What happened to all the work? No orders, no refi, no foreclosures, no purchases,

[Fernando]

I'd been having tenant issues this year. This week had a stressful situation which could have cost me tens of thousands of dollars in repair work. I was able to do a temporary fix and hope the issue won't come again. Also, some commercial tenants not paying rent or late. Residential tenants are paying. Commercial is a headache.

 

[Raven59]

The types of evaluations and/or appraisals completed this year:

Commercial Evaluation - purchase
Commercial Evaluation - refinance to purchase another commercial property
Private - divorce
Private - estate taxes
Private - listing price
Purchase
Refinance - complete new construction
Refinance - divorce
Refinance - purchase and remodel another property

The types of evaluations and/or appraisals completed this year:

Commercial Evaluation - purchase
Commercial Evaluation - refinance to purchase another commercial property
Private - divorce
Private - estate taxes
Private - listing price
Purchase
Refinance - complete new construction
Refinance - divorce
Refinance - purchase and remodel another property

Good mix. Are commercial evals common in your area?

 

[J Grant]

How can the p.o.t.u.s. make a blanket statement about an entire industry being biased without any investigation?

It isn't the charge of bias , which the POTUS never personally made, that is slowing things down. It is the interest rates, and the fact that the market is slow; many people refinanced in the low-interest rate cycle and will not refinance at a higher rate....then add in Fannie and Freddie use waivers for a part of their loans, which used to need an appraisal. Idk how the percentage it affects in mortgage loans, but it reduces appraisal volume. The OP mentioned foreclosures and REOs - banks try to avoid foreclosure now and try to short sale or rework the loan instead, which, of course, then reduces the need to get an REO appraisal.

 

[Surf Cat]

It isn't the charge of bias , which the POTUS never personally made, that is slowing things down. It is the interest rates, and the fact that the market is slow; many people refinanced in the low-interest rate cycle and will not refinance at a higher rate....then add in Fannie and Freddie use waivers for a part of their loans, which used to need an appraisal. Idk how the percentage it affects in mortgage loans, but it reduces appraisal volume. The OP mentioned foreclosures and REOs - banks try to avoid foreclosure now and try to short sale or rework the loan instead, which, of course, then reduces the need to get an REO appraisal.

J, I was adding on to OSU's comment about Biden. Yes, I strayed from the topic at hand... guilty as charged.

I beg to differ in regards to Biden on the appraisal bias accusations. Yes, he "did" accuse appraiser's of being biased....

Excerpts From White House.gov, my bolds.

President Biden announced the creation of the Interagency Task Force on Property Appraisal and Valuation Equity (PAVE): a first-of-its-kind interagency effort to root out bias in the home appraisal process.

Since its release in March 2022, the Biden-Harris Administration has made critical progress towards fully implementing the Action Plan, including by empowering consumers with new tools to address appraisal bias; leveraging data to identify trends and crack down on offenders of appraisal bias.

These excerpts are not from some right-wing opinion rag.... they are from the White House itself.

Did you receive the notification that the appraisal industry was being investigated for bias in minority neighborhoods? Yeah, neither did I. The BREA has a 2-4 sample of mine from either Compton or Watts from when I upgraded my license to Certified. The government could have conducted a Nationwide investigation of such samples. Made offenders of bias (if such reports exist) go to a 14-hour USPAP class with the threat of having their license revoked. I'm not worried....they can have all my inner-city Los Angeles appraisals to investigate....

But no....with the wave of his hand, without investigation, Biden and his administration deemed the appraisal industry
to be rooted with biased appraisers preventing generational wealth...

Are there appraisals out there that have stupid statements and /or words eluding to the reports being biased? I'm sure there is... Poor English comprehension and writing skills doesn't mean an appraiser is under-valuing a property because of the racial makeup of the inhabitants though.....

 

[J Grant]

J, I was adding on to OSU's comment about Biden. Yes, I strayed from the topic at hand... guilty as charged.

I beg to differ in regards to Biden on the appraisal bias accusations. Yes, he "did" accuse appraiser's of being biased....

Excerpts From White House.gov, my bolds.

President Biden announced the creation of the Interagency Task Force on Property Appraisal and Valuation Equity (PAVE): a first-of-its-kind interagency effort to root out bias in the home appraisal process.

Since its release in March 2022, the Biden-Harris Administration has made critical progress towards fully implementing the Action Plan, including by empowering consumers with new tools to address appraisal bias; leveraging data to identify trends and crack down on offenders of appraisal bias.

These excerpts are not from some right-wing opinion rag.... they are from the White House itself.

Did you receive the notification that the appraisal industry was being investigated for bias in minority neighborhoods? Yeah, neither did I. The BREA has a 2-4 sample of mine from either Compton or Watts from when I upgraded my license to Certified. The government could have conducted a Nationwide investigation of such samples. Made offenders of bias (if such reports exist) go to a 14-hour USPAP class with the threat of having their license revoked. I'm not worried....they can have all my inner-city Los Angeles appraisals to investigate....

