mortgage loan volume Archives

New 2024 USPAP Q&As

By Ann O'Rourke on January 26, 2024 / appraisal, forecast, future, Mortgage applications, mortgage loan volume / Leave a comment

Tags: appraisal, forecast, future, mortgage loan volume

New USPAP Q&As

January 16, 2024, the Appraisal Standards Board released new Questions and Answers covering important topics in the profession today including:

Demographics

Does demographic information relating to race (such as Census data) constitute “information relating to” a protected characteristic?

Artificial Intelligence

Question:

What is an appraiser’s USPAP obligations when using artificial intelligence (AI) in an appraisal assignment?

Personal Inspection

I recently completed an appraisal on a residential dwelling for Lender A that sells loans to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the report was completed on a GSE form. Lender A decided not to grant the loan and the borrower then engaged Lender B to obtain financing. Lender B engaged me to perform a new appraisal assignment on the same property. Lender B indicated there wasno need for me to re-inspect the home, since my previous inspection date was only a few days earlier.

To read these new Q&As Click Here.

My comments: AI and demographics are “hot topics” now. I am glad the ASB is explaining them.

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NOTE: Please scroll down to read the other topics in this long blog post on forecasts for mortgage rates, a look back at the 80s a very similar mortgage market, appraising in a changing market, unusual homes, mortgage origination stats, etc.

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SFR with ADU or Two Units?

By Ann O'Rourke on September 29, 2023 / ADUs, climate change, future, non-lender appraisals, real estate market, retirement, va / Leave a comment

Tags: adjustments, ADUs, mortgage loan volume, non-lender appraisals, real estate market, va

How to Identify a Single-Family with ADU vs. Two-Family Property

By McKissock

Excerpts:

The presence of an additional living unit can complicate the appraisal process. It may make it difficult for you, the appraiser, to know how to classify the subject property. How do you know whether you’re dealing with an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) or a second unit?

Topics include:

ADU meaning and types
What is a two-family property?
How to tell if it’s a single-family with ADU vs. two-family property
It’s more likely to be a two-family property vs. single-family with ADU if:
It’s more likely to be a single-family with ADU vs. two-family property if:

To read more, click here

My comments: ADUs have been a controversial topic for a long time in California as state and local governments kept changing their ADU requirements. Finally, what they are and where they can be built became standardized. Today, they are becoming popular to get extra rentals in markets low on housing. Most recently, there is a possible regulation to sell them separately from the main house. Another tricky HBU issue in California!

Check the regulations in your state, county, or city.

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NOTE: Please scroll down to read the other topics in this long blog post on non-lender appraisals, VA, flood and fires no insurance, retirement, few lender appraisals, unusual homes, mortgage origination

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Appraisal Reviews – The Good and The Bad

By Ann O'Rourke on August 19, 2022 / appraisal business, Mortgage applications, real estate market / Leave a comment

Tags: appraisal business, mortgage loan volume, real estate market

What to Do When Your Appraisal Is Under Review

Excerpt: Topics:

Remember that reviewers are on your side
Look out for these common points of contention
“The number one mistake is that the appraiser did not include the lender’s specific report requirements,” Nakashima confirms. “Often, the appraiser will not read the lender’s requirements—and if those requirements are not in the report, it cannot be delivered, or the lender will send it back.
Avoid future revision requests

“You can’t avoid the report being reviewed, but you can avoid revision requests,” he says. “Check your report for common mistakes. Review the specific lender requirements and make sure you covered all the bases. When you can’t meet a requirement, include a comment that explains why not.”

To read more, click here

My comments: Worth reading if you do lender appraisals. Some good tips for reviewing your non-lender appraisals. I have never had any reviews for my non-lender appraisals similar to the reviews above. When I did lender res appraisals for direct lenders before 2005, I was usually only contacted if I had a typo: address, no value, etc.

Review appraiser liability

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To read more of this long blog post with many topics, click Read More Below!!

NOTE: Please scroll down to read the other topics in this long blog post on Condo risks, mortgage origination volume down, 4 high growth appraisal companies, cost cutting tips, unusual homes, mortgage origination stats, etc.

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Appraisers: How to Spend Less Time on Email

By Ann O'Rourke on August 12, 2022 / appraisal business, bias, new appraisers, non-lender appraisals, real estate market / Leave a comment

Tags: appraisal business, bias, mortgage loan volume, real estate market

Appraisers: How to spend less time on Email

Excerpts: Many appraisers report that they’d like to spend less time on email. The task of providing status emails eats up time in the workday and tends to be more complex and time-consuming than typing a quick email reply. Status requests from AMCs typically require you to log in to their system and go through the process of updating the order status on their website. Simple enough, but if you are doing this several times a day for multiple orders, it interrupts your workflow and decreases your productivity.

2. Only check email twice a day, at designated times

Set aside two short time windows for email (15 or 30 minutes each). Do not read or reply to emails outside of those time windows. For the rest of the day, turn off email notifications on your phone, etc., so that incoming emails won’t interrupt your work. You can add a note to your email signature letting people know that they can reach you by phone if they need to get in touch on an urgent matter.

To read all 7 ways, click here

My comments: I regularly write about managing your emails in my monthly newsletter, including getting to Inbox Zero. This blog post is the best I have ever read, as it is specifically for practicing appraisers.

How to Manage Your Email

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To read more of this long blog post with many topics, click Read More Below!!

NOTE: Please scroll down to read the other topics in this long blog post on mortgage rates history, declining prices on high end homes, bias, unusual homes, mortgage origination stats, etc.

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Too many appraisers?

By Ann O'Rourke on June 10, 2022 / appraisal business, george dell, mortgage loan volume, real estate market / Leave a comment

Tags: appraisal business, mortgage loan volume, real estate market

How can we fix the excess of appraisers?

