Reconsideration of Value: How to respond?

[Calvin the Airedale]

Disagree. There is no reason I should research a 3000 sq. ft. Colonial if I am appraising a 960 sq. ft. ranch. So when I get this sale listed in a ROV just the time it takes to reopen a report, type a response, close and sign and then redeliver the report should be payable in terms of additional fees.

Also, I've been sent sales that actually never closed. So after chasing that wild goose by searching MLS every which by but loose and speaking with town officials I've now wasted precious moments of my work day.

If you want to bill in five minute increments that's fine. Most requests I get to consider other comps are easily dispatched by a DOC memo or an email. They seldom make it into the report.

They may be a nuisance but the time is not a big issue.

OTOH, I suppose I'm omitting the time it takes to whine on AF or FB about such complaints. I guess for some that should be billable as well.

 

[Delta85]

If you want to bill in five minute increments that's fine. Most requests I get to consider other comps are easily dispatched by a DOC memo or an email. They seldom make it into the report.

They may be a nuisance but the time is not a big issue.

OTOH, I suppose I'm omitting the time it takes to whine on AF or FB about such complaints. I guess for some that should be billable as well.

Most AMC won't accept an e-mail. They want the report updated with comments on each sale, resigned and dated, and redelivered.

Also, to thoroughly research a sale (many presented I never heard of before) you have to scower MLS and then check town records in order to accurate respond (this may also mean phoning or e-mailing realtors and waiting for responses). It might add up to a considerable amount of time out a busy day.

Not sure how seriously you take these requests but I hope you put more time into your actual reports.

 

[Calvin the Airedale]

Most AMC won't accept an e-mail. They want the report updated with comments on each sale, resigned and dated, and redelivered.

Also, to thoroughly research a sale (many presented I never heard of before) you have to scower MLS and then check town records in order to accurate respond (this may also mean phoning or e-mailing realtors and waiting for responses). It might add up to a considerable amount of time out a busy day.

Not sure how seriously you take these requests but I hope you put more time into your actual reports.

The amount of time and reporting that goes into my reports is what likely makes such requests infrequent.

I don't do much AMC work. You probably know more about that trouble than I.

 

[Delta85]

The amount of time and reporting that goes into my reports is what likely makes such requests infrequent.

I don't do much AMC work. You probably know more about that trouble than I.

The point of the pointless ROV request is that you get oddball sales thrown at you to respond to. Sales that would not have even been on your radar while gathering data for your report. Sometimes these sales are non existent, with no record either on MLS or with town assessor/clerk of having sold.

I had one sale I responded to recently in a ROV that sold in 2002 as far as I could tell. it's these types of wild goose chases that take time, and should cost the client money.

If you are covering this much ground in your reports I tip my hat to you. Don't believe you, but I'll tip my hat anyways.

 

[DJBanas]

I don't think that alone creates a self-contained report, but I am not arguing with your sentiment that it seems excessive to list all sales and comment on each one.

On the other hand, I may look at 10-potential properties that I think are the best comps; of those 10, I may end up ultimately using 3-5.
Do I comment on all 10? Not usually (in fact, almost never, but not "never").
Will I comment on those that, on paper, appear to be a really good fit but due to something I discovered during my research resulted in its rejection from inclusion in the grid? Absolutely.

Doing the above is consistent with a summary report.
IMO, it is also consistent with the expectations of the user, and is what my peers would do.

The above might take 1-2 minutes per sale I comment on; I've already done the research and know why I'm not using it. It takes just a minute or two to tell that to the client. I think this is reasonable and prudent. Commenting on all sales is not necessary for the client to judge the report's credibility (IMO).

BTW, I don't know if this is standard on all 1004MC analyses or not: I happen to use Bradford and I pay for their 1004MC module. That provides a list of all the properties considered in the 1004mc analysis as part of the report. I know some of the MLS systems in my market also have the option to use their tool gather the information; it also prints out all the sales considered in the analysis.

Certainly such a list would be all the relevant sales data from within the subject's competitive market that were considered, no?

