UWM launches AMC-free appraisal program to coordinate appraisals in-house
Excerpt: The Pontiac, Michigan-based wholesale lender will instead coordinate appraisals in-house, contracting with appraisers directly, offering appraisers and brokers a way to bypass AMCs altogether, which UWM CEO Mat Ishbia characterizes as “middlemen.”
During a Facebook Live address, Ishbia proclaimed that while AMCs add value to the industry, appraisals have been a stumbling block for the mortgage industry.
“It’s going to be cheaper for consumers and more money for appraisers because there’s no longer going to be a middleman with UWM Appraisal Direct,” Ishbia said.
To read more, click here
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Comments from Rob Chrisman’s daily email mortgage newsletter 9-13-21
Critics wonder if appraisers will sign up for UWM’s program, or any program for that matter, given the amount of business licensed appraisers have already. AMCs take about $125-150, maybe as much as $200. If a company like UWM offers $150 more than AMCs to take their orders, does it come with a price, such as an appraiser saying they won’t do business with other AMCs? Stay tuned!
To read lots more, click here Search for appraisals.
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Comments from AppraisedValue (Housing Wire) email with comments. No link available.
The larger question is whether UWM’s direct-to-appraiser approach will be attractive enough to keep appraisers too busy to work with AMCs and whether other lenders will follow suit. As our story notes: Likely the strongest incentive for appraisers is that UWM will pass along the full appraisal fee paid by the borrower. And, while AMCs have been dogged with allegations of late pay, UWM will pay appraisers the next business day after a successful appraisal completion.
Still, some AMCs, such as Class, have already instituted a process to pay appraisers within 24 hours. And some lenders don’t want the headache of bringing valuation in-house.
My comments: I like what UWM is doing, of course. As we all know, there are much more significant problems with AMCs than money, such as long lists of requirements, including everything from every lender they work for!
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NOTE: Please scroll down to read the other topics in this long blog post on Fannie and Bias, real estate market changing?, appraisal business, unusual homes, mortgage origination stats, etc.
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The housing market is trying to get back to normal
By Ryan Lundquist
Excerpt: Normal? That’s not a word we’ve used much to describe the housing market lately, but we are finally starting to see some normalcy. Many parts of the country are showing what looks to be normal seasonal slowing, and that is a sight for sore eyes…
Sorta kinda normal: When a market cools for the season, we tend to see some of the signs in the image below to one degree or another. Even though we are beginning to see many of these things show up in the market, we cannot say the market is fully normal yet because supply and demand are still too imbalanced. But any hint of normalcy lately is actually a really good thing. Imagine the chaos of seeing another year like last year where the market just kept going up through the fall. That is exactly what we don’t want to see.
Anyway, which signs are you seeing or not seeing in your area?
To read more, click here
My comment: I love Ryan’s circular diagrams!!
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Most expensive home in America defaults on $165 million in debt, heads for sale
Excerpts: A Los Angeles megamansion once expected to list for $500 million has gone into receivership after the owner defaulted on more than $165 million in loans and debt, according to court filings.
The 105,000-square-foot Bel Air estate, known as “The One,” was placed into receivership and is expected to be relisted at a lower price. The receivership marks a stunning reversal for “The One” and its flashy developer, Nile Niami, who often touted the property as his “life mission.”
To read more, click here
To read an older article from March 2021, in the LA Times, with lots more info and a sorta “over the top” Instagram video (scroll down the page to see), showing interiors,click here
My comments: Only in LA, of course. We tend to “look down” on LA ;> Northern CA is Better than Southern CA.
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Fannie Mae Commitment to Reducing Appraisal Bias
By Jake Williamson, Vice President, Single-Family Collateral Risk Management
Excerpts: It is well-established that appraiser demographics don’t reflect the American population – appraisers are 85% white and 78% male. While many factors can contribute to potential bias in appraisals, having an appraisal workforce that better represents the communities where they work could instill more confidence in the process and mitigate bias.
In 2018, recognizing the benefits of a more diverse appraiser workforce, Fannie Mae collaborated with the National Urban League to launch the Appraiser Diversity Initiative (ADI)
… we’re leveraging our database of roughly 54 million appraisals to analyze undervaluation that could indicate bias. We believe the results of this research will help identify root causes of undervaluation, and through our industry partnerships, we hope to create solutions that will address them.
To read more, click here
My comments: It’s worth reading about what Fannie is doing, especially using their database of appraisers and appraisals for bias research and maybe putting appraisers on the infamous AQM (do not use list), which is reportedly very small, but who knows.
