We Must Start Policing Our Own!

[Jim McGrath]

Has eveybody started seein more Field Reviews in there areas? I wonder if a lot of these Field Reviews are "Ammunition" against ourseleves ?? Well I believe there are a lot of Field Reviews that MAY BE going a little overboard & this might turn around & bite us. Some people seem to be getting extremly picky on some inmaterial things.

Karl, I do a lot of reviews, and I get real picky, when I have to put my name down as agreeing with an appraisal that has a lot of information I know is incorrect, or misleading. When I sign a review, my license is now at risk. So I do my best to insure the information is accurate, if I can't duplicate the info, I will call them to find where they got the info from. And any time the appraiser disagrees with a review they have the right to dispute it.

I had one appraisal done by a trainee, and signed off by an MAI, but it had one sale I couldn't find anywhere, so I called their office. A week later I got a call back, but that was five days after I finished the report.

In any case I question, I always give the appraiser the benefit of the doubt. But I don't give them free reign to do what they want. How about when all three comps are rent-to-own sales that are sold for one months rent? Is that a qualified sale? How about where a person is owed money and is given a house for the debt, and the new owner records it at the amount owed him, while the value is much less? And one of my favorites where the house is purchased and the new owner records it at a much higher price to inflate the value?

If this is picky, than I'm a porcupine.

Jim

 

[David C. Johnson]

<span style='color:darkblue'>Austin,

When I first started out on my own (my own "company"), I made the slight miscalculation that doing residential work would be the best way to start out rather than commercial (which I was more accustomed to doing for years), as I had no clients at all, and figured residential would be a lot easier to get an income stream started right away. Wrong move. BigTimeSeriousBadWrongMove.

Residential, as you may be aware, is easily twice as competitive / cutthroat as commercial appraising. But I did not starve prior to learning the facts of (appraisal) life as I knew how to deliver pizzas for Dominoes part time -- where you can have all the pizza you want. In fact, I got my first good commercial job from NationsBank (now Bank of America, of course) when my cell phone rang while making change for a large pepperoni and mushroom. (Hey, remember Fast Times at Ridgemont High? -- I can sympathize with that guy -- I'd never wear the company hat to deliver to IBM either.)

You have to have some serious respect for people who can make it good in residential appraising -- particularly the ones who manage to stay honest and decent. Anyway, the one client I did finally get -- a seriously super guy -- specialized exclusively in "mobile homes" as we called them back then. He was a broker and did Land Home Packages (which we didn't call them back then) -- and always found nice places for them out in the sticks (way outlying areas of the most rural of counties -- dirt roads without names, chickens, etc.). Austin, it has been a long long time, and since you have the certification, I would seriously recommend you confine yourself to much easier work like complex commercial properties -- but believe me, I've been there -- got the T-shirt (pizza stains and all).

Anyway, before even considering posting in response to your post (where I still may not), I think I would like to read Jo Ann's article. The question is: Where's it et?:

Click on "Search" (with the magnifying glass icon) at the very top of this thread's page. Put in "modular" in the first blank under Search Query, titled "Search for Keywords:" and put "Jo Ann Meyer Stratton" in as the "Search for Author."

You will get 12 resulting "hits" where Jo Ann has made a post that includes the word "modular" in the writing. Which one of these has the article of hers that you showed the dealer?

Thanks.

Regards,

David C. Johnson, Raleigh
NC State-Certified General R.E. Appraiser

__________________

PS: Now, I don't mean this as no dis or nothing -- just an observation -- but from time to time I've noticed you (damn) Northerners (Virginia, right?) have an unusual Lizzy Borden-type vocabulary, to wit: :lol:

1) "So, I axed him: “With no re-sales of the type homes
he was showing me and selling in this market, how does
he get appraisals done?”

2) "The client had already called him axing the same question."</span>

 

[Jo Ann Meyer Stratton]

My article is posted on the NAIFA.com web site. Click on the latest Appraisal E Gram, scroll down to past issues to October 2001, scroll down to "What is that--and now what do I do?"

The appraisal boards for North and South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia and Texas also have some very informative articles.

 

[David C. Johnson]

Thanks, Jo Ann.

I'll be back...

dcj

 

[Jo Ann Meyer Stratton]

Also while you are researching and reading, read Fannie Mae guidelines that went into effect June 30, 2002. You can download the new guidelines (the 4_12 file) at http://www.srappraisal.com/FNMA

Check out Section 340 - Factory Built Housing.

Which reminds me, has anyone been checking out the Fannie Mae chat room on this forum? Pamuela (I think I mis-spelled) has been posing some excellant comments. Comments from more people are needed!! And all of you have the home work assignment of reading Chapter 2--Appraisal (or Property Inspection) Documentation. I am expecting book reports to be presented on the forum by August 1st! So start reading.

 

[Austin]

If anybody wants to read Jo Ann’s excellent article on Manufactured housing go here:
http://www.naifa.com/gram/2001oct/stratton-oct01.html

Jo Ann: I tried your link to the above FNMA thread in section 340 you posted and got nowhere. Can you post the address? After some read it, we can ax you some questions.

