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Thanksgiving – What are you giving thanks for?
What am I thankful for this year? Good health. I always say that the richest person in the world would give everything they owned for good health. My health is better today than it was 20 years ago, in my 50s. I lost 40 pounds, workout every day, and walk with a friend. One of my brothers died in June at the age of 65 (liver failure due to hepatitis C). There will be an empty plate at the Thanksgiving dinner table. I am grateful every day that I am alive.
Notice dated 10/24/16. I suspected that this was where Fannie was going with UAD and CU.
Refis only.. for now. $75 to waive the appraisal requirement.
Fannie has been testing it for quite awhile with some lenders. You may see this referred to as “Day 1 Certainty”, the name Fannie has chosen. They are also waiving reps and warranties (buy backs) so it will be very popular.

How many appraisers are increasing their fees?
Poll: In the past year, have your standard fees for a typical non-complex assignment? www.appraisalport.com
My comment: Good news that the majority of responses were for increased fees. But, less than $50 annual increase is low. If you work for AMCs, your fees will drop when business slows down, assuming you are not getting very low fees now. If you don’t ask for higher fees now, or drop AMCs that insist on low fees, you are losing lots of money. I keep increasing my fees by $50 every 3-4 months and am still below other local appraisers’ fees. Remember, there is little or no AMC “loyalty” to appraisers. They will not remember you when business slows down and you really need work.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? POST YOUR COMMENTS AND READ OTHER COMMENTS AT www.appraisaltodayblog.com
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McMansion Hell in Roseville CA
Just for Fun!!
Excerpt: Nothing in this world is a better metaphor for what politicians and marketers like to call “The American Dream” than the Californian tract house. Imagine – you too, could have your own sloppily put together plot of land on a nice street lined with other sloppily put together plots of land.
But you, of course, want your sloppily put together plot of land to be different from the sloppily put together plots of land of your peers. Now, your houses may have been built at the same time with the same plan by the same builder, but damn are you not determined to find a way to stand out from the crowd.
Finally, after the nth hour of HGTV, it dawns on you: the windows.
http://www.mcmansionhell.com/post/149807609446/roseville-ca
My comment: check out other interesting stuff on this web site. I didn’t even know there were any McMansions in Roseville!!
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What does it cost to take appraisal comp photos?



My comments: I guess a lot of appraisers are busy now. Too bad the poll did not include longer times. I am at 2-3 weeks now. AMCs that promised their lender clients 1-2 days turn times without giving a significant increase in the appraisal fee are in trouble ;> As we all know, turn time depends mostly on how busy we are and significantly changes over time. Residential lender appraising is a boom and bust business.
8 Bizarre Bathrooms from Around the World
“From pop-up toilets in city streets to a bathroom surrounded entirely by an aquarium, these public and private bathrooms are beyond bizarre-and you need to see them!”
Take a break from appraising and check these out. Definitely Weird!!
http://blog.rismedia.com/2016/keepin-it-weird-8-bizarre-bathrooms
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Recent acquisitions of appraisal and title companies
Another great commentary from Dave Towne. Thanks again, Dave!!
From the article in Housingwire.com:
First American Mortgage Solutions, a subsidiary of First American Financial Corporation, acquired Forsythe Appraisals, supplementing its existing valuation capabilities.
Forsythe Appraisals is one of the largest independent residential appraisal company in the United States and offers real estate valuation solutions with nationwide coverage.
Under the acquisition, Forsythe’s management team, including President and CEO John Forsythe, Senior Director of Customer Development Tim Forsythe and Chief Appraiser Alan Hummel, will continue to lead those operations.
Appraisal and Property Related Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
February 12, 2016
This FAQ document provides responses to common questions related to Fannie Mae’s property eligibility and appraisal policies. Following the FAQs, the Attachment on page 10 provides Guidelines for Using Market Conditions Addendum to the Appraisal Report (Form 1004MC).
https://www.fanniemae.com/content/faq/appraisal-property-report-faqs.pdf
My comments: This document does not have a lot of new material, but it is always good to read this so you can cut and paste some of Fannie’s comments into your reports as an explanation. In this month’s paid Appraisal Today I had two articles on the 1004mc form:
1004MC – the good, the bad, and what Fannie says
Statistical errors in the 1004MC by George Dell, MAI, SRA – He has been fighting with Fannie since the form was first required in April 2009
More articles are coming soon in the paid Appraisal Today on how to handle the issues.
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