Omg 3.6 Sucks

[cashcatz]

I’m trying to decide which one to learn,

Don't learn any of them from the software's perspective, learn the 3.6 specifications from first principles. Then picking up software (or switching) becomes pretty straight forward. The GSEs have put together a ton of resources, point your AI of choice at this page and tell it to turn it into a mini course for you and walk you through. No need for an overpriced class:

Uniform Appraisal Dataset | Fannie Mae

The UAD and Forms Redesign initiative will leverage extensive stakeholder input to update the appraisal dataset, align it with the industry-standard MISMO® Reference Model Version 3.X, and overhaul the uniform appraisal forms to establish a more flexible, dynamic structure for appraisal reporting.

singlefamily.fanniemae.com

 

[Airstream]

I have a 688 sq ft house and the 3.6 is taking up SOOOOOOOOO much time!

The first one will take a while since you have to learn the platform and the software. I have now done 4. The last one was a sale of a 1900sf' house. Took me about 5 hours (including drive time). And that was only because something went wrong with the mobile app (I probably did something wrong), and I had to reload some things on the mobile app and resync. That was a bit frustrating. But I didn't lose any data. Otherwise I would have been done in about 4 hours.

I use Total. It is clunky now. Hand calculator for adjustments. And I'm not getting carried away with writing a lot in the summaries unless I absolutely have to. I am also learning some shortcuts with Total I was unaware of regarding the pull down menus. That saved a quite a bit of time.

The inspection took me about 60 minutes with the mobile app. Some of that was due to lender requirements. And I am not very happy yet with how the Total Mobile works. They have to get rid of some serious bugs. But I will have to say the Mobile App saves time even when it isn't great. Once the bugs are squashed it should go more quickly.

NO software that I know of is perfect. I called SFREP and they have no mobile app that works with 3.6. That to me is a no-go. I did download their program and it seemed OK, except I thought the sketching program wasn't nearly as good as Total. Thus I have cast aside SFREP. I will stick with Total.

Also I am using ChatGpt to help me with 3.6. There is a lot of information that AI can give you if you have questions about the standards. In FACT I have even used it in place of calling tech support at Cotality. It has been worth paying the $20 a month to be able to save things and refer back to them.

I am considering looking at AppraisalPilot. It is an AI program that you can use alongside Total. It looks interesting. The problem it is 100 a month. They say it is suppose to save all kinds of time. I don't see it yet. The biggest issue is the developers wrote a book and talked about how it was taking 12 hours to do a 3.6 report. That's just baloney. They are trying to sell their product. I'm not paying $100 a month for anything unless it cuts my time in half. And I'm already pushing them out in about 5 to 6 hours. And that's with glitchy software.

 

[Sandra Koutsopoulos]

I use ala Mode

 

[Airstream]

AND YOU CAN'T EVEN PRINT IT TO PROOF IT IN ALAMODE. wtfffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff

Well technically you can print out a PDF of it. This is how you do it. When the zip file is saved you can double tap it in the zip file folder, and a PDF of the report shows up. Then you can read it that way or even save it to your work file. That is something Alamode needs to get fixed. Amongst a hundred other. They are supposed to have a bunch of upgrades coming out this month. Time is ticking. I'm not sure that will help or not, because frankly if they don't get the glitches out of their present software they are just going to compound the problems. Welcome to being a BETA tester and having to pay to do so.

 

[Airstream]

I dunno... My best-paying client informed me that as of 10/12, they will only accept 3.6 appraisals in anticipation of the GSE's deadline. I've been pretty busy lately with other lower-paying orders, and have not had time nor inclination to wade into the swamp of 3.6 since it seems to be populated by all kinds of nasties.

I would have thought that since we're now about 1 year after the 3.6 emergence, that things would have become less entangled, but apparently not according to the OP on this thread. Do I stop taking work that currently pays the bills to learn how to master the 3.6 (eventually), or continue doing work that currently pays the bills and try to catch up to 3.6 later? ....or retire sparsely? It's a head scratcher. I'm dis-inclined to drop everything to work on the 3.6, as my stress level is already plenty high, and I might just stroke out with the frustration of trying to fit square pegs into round holes.

Dive in. Take classes on what is needed. Not that scary. Use ChatGPt if you have questions. If you wait to dive in that will only make it harder to learn. After having done 4 it is not that scary. And I have another friend that uses Total and he has done more than me and is not bothered by it. Don't get psyched out. I have concluded people are making too big of a deal about this. Yes, the first one will be brutal. But it gets better.

 

[Tom4value]

I that the NightHawk?

Yes.

 

[Sandra Koutsopoulos]

I've been following along, reading of others' exploits re: the 3.6. J Grant was an early trier/learner of the 3.6, as well as many others taking classes and spending their time over and over meeting the challenges and quirks of these various software programs. Cumulatively thousands upon thousands of hours across the country. Now, to contemplate taking another 5-7 days to focus on adapting to the 3.6 of whatever software program I'm using is ill-timed for me. But aside from that, what is your time worth per hour? $20? $30? $40? When you think about 7 solid days, maybe 80 hours if you're a bit of a technophobe like me, you're talking about $1600 to $3200 to learn to work with the hinky software. For that reason alone, everyone's fees MUST go up to compensate us for lost revenue upfront in trying to comply with this 3.6 requirement wanted by GSE's strictly for their own internal benefit. They demanded it, and they need to pay the price for that.