David: Call me anything you want to but please, not Northern! That cut to the bone. You really know how to insult a guy.

 

[Jo Ann Meyer Stratton]

I just tried it and it worked fine. Down load to your computer the 4_12_ file. The other file is the old guidelines that expired June 30, 2002. After it is on your computer, either print it out (about 48-63 pages depending on your printer and the paper you choose). Or just scroll through it until you get about 2/3 through and you will find Section 304.

 

[Austin]

Jo Ann: I found the FNMA guidelines and read them. Here is an interesting quote from section 304:

“ An appraiser who is unable to locate sales of manufactured homes that are truly comparable to the subject property may decide that it is appropriate to use as comparables either older sales of similar manufactured homes or sales of similar manufactured homes that are located in a competing market so that he or she can establish a baseline for the "sales comparison analysis" and determine sound adjustments to reflect the differences between the comparable sales that are available and the subject property.”

Reply: This means going to a different market and finding comps. What is a competing market? Ever heard of the Global Economy. I give up! Apparently that is what the local yokels around here are doing. If you go north, east, south, or west of this county you are in a different socio-economic environment. Different building codes in each county, different subdivision and zoning laws, etc. They may as well throw the book out the window. This is just sanctioning stupidity in my book. Does anybody out there on this forum have any sales of manufactured homes that will make my deal work? Location doesn’t matter, just send comps! I can determine sound adjustments to reflect the differences. No problemo. I am beginning to love this residential appraising. Hey, if it feels good, do it. Rules? What rules? Time doesn't matter anymore. Neither does location. Just do the deal stupid!

 

[David C. Johnson]

<span style='color:darkblue'>My apologies for aiding and abetting the momentary or permanent highjacking of this thread. It has been a very good one with many thoughtful posts regarding the necessity for us to police our own ranks. Of course, the diversion has probably been of interest at least to some including me.

Jo Ann, I read your article. It appears to be real well done, and I have bookmarked it for future reference if necessary; and also, I am now reminded how pleased I am not to be doing such residential appraising anymore except occasionally for litigation purposes. Both you and Austin should be pleased to hear that I have decided to leave the fine points (and the remaining points) to the experts for now. Things have gotten a bit complicated and a man's got to know his limitations. I'm sticking to lighter endeavors for my spare time such as learning advances in modern developmental molecular biology (if not interpreting recent changes in federal corporate tax code).

It is interesting to see some of the folks who post on AppraisersForum from time to time. From the website page following the article, I found the following group picture which includes the smiling face of Brad Ellis in the red shirt.

http://www.naifa.com/gram/2001oct/group1.jpg

Austin, many thanks for your kind comments regarding the efficacy of my senselessly defamatory accusation about you -- actually, I had been working on that line for several months now!

dcj

PS. Checkout the "time stamp" on this post. Would anyone believe there are currently 16 Guests lurking the forum now on Saturday night? Amazing.</span>

 

[Austin]

David: My above post are not a diversion from the subject at hand. The point of my first post above is to show the total corruption of appraising as it relates to manufactured housing and to point out the dilemma causing the problem, namely with a new product line there are no re-sales so you can’t legally appraise them under existing rules (can’t use package deals as comps because they are not sales).
The point of my second post is to illustrate the regulators apparent solution to the problem just described, and that is for FNMA to adapt a policy basically subverting basic appraisal theory to wit: location and time can be ignored if it is necessary to make the deal work. Maybe this is the solution to the problem of crooked appraisers; have a state policy that basically states: “If you can find anything comparable from any time period from any location on earth that will make the deal work, that is an acceptable appraisal practice.”
By ignoring the definition of market value, that is sort of what residential appraisers have been doing all along. I get calls from lenders all of the time saying: “We had an appraisal come up short and our appraiser said if we could find some sales that would make the deal work he would use them. Somebody told us you have a big data base so will you please see if you can find some comps to make our deal work?” That in my mind is creating a false and misleading appraisal and a total fraud because they are clearly ignoring the definition of “most probable price.” It is fun to point the finger at somebody else and call them crooks, but it all depends on where you draw the line. The above practice in my mind is about as bad an appraisal practice as there is but I can’t even get anybody to admit the problem exists. The typical response I get is: “Most probable means the estimated price the appraiser feels is most appropriate after evaluating the sale data.” Most probable is a statistical concept pure and simple and can have no other meaning than to describe a data range. “Feelings” are totally subjective.
Then there is the line appraisers use: “Basically we as appraisers are gauging the “feelings” of the market so how we feel about the out come is a legitimate procedure.” In my mind, these pervasive attitudes just described are just as damaging to the appraisal profession as some of the practices addressed in numerous posts above. You cannot change appraisal theory with regulations or by changing word meaning. To do so is a fraud on the profession! Sorry folks, but that is the way I "feel" about it. Before you disagree with me, remember we are gauging the feelings of the appraisal community on this subject so feelings count.