Too many appraisers?

By George Dell, SRA, MAI

Easy — we do what we have always done, each time . . .

Excerpts: 1) We will raise the standards (“cost of entry”). 2) We will make it harder to become an appraiser; 3) Let the lower fees discourage newcomer appraisers.

In past issues of the Analogue Blog, we have considered the “five forces of friction” on the advancement of appraisal. Here we consider how these “frictions” will behave as appraisal demand has dropped, just as each of the five forces have found ways to reduce or “eliminate” the need for valuation expertise. Recall the five forces of friction: practices, standards, education, regulation, and client expectation.

This blog considers how each friction will respond to this “excess” of appraisers.

Practices:

Current practice is still embedded in the concepts of 8 ½ X 14 paper forms, spreadsheets, or narrative explanation of the opinion of the person (appraiser, evaluator) or automation programmer. Practices will continue to evolve toward objective data selection and predictive models. But this evolvement will continue to stay behind the inherent potential of applied data science. Habitual practice of “comparing comps” over “measuring markets” will prevail (in the absence of change in the other “frictions”).

To read more, click here

My comments: Of course, lots of politicians, appraiser organizations, appraisers and others are complaining now about an appraiser shortage and trying to recruit trainees. This is the past. Loan applications are way down, the lowest in 22 years. What was your business like before the pandemic? Not much work probably compared with 2020-2022. The Inevitable Cyclicality of Mortgage Lending. I hope you saved up lots of money over the past few years!

Non-lender Appraisals Good fees and few hassles
Purchase vs. refi appraisals

Appraisal Business Tips

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NOTE: Please scroll down to read the other topics in this long blog post on declining mortgage loans, real estate market, unusual homes, mortgage origination stats, etc.

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How to Fight Real Estate Agents’ Appraiser Blacklisting

By Ann O'Rourke on March 26, 2021 / AMCs, appraisal business, bias, Fannie, humor / Leave a comment

Tags: bias, blacklist, Fannie forms, humor, mortgage loan volume

How to Fight Real Estate Agents’ Appraiser Blacklisting

Excerpts: When a real estate agent “blacklists” an appraiser, the result is often that the agent’s lender/AMC contacts will stop using the appraiser completely (at the agent’s request), or occasionally, the lender will continue to use the appraiser but not assign the appraiser any of the transactions that that particular agent works on. In the case of the latter, sometimes the appraiser will be assigned an order only to have it canceled later that day once the real estate agent sees the appraiser on the order and calls the lender or mortgage broker to complain. I’ve talked to appraisers who have this happen several times a year with the same agent…

Having an order canceled and reassigned is sometimes the first and only indication to the appraiser that something fishy is going on, but some appraisers who abruptly stop receiving work from a client often don’t have to look far to figure out why. While “blacklisting” is sometimes more discreet, some appraisers actually have the real estate agent call them and tell them explicitly that they are going to actively prevent the appraiser from ever working on one of their transactions.

To read more, click here

My comments: Lender blacklisting has been around for decades. I remember when the blacklists were shared among lenders. Some appraisers said it was good to be on the blacklist of the not-so-ethical lenders.

Savvy AMCs (and lenders) often just don’t give the appraiser any more work. Putting an appraiser on a blacklist can be a big issue.

Good article with practical tips from Richard Hagar and the author.

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To read more of this long blog post with many topics, click Read More Below!!

NOTE: Please scroll down to read the other topics in this long blog post on unusual homes, Fannie Update, Bias, Humor, mortgage origination stats, etc.

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Crazy Appraiser Stories

By Ann O'Rourke on January 1, 2021 / appraisal how to, BATHROOMS, COVID, fauci, FUN, humor, Mortgage applications, Strange homes / Leave a comment

Tags: appraisal how to, humor, mortgage loan volume, va

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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AMC Fined for Appraisal Order Blast Violation

By Ann O'Rourke on October 16, 2020 / AMCs, appraisal business, appraisal management company, comp photos, Coronavirus, COVID, data, FHA, Freddie, Mortgage applications, unusual homes / Leave a comment

Tags: AMC, AMC fined, comp photos, FHA repairs, mortgage loan volume, strange house

AMC Fined for Appraisal Order Blast Violation

Excerpt: Consolidated Analytics, an AMC based in Anaheim California, was fined $3,000 for violating the Utah AMC Administrative Rules R162-2e-306 “Offering An Appraisal Assignment and Communicating with Two or More Appraisers About a Potential Assignment.

The specific part of this rule that pertains to broadcasting has been relatively effective in reducing the broadcasting of assignments. Clear Capital recently was fined $5,000 for failing to comply and there are additional complaints working their way through the system.

To read more, click here

My comment: Broadcast orders are bad for many reasons for both the AMC and the appraiser: goes to everyone on their list, no considerations about appraiser qualifications for the assignment including geographic. Hundreds of appraisers competing on fees when business is slow make it hard for appraisers to stay in business. There is always someone with a lower fee, in appraising, and any type of business.

When business is strong, such as today, AMCs have to take whatever warm body they can get. Many appraisers are way too booked up and not taking any more work.

Maybe you can get your state appraisal regulator to get a similar regulation!!

Working with difficult appraisal clients(Opens in a new browser tab)

Which Appraisal Clients are used the most?(Opens in a new browser tab)

Marketing and Management Tips for Appraisers

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Common Appraiser Violations

By Ann O'Rourke on September 25, 2020 / adjustments, appraisal how to, Coronavirus, george dell, lender appraisals, Mortgage applications, real estate market, Strange homes / Leave a comment

Tags: adjustments, appraisal how to, mortgage loan volume, real estate market, unusal homes

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)

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