Sandra Koutsopoulos
Senior Member
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2005
- Professional Status
- Certified Residential Appraiser
- State
- California
Had a chat with an AMC's underwriter/37yrs appraiser today re: a difficult one where value came in below what owner paid for the newly constructed house 6 months ago. 
Declining prices in his desert location, oh well.
...But the conversation turned to the 3.6, and she said her AMC had been anticipating increasing fees for 6-12 months already, and decided to wait to see how the roll-out of the 3.6 would go, and what fees the appraisers were demanding. So... for goodness sakes, people, charge what you're worth right now while the AMCs understand there will be some changes! She didn't say specifically, but it sounded like $200/appraisal bump would not raise an eyebrow at their company.
She said she is dreading the 3.6, didn't like it at all, was hoping implementation would be delayed or abandoned, so I asked her if she had taken any classes on it, and she had. She said she was unimpressed, software was anti-intuitive, and it was a real mess. She's not looking forward to doing appraisals NOR reviewing appraisals. As we were discussing some of the recent b*t-sh*t-cr@zy appraisal assignments of late, she said MOST appraisals now are the oddballs, challenging mixed use, huge or tiny or with additional LQs someplace. She speculates that many ppl in the "normal" houses who refinanced or bought during super-low interest rates are reluctant to sell or refi, which means there is a lot of inventory suspended right now until rates come down or people feel more confident with the economy. She shared that she has a 2.25% mortgage rate! Wowsers!! I said I thought that rate was only available for about 15 minutes on 1 day. She says she is therefore not moving, not selling, and definitely not buying now as prices and rates are uncomfortably high.
Declining prices in his desert location, oh well....But the conversation turned to the 3.6, and she said her AMC had been anticipating increasing fees for 6-12 months already, and decided to wait to see how the roll-out of the 3.6 would go, and what fees the appraisers were demanding. So... for goodness sakes, people, charge what you're worth right now while the AMCs understand there will be some changes! She didn't say specifically, but it sounded like $200/appraisal bump would not raise an eyebrow at their company.
She said she is dreading the 3.6, didn't like it at all, was hoping implementation would be delayed or abandoned, so I asked her if she had taken any classes on it, and she had. She said she was unimpressed, software was anti-intuitive, and it was a real mess. She's not looking forward to doing appraisals NOR reviewing appraisals. As we were discussing some of the recent b*t-sh*t-cr@zy appraisal assignments of late, she said MOST appraisals now are the oddballs, challenging mixed use, huge or tiny or with additional LQs someplace. She speculates that many ppl in the "normal" houses who refinanced or bought during super-low interest rates are reluctant to sell or refi, which means there is a lot of inventory suspended right now until rates come down or people feel more confident with the economy. She shared that she has a 2.25% mortgage rate! Wowsers!! I said I thought that rate was only available for about 15 minutes on 1 day. She says she is therefore not moving, not selling, and definitely not buying now as prices and rates are uncomfortably high.