But no....with the wave of his hand, without investigation, Biden and his administration deemed the appraisal industry
to be rooted with biased appraisers preventing generational wealth...

Are there appraisals out there that have stupid statements and /or words eluding to the reports being biased? I'm sure there is... Poor English comprehension and writing skills doesn't mean an appraiser is under-valuing a property because of the racial makeup of the inhabitants though.....

you are completely off-topic, which is the loss of appraisal work due to the factors the OP mentioned.

You admit it, then go on to write a lengthy post anyway. Biden announcing a task force to root out bias is not the same thing as him accusing appraisers of bias. But it stinks, nevertheless. And is still of topic -

 

[OSU Beavers]

No foreclosure work thanks to Biden extending the moratoriums until after the election.

 

[andrew81]

Good mix. Are commercial evals common in your area?

I only do these for small commercial Main Street type properties usually in the $20,000 to $200,000 price range. I am a residential appraiser, however, I have become familiar with these types of properties. I do not go outside of my competency and do not perform evaluations for other types of commercial property or anything over the de minimis value.

I don't do many, usually 6 or 8 a year, only for local banks, and do not know any other licensed appraisers located in my market that do them. I know of one semi-retired real estate broker that does them for both commercial and ag. Conversations with lenders indicate they usually document the value using their own in-house method. Which is usually just printing a list of sales prices and/or assessment values; which does not meet the FIRREA guidelines for evaluations.

I started marketing this in 2018 to local banks when Illinois changed the requirements for evaluations. Previously, anyone licensed as an appraiser must complete a USPAP compliant appraisal. Evaluations were allowed by non-licensed individuals only with the intended use of mortgage finance transaction. In 2018, they changed it that a licensed appraiser can complete an evaluation for mortgage finance transaction. I have 3 clients that order them. They started ordering them because they said an evaluation by someone outside of the mortgage department would look better to auditors.

 

[David S]

The big question is: Is this a temporary or seasonal (or even a couple of years) slow down or demand permanently disappear?

 

[J Grant]

No foreclosure work thanks to Biden extending the moratoriums until after the election.

Foreclosure Moratorium Extension 2024​

Find out if a moratorium on foreclosures is likely in 2024.​

By Amy Loftsgordon, Attorney (University of Denver Sturm College of Law)

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government, most states, some localities, and many mortgage lenders put foreclosure moratoriums into effect. But now, the federal foreclosure suspension and state foreclosure moratoriums have expired.
Still, in a few circumstances, depending on your loan type, you might be eligible for a pause in foreclosure proceedings. For example, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) paused foreclosures for six months, through May 31, 2024, for veterans with VA loans. If you have a Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac loan and your mortgage servicer learns that you've applied to your state's Homeowner Assistance Fund program, the servicer must suspend any foreclosure activity for up to 60 days.
Facing Foreclosure? We've helped 75 clients find attorneys today.
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Also, other kinds of mortgage help are available to help you stop a foreclosure—like getting a loan modification or participating in foreclosure mediation—even if you don't get a foreclosure moratorium.

What Is a Foreclosure Moratorium?​

A "foreclosure moratorium" is a temporary stop in initiating or continuing foreclosures.

Did the COVID-19 Foreclosure Moratorium End?​

When the coronavirus outbreak happened, the federal government and most states put a hold on foreclosures. But, again, widespread foreclosure suspensions have mostly ended.

Federal COVID-19 Foreclosure Moratorium Ended on July 31, 2021​

The federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act initially imposed a foreclosure moratorium for federally backed mortgage loans starting March 18, 2020.
"Federally backed mortgage loans" include:

 

[J Grant]

The big question is: Is this a temporary or seasonal (or even a couple of years) slow down or demand permanently disappear?

That is the question and one that can not be predicted, though certain signs are in place -
IMO it is a combination.
When mortgage rates go down, which they will at some point, demand for appraisals will increase. However, I doubt we will ever see large swatches of REO or field review work as we did in the past. I also think that unless fannie and Freddie reverse course on their Waiver/value acceptance program ( or it causes enough problems to be canceled) , Waivers alone mean a permanent loss of volume on the res mortgage end - idk what percent total, a guestimate on my end is 30% of volume total in many markets. They are used for purchases now, not just refinances -it can vary by market and though they release statistics, they do not provide volume total as far as I am aware by region-
The trend is also to streamline or eliminate appraisals. Again, if there is resistance from the borrower and investor/other pushback, it might not continue or even reverse. Or it can continue. I don't know —some appraisers will drop out or retire, but not enough to force fees up on the AMC side of things.

If someone is making enough $ to sustain them during this very lean time then it is worth it to stay, if not- then not - there will be busy spurts but one has to pay bills during the many lean cycles that is the reality of res mortgage appraisal and that still comprises the late volume of work on the res license end

my 2 cents -y worth 1 cent now with the information.