What AMCs say to appraisers and How to Respond
By Steven W. Vehmeier
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.’”
Taking the matter to the source can be accomplished by: 1) personal research of the appropriate documents, which is sometimes faster, or 2) emailing the controlling entity for their official answer. Notice I didn’t say to phone them. I want the answer in writing to pass on to the client/AMC.
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My comment: Some Most Excellent and practical tips!! My bottom-line advice: Fire the AMC! We all know there is always another AMC that is desperate for appraisers today. Now is a good time to shop for one that is easy to work for. You could check in appraisal online groups to see what they say. If they are not competitors, hopefully, you can get some good ideas. Be sure to post your location.
What to Do When Your Appraisal Is Under Review
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Has Appraising Failed the Public Good?
by Steven R. Smith, MSREA, MAI, SRA
Excerpts: The term Public Good is in the opening paragraph of the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP). An appraiser friend once wrote that our regulations and guidelines are intentionally ambiguous—and that may be. But what is crystal clear to me is that the industry has put the interests of its clients before the public good.
The Public Trust statement and the Ethics Rule have been largely ignored over the years with loan production put first…
What can an individual appraiser do to support the public good, even before they start an assignment? For me, the answer always has been to appraise the client and the appraisal assignment. There are some clients and assignments that simply should be avoided because of the wants, needs and desires of the client, with respect to the assignment results.
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My comments: I have known Steve Smith for a long time. To read more comments from Steve and other savvy appraisers, join the National Appraisers Forum, an email discussion group. I have been a member since it started. It is my “go-to” resource for appraisal topics. Moderated. Very different from Facebook and other appraiser online discussion groups where filling out forms and dealing with AMCs are discussed.
The future of residential appraising
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Favorite Crazy Appraisal Stories – The Psycho Kitty
Excerpt: Psycho Kitty
I had an appointment at a home in the country out in the woods. The access instructions said the cat MIGHT be caged. Got to the home and the cat was at the front door and hissed at me as I went in. I tried to make friends with the cat, but it didn’t work, so I ignored the cat and started my inspection.
As I came out of the first-floor master, he was waiting. He stood on his hind legs, teeth showing, hissing, and came at me. Once again, I used my clipboard and ran to the laundry room where I was able to shut the door. I was safe…
To read more strange and/or funny appraisal stories, click here
My comment: We all have appraisal stories, of course!! In my 45 years of appraising I have never been attacked by a cat. My creepiest cat encounter was appraising the home of a cat foster parent for a local animal shelter. Large outside cat enclosure full of cats, multiple cats on top of dressers and other places, looking at me (looked like they were hungry). I wish I could forget about all the cat eyes looking at me :<
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Pass-through Bedrooms
Excerpts: This may not be a major problem if the house has sufficient bedrooms to match what is typical and expected in the neighborhood. It can have a negative impact on the marketability of the home if this arrangement reduces the number of usable bedrooms from what is typical.How to Identify a Residential Complex Property
Excerpts: A complex one-to-four family residential property is defined as a property that meets at least one of the following criteria:
- The property to be appraised is atypical
- The form of ownership is atypical
- The market conditions are atypical
“Below we dig a little deeper into each type of complex property outlined above, providing detailed descriptions and examples of properties that would fall under each of the three categories.”
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My comments: This is the best explanation I have read about this issue. All appraisers encounter complex properties. You may or may not decide to accept the assignment. Always check the info you have on the property before accepting the assignment. Or, you find out after starting on the appraisal that it is more complex than you thought. I regularly turn down assignments because it will require more time, or I don’t want to “reinvent the wheel,” as I may never do another like it, etc.
Mortgage lending appraisals are very, very cyclical. When you are very busy, I recommend turning down these assignments to make more money. You will have lots of time during the slow period to accept these assignments.
In ancient history, before AMCs, I often did the tough ones for loyal clients as a favor. AMCs will go down the list, sometimes for days, trying to find an appraiser. One called me yesterday about a mixed-use property that their lender client said was residential. From online information, it looked like commercial on first floor. The issue was highest and best use, of course. I told them I did not know any commercial appraisers who work for AMCs, plus the fee would be over $2,000. You have to know that city’s local zoning regulations, requiring local expertise to determine the highest and best use.
The Bottom Line: Don’t Risk Your Appraisal License if it is too complicated for you!! I get many calls from appraisers having problems. This is always my answer. I have returned fees up to $2,000 after spending lots of hours on the assignment.
