Editors Note: Recently appraisersblogs.com posted an article from Bill Smolen, a New York State Appraiser, about some positive developments in some of our states on behalf of appraisers. We thought it was worth sharing.
Howard Beale was my hero. In one of my favorite movies, "Network", filmed in 1976, Beale, a TV anchor on a network with awful ratings, went for broke. Some considered his rants those of a lunatic. Others found truth and clarity in his message.
This summer will be the 15th occurrence of Valuation Expo. It is the biggest appraisal conference in the nation. This is the place to be for anyone in the industry. In honor of that we have put together 15 reasons why you should come to Valuation Expo in Las Vegas!
Most everyone has experienced a slowdown recently. Some of us over the last few months, some longer. Volume in the marketplace being where it is, the basic economic theory of supply and demand comes to mind. In the summer of 2013 we were all very busy. Appraisers had the ability to dictate fees, to a certain extent, and often commanded much higher fees. Now that volume has dropped, AMCs and lenders are leveraging what work there is so that appraisers are willing to take a much lower fee for their services.
I was cruising the showroom of the Valuation Expo a few years ago and had an interesting run-in with a few appraisers who happened to be brothers. They had just attended one of the many presentations and had some strong opinions of what they heard. "Can you believe that guy stood up there and told me what I should or should not wear on an appraisal inspection? I mean, if I live in North Dakota, I am going to wear cowboy boots and if I live in Hawaii, I am going to be sporting flip-flops.
Today, April 23rd, Allterra Group is hosting a free webinar on appraiser independence and the best practices to use when communicating. What are the limits of communication for real estate appraisers, when interacting with borrowers, listing agents, selling agents, buyers, sellers, clients or even AMCs? Recent laws and regulations concerning appraiser independence appear to have put restraints on the type of information that can be communicated to or from appraisers. Is appraiser independence compromised if the appraiser has any communication with REALTORS ® or borrowers?
On March 16, Senators Johnson and Crapo released a discussion draft for replacing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. This post first appeared on The Hill's Congress Blog on March 24, 2014:
The draft bill released on Sunday, March 16 by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) and Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) will not protect taxpayers from future bailouts.
I personally want to thank you for taking the time to respond to the survey. I know that every year, especially over the past few years, the appraisal profession has gone through such enormous changes that "this too shall pass". But they never do.
We are getting ourselves ready for the Third Party Oversight Summit next week, April 16, in New Orleans at the Hotel Monteleone. If you are a lender or an AMC this is a must do event. It is not too late to sign up. Register here.
On April 9th, Allterra Group is hosting a special webinar on comparable data. This will be a great opportunity for appraisers to learn more about some specific aspects of the GSE Uniform Appraisal Dataset in regard to comparable data and some of the perceived challenges with the condition and quality ratings. The webinar will be presented by Elizabeth Green, Principal Consultant with rel-e-vant Solutions and Charles Gress, Senior Vice President & Chief Residential Appraiser for Martin & Wood Appraisal Group and moderated by John McIntyre.