Personally, over the past 2 months, I've had such enormous stress in my life, unrelated to doing appraisals, that my docs actually told me I had a mini-stroke. So extra stress?... I don't need it whatsoever. Will I have to comply with the Borg? Probably, if I want to continue earning money. So I'm dragging my feet in part because I just don't have much tolerance left right now for exasperating computer issues. My immediate reaction is typically to imagine throwing the machine out the window in frustration, but that's a bit too expensive, so I've learned to temper my temper.

I really hope this is the last time in my probably-soon-to-retire-career that I'll have to learn a complicated system in order to comply with HAL. (The movie is [2001: A Space Odyssey] (1968), directed by Stanley Kubrick. [1, 2]) Otherwise, it looks like I'll be the human "Dave" that gets locked out of the ship!

 

[Airstream]

I've been following along, reading of others' exploits re: the 3.6. J Grant was an early trier/learner of the 3.6, as well as many others taking classes and spending their time over and over meeting the challenges and quirks of these various software programs. Cumulatively thousands upon thousands of hours across the country. Now, to contemplate taking another 5-7 days to focus on adapting to the 3.6 of whatever software program I'm using is ill-timed for me. But aside from that, what is your time worth per hour? $20? $30? $40? When you think about 7 solid days, maybe 80 hours if you're a bit of a technophobe like me, you're talking about $1600 to $3200 to learn to work with the hinky software. For that reason alone, everyone's fees MUST go up to compensate us for lost revenue upfront in trying to comply with this 3.6 requirement wanted by GSE's strictly for their own internal benefit. They demanded it, and they need to pay the price for that.

Personally, over the past 2 months, I've had such enormous stress in my life, unrelated to doing appraisals, that my docs actually told me I had a mini-stroke. So extra stress?... I don't need it whatsoever. Will I have to comply with the Borg? Probably, if I want to continue earning money. So I'm dragging my feet in part because I just don't have much tolerance left right now for exasperating computer issues. My immediate reaction is typically to imagine throwing the machine out the window in frustration, but that's a bit too expensive, so I've learned to temper my temper.

I really hope this is the last time in my probably-soon-to-retire-career that I'll have to learn a complicated system in order to comply with HAL. (The movie is [2001: A Space Odyssey] (1968), directed by Stanley Kubrick. [1, 2]) Otherwise, it looks like I'll be the human "Dave" that gets locked out of the ship!

Understandable. As it is said there is a time for every season under the sun. Age, motivation, life-situation, etc are all reasons for people to stop and take stock. I talked to one appraiser this week in his mid 70’s. He is busy enough doing private work that he said that’s all he wants to do. I would probably say the same if I had a bunch of private work. But I left my old territory where I did tons of private work, and don’t want to do all the networking, etc to rebuild that kind of business. Thus I am relegated to lenders.

What I am sensing among appraisers is really a typical response to change. Behavior psychology states that dealing with change pretty much follows a bell curve distribution of 15% will be early adopters, 35% will come along after awhile, 35% come kicking and screaming, and 15% will dig their heals in and not adopt. I guess this 3.6 will be a way of “thinning the herd.” And maybe that’s O.K. If I was in my 40’s I would go full bore AI etc because that is the future. But I’m 71 and don’t want to make the massive investment. One has to be realistic. No one can make that judgment except you.

What I am finding is (and others have found) is this has not been as big a deal as first thought. I took the class on UAD 3.6 for CE, took the webinar that Total put out which is about 4 hours (very helpful), and that was about it. Then I probably have about a day in just figuring out some of the Mobile software issues. Then I did my first report. The only way to learn is just do it. Yep, that first report took a lot of time. But each time I have done it (and that’s only after 4) the form becomes a bit more familiar.

I now have 3 of my steady clients that order all 3.6 reports now. And my guess in the next week or two that will be true for all lenders. I know appraisers are hoping some continue to use the old 2.6 report for in house stuff. I remember when the UAD came out and appraisers had much the same idea. That never materialized. And I think once lenders get into this, they don’t want to deal with different forms. I can’t remember one lender asking for the old URAR form when the UAD came out even on a home equity. So the bottom line is if you want to do lender work you pretty much have to do 3.6. Granted this is a bigger change than the UAD. But that is the very reason I believe lenders will just stick to one format. They are going to spend so much time and effort adapting they are just going to stick to one form for processing single family loans.

Bottom line…if you want to do lender work learn the 3.6. It’s not going away. And I don’t think the GSEs are going to hold off. I wish they would give us a few more months, because the software really isn’t ready. But it is now wishful thinking.

 

[Sandra Koutsopoulos]

Airstream--
What did you find the most 'brutal' re: the first 3.6?
What do you think about practicing the 3.6 by using a completed 2.6 appraisal and re-working into the 3.6 format to see where the potholes are?
Is there a 'list' of all potential options in those pull-down boxes?
How do you know what all needs to be 'inspected', so you don't have to go back (heaven help you!).

GEEZ! Do I have to get some META-glasses now for my inspections to 'see' everything that my regular self might have missed?!?!

 

[Zoe]

I am using Win Total Alamode. It works fairly well, except the format itself is weird - instead of plenty of boxes for photos or easily adding a Map. I have to keep clicking on an empty field to create a photo, same for exhibits. I do not know if that is different with other software or if, when the mobile app comes online, it might change with Alamode.

Alamode seems about 70% functional in features- it is sufficient to finish a report, but they are still installing some features that worked seamlessly on 2.6.

I think that is reason VA is holding out a little. Total is still the biggest shareholder of appraisal software. In other words, they have more subscribers than any other appraisal software company.

VA employee says they are wanting kinks ironed out. VA is big player. VA is not as big as HUD or Conventional, but they are a big player.

Based on my experience, VA needed no bailout and they say we will get there when we get there.