

 

[George Hatch]

The first reality that we should face (IMO) is that the answer to the question of appraiser misconduct isn't "always" or even "mostly", but it also isn't "never". Nobody knows what the percentage is of the misconduct or even if that percentage is large or small.

 

[J Grant]

The first reality that we should face (IMO) is that the answer to the question of appraiser misconduct isn't "always" or even "mostly", but it also isn't "never". Nobody knows what the percentage is of the misconduct or even if that percentage is large or small.

The above is word salad and nonsense - sliver of a percentage point making it "never," does not excuse the draconian forces amassed against appraisers being able to function ethically, independently, or even financially at this point in residential lending , a few exceptions exist of course. The least competent and number hitters are rewarded with volumes of work due to profiteering, while more experienced or ethical appraisers sit idle or with low volume due to the AMC system, which lenders are responsible for as well. Not all lenders use them, but a larger volume do and that prevents the field from being viable on any ethical, competence or financial level for appraisers at this point.

The stakeholder, FF entities, and regulators' decisions and policies over the decade-plus have steadily stripped away any protection around appraisers in the res mortgage lend while lavishly rewarding the AMCD profiteer side, which creates the very same conditions, making it nearly impossible to operate without pressure or fear of losing a client which shapes appraiser behaviors like Pavlov's dogs, again see post 38 since as a st gen he is more out of the loop of being influenced or having an axe to grind in his comments.

Post 38 summarized the of adverse conditions which result in what see, and the reality is even worse than he describes.