When I started 30 years ago the turn time was about 3 weeks. Why is that such a problem now? Asking for a friend.
There is no specialized software I know of but you can use a portal like RIMSCentral to send out orders. But when you invite appraisers to "bid" - they basically have been done either one or another of the following ways.
1. The bid is to determine a "Customary and Reasonable" fee so they can then assign it to an internal evaluator or appraiser. The "bidding" appraiser is asked to waste their time pulling up the property tax card or MLS to see what the property is, to see how easy it will be to find comps and to make an appropriate bid.
2. The bid is a competition and once the client accepts the bid, that client then continues to seek a lower bid...then cancels the first bidder's assignment although they may have some considerable investment in time already.
3. The demand for a low fee or a short turn time in the face of abundant work means the appraiser has to put your work ahead of the others. Why should you be prioritized.
4. There is no consideration for problem appraisals. Many AMCs and banks seem to think a starter home subdivision of 80 houses built over a span of six months is the same as a 12 acre parcel ten miles out of town, with a 1928 house, remodeled six times and added on twice is the same amount of work.
5. To avoid the complications and time wasting issues presented in 1-4, appraisers often simply do not take on jobs from banks where they have had a bad experience before, where they have been pressured with short turn times and low fees. And e blasting assignments is a very bad way to operate and a red flag to appraisers.
So if you are saying
does that mean only large cities? Small towns? Rural? I lived and worked in Texas many years. With the tumult of the oil business, the data from W. Texas is undoubtedly a nightmare, while SA, Dal-Worthington, Houston might be a quicker turn time.
As for fees, many appraisers are trying to make up for the lean years when they had to take 2nd jobs, and got $245 for an appraisal. And doing so not merely in vengeance but in recognition that when sales slow, the whip hand goes back to the lender once again, and they will strangle the appraiser, forcing short turn times for low fees. Had banks continued to pay the customary fees during 2008-2012, instead of driving prices down, more appraisers would be available.
Today, no one is happily accepting a 3 week turn time so rather than bid, why not limit yourself to work you can complete in 2 weeks?
So back to 30 years ago. At that time, we established direct links with loan officers (Dodd-Frank killed that) and they in turn relied upon certain appraisers to do certain types of property. This was efficient. Today, dart board assignments means we don't work the same areas consistently, being bounced willy-nilly around according to where the clients are making loans, and people are being asked to do work that simply requires them more effort than if the "right" appraiser was available. We bid flat fees which rarely changed because for every hard assignment we got, we knew we'd get an easy one. Today, the "easy" stuff is now an evaluation or a waiver and only the hard appraisals are left. The clients expect a low cost appraisal and rapid turn time anyway. The fact is, despite all the automation of software, digital cameras, etc. the average assignment now consumes as much time, if not more, than when we did SF reports back in 1993.
Today as you are making it clear, you are not acquainted with any of the appraisers you need (not your fault) and have to use a dart board method. So first, the clients need to allow the appraiser time enough to develop a credible appraisal instead of a mere compliance document for the bank. You need to be willing to pay what the appraiser asks. Delays often are the result of not being told what we are going to see - the one below is an assignment I earned not a penny from when the client was informed (by me) that there was nothing to appraise. Was that my fault I drove 30 miles only to find nothing? Finally, you need to develop personal relationships with the appraisers in a given area and prove to be a reliable client. I fired every client I had that used a portal years ago after I was getting 1 in 10 assignments, and in fact, were given only 1 in 5 chances to bid from the days when those banks ordered direct from their own loan departments. LOs complained to their bosses that they needed my expertise but instead the "Credit Dept." miles away was choosing appraisers with nary a clue who or what was the best appraiser for the job. And no one bucked up over it at the higher levels in fear of violating Dodd-Frank.
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