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Age adjustments in appraisals
By Jamie Owen
Excerpts: Sometimes, two homes with wide age differences can have the same effective age. For instance, a thirty-year old home may have an effective age that is the same as a fifty-year old home, if the fifty-year old home has been renovated to a degree that is comparable to the younger home. If this is the case, while there is a relatively wide age gap, no age or condition adjustment may be supportable.
Once the home is lived in, it can never be considered “new” again. Subsequently, a new home typically has a higher market value than one that has already been lived in. The joyful homeowner makes these choices, the home is built, and they move in. Now starts the wear and tear. The degree of wear and tear depends much on the homeowner and how well they maintain their home. With new homes, typically homeowners go for a number of years without needing to do anything major to the property. However, at some point, they will need to.
To read more and see some fun animated gifs and a video, click here
My comment: Written for homeowners (an excellent marketing tool) but interesting comments for appraisers. I love Jamie’s blog posts!!
For Covid Updates, go to my Covid Science blog at covidscienceblog.com
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My new sewer line adds huge value, right?
January 19, 2021, By Ryan Lundquist
Excerpt: A new sewer line. That’s what 2020 gave my family as a parting gift before the year closed. Yep, just before Christmas, we had to replace our entire line at a whopping $13,688. I know that sounds crazy expensive, but we had four separate bids and went with the most reasonable one. In part it was so pricey because we had one hundred feet of the line under eighty feet of concrete.
The good news is my house is worth $13,688 more now, right?
To read more plus lots of appraiser comments click here
What to Do When Your Appraisal Is Under Review(Opens in a new browser tab)
Covid-19 Residential Appraisers Tips on Staying Safe
For Covid Updates, go to my Covid Science blog at covidscienceblog.com
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NOTE: Please scroll down to read the other topics in this long blog post on fees, house settling, unusual homes, mortgage origination stats, Covid tips for appraisers, etc.
Crazy Appraiser Stories

You’ve all got them… The crazy car chases, the surprising living conditions, the exotic assignments, and the unique collectors….
What we all need… Here is one brief humorous escape!!
The photo above is the Crazee Appraiser writing up his appraisal!
Here is one story:
This was a beautiful 3,200 sq ft home with all the extras. After measuring, I was standing by the fireplace, taking an interior photo, being careful not to step on the expensive rug next to the hearth. The lady of the house looked a little alarmed, so I had to ask, “Is everything okay?” “Oh yes, it’s just that the camera will have a click.” I’ve heard weirder things, so after assuring her it was a very quiet click, the button went down, the picture was taken, and the excitement started.
Something hit the back of my head, a soft, but very strong hit. The equivalent of a 10 mile an hour wind passed over my left shoulder, and a shadow landed on the other side of the sofa, which was 14’ in front of me. It seems that the fluffy 6’ rug was a once wild, African Savannah cat, stretching 6’ long as it napped on its belly. It looked like a leopard rug! With teeth longer than some fork tines, I was happy to let it hide in the bedroom, but she coaxed it out of hiding to demonstrate that it could easily jump 10’ high for a kitty treat.
– Carolyn S. Richards
For more stories, click here
My comment: We all need some appraiser fun to start the New Year!!
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Covid-19 Residential Appraisers Tips on Staying Safe
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Two of the common appraiser violations – Use of inappropriate sales and Use of unsupported site value
Excerpt: When it comes to common appraisal violations, certain minor violations are very common. In this article, I outline several examples of less serious breaches of development STANDARD 1 and reporting STANDARD 2—and a few other types of violations, too. I have compiled these based on many years of personal experience in appraisal regulation, as well as feedback I have received from other states’ enforcement agencies. Once you’re aware of these common mishaps, you should be able to avoid them more easily.
1. Use of inappropriate sales
One of the big problems is the use of inappropriate sales in a sales comparison approach….
2. Use of unsupported site value
Another common violation is the use of unsupported site value in the cost approach. That’s something that a lot of boards have cited as a prevalent deficiency or shortcoming in appraisal reports.
To read more click here
My comment: useful information. Nothing new, but good reminders. Don’t get the “violation letter” from your state board!!
Appraisal Process Challenges(Opens in a new browser tab)
Appraising Weird Stuff is Challenging!(Opens in a new browser tab)
What to Do When Your Appraisal Is Under Review(Opens in a new browser tab)