Underwriters

[Dee Dee]

Dan,
This is the type of requests that I'm getting from reviewers. My best guess is that they are looking for comps which are post 9-11 to get a better grasp on it's effect on the housing market. Forget what USPAP says about 'within 12 months'. Inevitably it is the investor's reviewer who will decide how recent they want the sales to be, and the appraiser must jump through the hoops to support their opinion.
Yesterday I got a request from a reviewer wondering why I used three comps that were sold under 6 months prior to my appraisal done in December. According to the reviewer there were sales which were more recent that I should have used instead. I double checked my work and discovered that there were a couple of other sales that were more recent, but nowhere near being similar to the subject in condition, square footage or with improvements including a two-car garage. Had I used those sales as comps, my adjustments would have thrown red flags all over the place.
I can understand the investor's closer scrutiny since 9-11, but plugging in comps chosen only for their sales dates and ignoring their lack of similarity to the subject goes completely against every basic comp selection rule I've ever been taught.

 

[BarbaraNJ]

Joe,

I think the reason you are getting a variety of answers is because every situation is as different as every underwriter.

Having been in the business a while (15+/- yrs), I have found that the underwriter always askes about the thing they were last "burned" on.

For instance, if an underwriter gets royally chewed out by his/her boss for letting a report through with two comps over a mile, every report you hand in with even one comp over a mile will get the "third degree". If they were passed over for a raise or promotion because the accepted too many reports with larger than typical gross/net adjustments, that is what they will pick on forever. If their best friend in the department was fired for accepting a report where the styles were different and the loan went "sour" (and had nothing to do with different style of comps, but the fact that the homeowner was fraudulent on other information) you can be sure that even if ONE of your three comps is a different style you will get grief.

Don't take valuable time out of your day trying to figure them out; just keep track of what bothers each one and then don't do it. I had one underwriter who was so crazy about "over one mile" that she would take a cape COD style compared to a contemporary as long as it was under one mile!!!

Go figure.

 

[Dee Dee]

That's what I was saying just a few weeks ago! Better knock on wood...you may have just jinxed yourself! :lol:

 

[jtrotta]

Joe;
I always thought it was personal :? they have a bad day and who's the easiest target 8O

U-nderwriter
S-avoir's
P-ersonal
A-ttack
P-lan

So now I hope we have helped you to better understand the underwriter's thought process (Dick Dolman-excluded )

 

[Jo Ann Meyer Stratton]

Whenever I have been called with a question about something in my report since I started fee appraising, I answer it in every report since. That is why my addendums now can be 4 to 5 pages long, they have 20 years of answers to underwriters in every addendum. I still do get the silly calls of why did I use an address of 123 W Main Street, when their paper work says 123 Main Street, according to them the post office, city, county are wrong by using W.

 

[Parkinson]

Dick P., I wish all underwriters had your sense! Every now and then, I get a request for something. Usually, whatever I respond with is not questioned and the appraisal is accepted. Makes you wonder if it is a "time tactic" or like the person who mentioned that the UW's are protecting themselves from a reprimand they just experienced. I have also started including statements automatically with each report....though I must admit they are not 4-5 pages.

Thanks to all for the comments and laughs. :lol:

 

[William Harmon]

Here is a true example of an underwriters educational level
Was in a local feeding hole when the waitress announced this was her last day on the job ! I said great what are you going to do. I am going to XYBC lending as a underwriter. Mind you this dear lady does not have a high school education, much less education in real estate imagine my shock 8O as this person was now going to judge my work and my fellow appraisers work :x I can see it now the request for 3 comparables on 10 acres all within 1 mile in a rural neighborhood

Whoa! :roll:

 

[Charlotte Dixon]

Jo Ann....how do you get the report to fly EDI with all those pages? :lol:

 

[Jo Ann Meyer Stratton]

Charlotte:

Several weeks ago I completed a REO appraisal that had 32 pages total, which included 27 subject photos, photos of 9 comparables, a four page addendum, three maps, etc. I use Day One 16 bit program. Within the Configure portable driver program (Adobe Acrobat Writer) I set the opitions under compression, Color/Greyscale, images to jpeg high, the dpi remains at 600. My report was 4,124 KB. My typical report with four pages of addendum, six comparables, 4-6 photos of subject, three scanned maps, Apex sketch with interior walls, doors, plumbing fixtures, etc is about 2,000 KB with that setting in Adobe Acrobat Writer. Before I changed, my REO report would have had about 8,000 and my typical URAR had about 5,000. The resetting of the jpeg changed a sending of a report from an hour down to about 20 minutes. We do not have cable or wireless service available in my area.

 

[Charlotte Dixon]

Jo Ann....Thanks!
Now that's the kind of valuable information I need....I definitely will print this and give it a try. I only send an 11 page report and I'm pushing 2000 KBs, and that's after reducing the location map to 50 dpi and changing my camera resolution to "standard".....and I have cable, so guess I shouldn't blink when I send it. Sending time now for my reports is just under a minute.