volume 34

Readers Respond

Category :

WRE Issues

Readers Respond

  Lenders up to Old Tricks? Ex-Chief Appraiser Sues Stearns Lending I wish her luck and appreciate her standing up for what is right, if the allegations are true, of course. This sounds very common to me. Many AMCs are giving the lenders the appraiser they want and price shopping. I know loan officers who… Read More

Industry News

Category :

WRE Issues

Industry News

  Home Builders White Paper: Appraisers are Idiots As you are likely aware, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) published a whitepaper on housing finance system reform in February of this year. It is 18-pages long, so you can read and digest it in about an hour. All appraisers… Read More

To Agents with Love (from Appraisers)

Category :

Agents / Brokers, Real Estate Appraisers

Editor’s Note: Here are a few helpful tips on how to facilitate the real estate purchase process, from appraisers to real estate agents/brokers (with love). Comments were gathered from an online thread.
 

To Agents with Love (from Appraisers)

  • The quality of our work improves when we have more information. The more information agents can give… Read More

“Low Bid” Appraisal Ordering and Its Effect on Quality

Category :

Real Estate Appraiser Fees, Real Estate Appraiser Independence, Real Estate Appraisers

“Low Bid” Appraisal Ordering and Its Effect on Quality

by Isaac Peck, Associate Editor   Any appraiser who has worked with Appraisal Management Companies (AMCs) is likely familiar with the “order by email-blast” system that some AMCs rely on to fill orders. The process goes like this: an AMC sends an email blast to all appraisers within a… Read More

Estimating External Obsolescence

Category :

Real Estate Appraiser Training - Education, Real Estate Appraisers

Estimating External Obsolescence

by Philip G. Spool, ASA   My previous two articles were about estimating physical depreciation and functional obsolescence. In my article on functional obsolescence, I indicated that it is very complicated to understand and to estimate. I also discussed calculating functional obsolescence in the cost and sales comparison approaches. This article discusses… Read More

From the Publisher

Category :

WRE Issues

What Appraisers Can't Do - From the Publisher

by David Brauner, Editor   Looking over the current issue it seems obvious what ails appraisers: the marketplace is not incentivizing quality work. The system of appraisal orders by email blast used by some appraisal management companies (AMCs), as reported in Low Bid Appraisal Ordering (in upcoming issue), leads to… Read More