Mary Thompson

Marcie As an appraiser I could not agree with you more! The idea Derek had on reviewing every single appraisal, not bad, it will make the first appraiser think twice I agree....but I will tell you that not every appraiser makes a good reviewer! Many will take a cursory "look see" and agree with the first appraisal, because as a review appraiser myself, it takes time and effort to complete a DECENT review appraisal and trust me, when it is a field review they should pay the same if not more as they do for a full appraisal as you have to review and drive by the comps the appraiser used and if you do not agree with them, then you must provide your own comps and sometimes we are looking at 6-8 comps being reviewed, adjusted against the subject, etc. Many appraisers do not want to spend that time when they are getting paid $200-$250.00 for more work than a "typical" appraisal. As for Desk Reviews, I think they are useless, you do not see the home or the neighborhood and you rely on what the first appraiser is telling you about the subject, neighborhood, exterior description of the home, etc. As for HVCC, sure good appraisers that had good relationships for years with mortgage brokers have lost a huge part of their business, but like any good business, you have to spread your business around. You cannot have all your eggs in one basket, because if you lose that client, you are dead in the water. You have to have a mix of Banks, Brokers, Personal and AMC clients. As much as I really dislike AMC's, they keep the money flowing when others clients are slow. As for the basis for HVCC, I love it! WHY? Because it sure is nice being able to do my job for which I have been heavily trained over the years to provide an accurate opinion of value for the subject property in question without pressure. Most every appraiser had undue pressure to get that number and if you did not get that number...no big deal the Broker would move onto someone who would give them that number. I have lost several clients over my 16 year career as I would not play their game...PERIOD. I totally agree instead of complaining about it people need to offer solid workable solutions. One thing that I really like about HVCC aside from no lender pressure and no "Estimate of Value" noted on the appraisal orders, I like the fact that lenders CANNOT remove you from their appraiser list unless they notify you and they have darn good reason to remove you, like violating USPAP, not because you would not make deals work! Appraisers were always walking that fine line to provide proper valuations but to please their clients or they would LOSE their livelihood. That is just not a good place to be put in, no matter how you look at it. Our phone calls for "comp checks" which are against USPAP have dissappeared. That is where they would call and say hey can you run the numbers and see what this will come in at so we can decide if the loan will work. I dont know about the rest of the appraisers, but I do not work for FREE, no professional should and that is what they wanted. The did not want to pay us to find out what the homes were worth! If the home did not come in at a certain number they did not want our services, yet they wanted us to give them that number for FREE up front. Go figure. AMC's who are owned by BANKS in many cases, they over bill lenders and cut the appraiser fees in half. It stinks. FHA adopting HVCC in January, well they say the appraiser must be paid the market rate for this appraisal, well I sure hope the AMC's follow that stipulation!! I totally agree they need oversight BIG time! Thanks for the post Marcie, I am one who believes as you do, if you don't like it do something constructive about it and just dont complain about it. Mary Thompson http://www.lakefrontpros.com http://www.marytappraisals.com

I am sorry to hear about your situation, but it could be the appraiser was doing their job...or as Barry Noble noted above, which is 100% true you may have had an inexperienced appraiser from an appraisal management company. But if the appraiser is doing their job, consider the following: Appraisers do not determine value, the MARKET does. Consider this....We have NO vested interest in the property we appraise (we shouldn't and if we do, we must disclose our interest) so why in the world would we under or over appraise a property? In the past lenders have always pushed appraisers for that HIGH number, some appraisers succummed to the high pressure and that is what started this whole foreclosure and mortgage fraud mess. We are hired to protect the clients (banks or others) interst. We are just doing our job by REPORTING and ANALYZING the market..Period! There is no good reason why we would do anything else. With HVCC now in effect, there are many appraisers working for 1/2 the fee with appraisal management companies and these companies do not really care about experience, they care more about your FEES. I recently was removed from an appraisal management company's appraiser panel, because I refused to work for 1/2 my fee. In this day and age it takes alot more time to complete a quality appraisal and I do not believe in cutting corners. I have over 16 years of experience, but that did not matter to them, they would not budge because in their own words they have other appraisers in my area that will do the reports for less....and they admitted to me that their fees are LOW! That scares me! There is a concern about expertise out there and I am a firm believer that you get what you pay for in this world! If you are dealing with a person who travels 30-60+ miles to get to your home, chances are they have no clue aobut the inner workings of your particular neighborhood. Does anyone want to know which lender (a big one) and Appraisal Management company I am talking about, just drop me a line! Lakefront Appraiser http://www.activerain.com/blogs/lakelanierappraiser http://www.marytappraisals.com Lakefront Appraiser http://www.lakefrontpros.com http://www.marytappraisals.com

Kim Could not agree more!!!!! I have written many blogs on this subject as many Realtors, seller and buyers do not understand the appraisal process. My one liner for them is Appraisers do not determine value, the MARKET does. I was so tired of hearing people say that it was a bad or low appraisal...This shows they do not understand. Consider this....We have NO vested interest in the property we appraise (we shouldn't and if we do, we must disclose our interest) so why in the world would we under or over appraise a property? In the past lenders have always pushed appraisers for that HIGH number, some appraisers succummed to the high pressure and that is what started this whole foreclosure and mortgage fraud mess. We are hired to protect the clients (banks or others) interst. We are just doing our job by REPORTING and ANALYZING The market..Period! There is no good reason why we would do anything else. As for George's comments above about why it seems appraisals come in just what is needed for the loan....Well there are some appraisers who believe in the theory that the market value is what a willing buyer will pay and a willing seller will sell the property for and thus the sales price determines values. This is a valid argument. But I have appraised homes higher than the sales price if the MARKET tells me that this home sold under market. You are correct Kim, with HVCC now in effect, there are many appraisers working for 1/2 the fee with appraisal management companies and these companies do not really care about experience, they care more about your FEES. I recently was removed from an appraisal management company's appraiser panel, because I refused to work for 1/2 my fee. In this day and age it takes alot more time to complete a quality appraisal and I do not believe in cutting corners. I have over 16 years of experience, but that did not matter to them, they would not budge because in their own words they have other appraisers in my area that will do the reports for less....and they admitted to me that their fees are LOW! That scares me! There is a concern about expertise out there and I am a firm believer that you get what you pay for in this world! If you are dealing with a person who travels 30-60 miles to get to your home, chances are they have no clue aobut the inner workings of your particular neighborhood. Does anyone want to know which lender (a big one) and Appraisal Management company I am talking about, just drop me a line! Lakefront Appraiser http://www.activerain.com/blogs/lakelanierappraiser http://www.marytappraisals.com