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Converted Boeing 727 Home in the Woods – Hillsboro, Oregon
Excerpts: To hear Campbell (the owner) explain it, the whole idea makes so much sense: “When properly executed, the remarkable appeal of a retired jetliner as a home springs from the magnificent technology and beauty of the sculptured structure itself. Jetliners are masterful works of aerospace science, and their superlative engineering grace is unmatched by any other structures people can live within.
Campbell is part of a group of people around the world known as the Aircraft Fleet Recycling Association (AFRA). The members of AFRA share a similar view of turning retired airplanes into homes or other creative spaces.
Then, of course, there’s the delightful, kitschy aspect of living in an aircraft. Campbell adds, “It’s a great toy. Trick doors, trick floors. Hatches here latches there. Cool interior lights. Awesome exterior lights, sleek gleaming appearance, titanium ducts[…]
To read more, click here
My comments: Worth reading. The best article, by far, I have ever read on airplane conversions. Very interesting!! I have seen many exterior photos of airplanes in the woods, but this article has interior photos. He offers free private tours…
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The 4 Best Ways to Earn More Money as an Appraiser
McKissock Survey
Excerpts: The top four most popular answers were: 1) adopt technology, 2) upgrade your appraisal license, 3) become a specialist, and 4) build a team to scale your business.
Adopt technology to increase your efficiency (28%)
“Tech features such as smartphone, appraisal app software, and laser measuring device save me 30 minutes on each report.”
“The old saying is ‘Time is money, and it stands true today. The more efficient and organized an appraiser can be, the more appraisals can get done.”
“Technology allows one to automate data acquisition in a way that was not previously available.”
To read the full survey results, including comments from real-life appraisers, click here
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HOW TO USE THE NUMBERS BELOW. Appraisals are ordered after the loan application. These numbers tell you the future for the next few weeks. For more information on how they are compiled, go to www.mbaa.org
Note: I publish a graph of this data every month in my paid monthly newsletter, Appraisal Today. I have been following this data since 1993. For more information or get a FREE sample issue go to https://www.appraisaltoday.com/products.htm or send an email to info@appraisaltoday.com . Or call 800-839-0227, MTW 7 AM to noon, Pacific time.
Mortgage applications increased 0.3 percent from one week earlier
WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 15, 2021) – Mortgage applications increased 0.3 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending September 10, 2021. This week’s results include an adjustment for the Labor Day holiday.
The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 0.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 10 percent compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index decreased 3 percent from the previous week and was 3 percent lower than the same week one year ago. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 8 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 5 percent compared with the previous week and was 12 percent lower than the same week one year ago.
“Purchase applications – after adjusting for the impact of Labor Day – increased over 7 percent last week to their highest level since April 2021. Compared to the same week last September, which was right in the middle of a significant upswing in home purchases, applications were down 11 percent – the smallest year-over-year decline in 14 weeks,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting. “Both conventional and government purchase applications increased, and the average loan size for a purchase application rose to $396,800. The very competitive purchase market continues to put upward pressure on sales prices.”
Added Kan, “While the 30-year fixed rate was unchanged at just over 3 percent, it was not enough to drive more refinance activity. Refinance applications slipped to their slowest pace since early July, and the refinance share of applications fell to 65 percent, which was also the lowest since July.”
The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 64.9 percent of total applications from 66.8 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 3.3 percent of total applications.
The FHA share of total applications decreased to 9.9 percent from 10.9 percent the week prior. The VA share of total applications decreased to 10.2 percent from 10.4 percent the week prior. The USDA share of total applications decreased to 0.4 percent from 0.5 percent the week prior.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($548,250 or less) remained unchanged at 3.03 percent, with points decreasing to 0.32 from 0.33 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans. The effective rate remained unchanged from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than $548,250) decreased to 3.13 percent from 3.14 percent, with points decreasing to 0.21 from 0.30 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA decreased to 3.04 percent from 3.07 percent, with points decreasing to 0.27 from 0.30 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 2.34 percent from 2.37 percent, with points increasing to 0.29 from 0.26 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs increased to 2.68 percent from 2.56 percent, with points decreasing to 0.11 from 0.17 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.
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Ann O’Rourke, MAI, SRA, MBA
Appraiser and Publisher Appraisal Today
1826 Clement Ave. Suite 203 Alameda, CA 94501
Phone 510-865-8041
Email ann@appraisaltoday.com
Excerpts: A student contacted me with the following dilemma concerning an Appraisal Management Company (AMC) request: “I told the Management Company that I cannot mark the Zoning Compliance as ‘Legal’ if the report is marked “as-is,” because this would not be true for the current “as-is” condition of the subject on the effective date of the appraisal. The AMC insists that as long as I disclose in the addendum that the zoning is currently ‘illegal,’ then I can mark on the first page as ‘Legal.’”
What Should Appraisers Wear?