I agree that the requirement to list and make a statement on all comparables not included in the SCA doesn't make the report a self-contained report by iteself. But added with the other requirements that we are seeing I, at least in my mind, believes it does.

What is most troubling is that an AMC is making it a "requirement". I have included this analysis in the past on maybe 10% of my reports because I though it necessary to create a credible report. Now it's a matter of "do it or else". I'm a big boy now and know what to include, don't need to be told. I make notes on every comp that I don't use and put it in the workfile.

I did contact this AMC and told them that I will not be meeting this requirement on future reports unless I think it is necessary. We'll see what happens with orders.

 

[Calvin the Airedale]

The point of the pointless ROV request is that you get oddball sales thrown at you to respond to. Sales that would not have even been on your radar while gathering data for your report. Sometimes these sales are non existent, with no record either on MLS or with town assessor/clerk of having sold.

I had one sale I responded to recently in a ROV that sold in 2002 as far as I could tell. it's these types of wild goose chases that take time, and should cost the client money.

If you are covering this much ground in your reports I tip my hat to you. Don't believe you, but I'll tip my hat anyways.

I was out of town for a week in the middle of visiting my son when I got an email requesting me to explain why I hadn't used 3 specific comps for a relo assignment (those apparently used by the other appraiser). I responded that I would handle the request in 3 days when I got back. When I returned it took less than 2 minutes on the MLS to determine the homes had sold prior to the parameter closing dates that the client had requested in their engagement letter. They were dated comps.

I sent an email explaining as much and no further questions were asked.

It took all of ten minutes, and frankly was typical of the type of requests I get.

 

[J Grant]

I don't get many ROV, when I do, average length of time is one hour, most lender clients won't accept an email, comments in body of report and uploaded to website.

Calvin's experience with replying via email is atypical, his was a relo assignment, which is a small % of the work out there.

 

[Delta85]

I was out of town for a week in the middle of visiting my son when I got an email requesting me to explain why I hadn't used 3 specific comps for a relo assignment (those apparently used by the other appraiser). I responded that I would handle the request in 3 days when I got back. When I returned it took less than 2 minutes on the MLS to determine the homes had sold prior to the parameter closing dates that the client had requested in their engagement letter. They were dated comps.

I sent an email explaining as much and no further questions were asked.

It took all of ten minutes, and frankly was typical of the type of requests I get.

A. You just did extra work for free looking at and responding to sales that did not even meet the clients own parameters in their requirements and yet felt they needed to send you anyways. Working for free is a business decision.

B. That was nice that they were easy to respond to sales and it "only" took you 10 minutes to view the sales, research them, open your report to add comments, apply a new date and signature, and redeliver the report. In other cases there may be other sales that you need to spend a little more time on only to find out they never sold or time composing a responce explaining why the comp looks good on paper but is inderior none the less.

If you don't have a problem with ROV and they are not a hassle and you don't mind doing free work have at it.

 

[Calvin the Airedale]

Like I said earlier, such back and forth is built into my fee, it didn't come free. Relo fees range from $750 to $1,000.

Please don't misunderstand, however, many is the time I've spent on the phone answering questions to help clients better understand my reports. The fees for which did not include margins for such hand-holding. It's called goodwill. Apparently they don't teach much about in modern business schools, if the volume of complaining on this forum is any indication.

Your business model would have it priced a la carte. Fine. Go for it. Like you said, it's a business decision.

 

[J Grant]

From now on I will add a "prior" services performed comment with a response to an ROV. I did a prior service, an appraisal, which you, the client, accepted. Now a realtor "reviewed" it and does not "like" it and so is sending sales for me to comment on.

Does the fact that the realtor is sending sales make my original appraisal unacceptable? No, it was accepted. So why do I have to "reconsider" my value, when the realtor is not my client?

Imo, the better clients and AMC's don't ask for a ROV, I work for some who never send one even when SC price is not met. I suppose they defend the appraiser, or maybe my report is solid, but I tend not to get many of these .