Lender/AMC revision requests
By Steve Costello
Source: AppraisalPort monthly newsletter
My comment: www.appraisalport.com recently redid their web site and somehow their surveys got put on another page. Now, they are back. AppraisalPort has my Most Favorite Appraisal Surveys!! The current poll is about what measuring device appraisers use. Be sure to vote!! Their poll responses were typically very high, 4,000 to 6,000 responses.
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Full article below:
First, I am glad to report that the poll is back up and running on the AppraisalPort homepage. It was down for a few weeks during the transition to the new version, but you can now find it by either scrolling down a bit or by just clicking on the button that says “Weekly Poll” on the right side of the screen.
This month, I want to discuss a couple of recent polls related to lender/AMC revision requests. First we asked: “Compared to a year ago, my lender/AMC revision requests have…?” Out of the 5019 responses, nearly 40 percent went with the answer “Stayed about the same.” Unfortunately the second most popular answer of “Increased significantly,” which took 21 percent of the vote and was followed closely by “Increased somewhat” with 19 percent. These were followed by the responses of “Decreased somewhat” pulling 13 percent of the vote and finally, “Decreased significantly” with a 7 percent share. There are two ways we can look at this data: Taking a negative view, 40 percent of the appraisers are experiencing some kind of increase in revision requests. That is a big number, but looking on the positive side that means that the other 60 percent have either stayed at the same level or have experienced a decrease in revision requests.
In the second poll we asked: “On average, how much time do you spend making and delivering requested revisions on any given appraisal?” We had a total of 4870 responses to this poll. Nearly half (48%) of those chose the response of “10-30 minutes.” This would seem about right for most minor to moderate revisions. Many must be making pretty minor revisions because the second most popular response with 24 percent of the vote was “Under 10 minutes”. Another 18 percent are having to take a bit more time and went with the choice of “31-60 minutes.” A smaller group of 7 percent is having to invest some real time to make the revisions and picked the response of “Over an hour.” The final 3 percent selected the answer of “I don’t make revisions.” I’m not sure if that means they are doing an amazing job on every report and never get a request or if they just refuse to do any revisions!
My comment: these results are somewhat similar to the recent Valuation Review survey results. I keep hearing lots of complaints about revision request hassles. It is good that it seems to be stablizing. Interesting results. I hardly ever have revision requests from my estate clients, except when I have a typo on the address or client name ;> I really hate getting reviewed!! Well… maybe it would be okay if it is an experienced local appraiser who knows all about my market!! I have always wondered why lender appraisals have been regularly reviewed. I don’t know of any other profession where someone else reviews so many reports that are done. I really think this is why appraisers are so negative about other appraisers’ work. I can’t remember if I took the poll… I often don’t because I don’t do any lender work and it sorta skews the results…
What do you think? Post your comments below!!
Can comments still be made here?
This tells me that the quality of the typical appraisal is below an acceptable level. Remember USPAP Standards require an appraisal to be credible (worthy of belief). This proves that the new minimum standards for Certified appraisers from the AQB is not working.
I recently received an e-newsletter from Sam Haskel of Nadlan Valuation that stated 99% of the appraisal they review go back to the appraiser for correction. I very rarely do work for this company and I don’t know if that statement means they have inexperienced appraisers, unrealistic turn times, inexperienced reviewers or perhaps this is their justification for charging lenders more. Whatever the case may be, it is my opinion that this not a selling point to work with an AMC as an appraiser or a lender.
In the same newsletter he stated “It’s important to remember that not everybody is an appraiser, and what may seem obvious to you may not be as easily understood by someone who doesn’t specialize in appraising real estate”
Again in my opinion, there is an intended user. I write reports with this in mind and expect that a lender is familiar with appraisals. When doing non-lender work I usually go in to more detail and may explain more in the appraisal. It has been my experience that many AMC’s have inexperienced people reviewing appraisals.
Perhaps if AMC’s hired experienced reviewers or trained reviewers more, the appraisals would be understood better and there would be fewer revisions .