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HVCC Appraiser Talkback Survey: What’s Really Going On?
by David Brauner, Editor, WRE and Senior Broker, OREP
 

The HVCC Appraiser Talkback Survey has been posted about two weeks and so far you’ve provided some pretty interesting results (see below).

We plan to collect survey data all year and hope you have much to share, post HVCC, about the state of the profession from your perspective. We will collect and share the data openly with you and with regulators and other interested parties. It’s a chance for appraisers to come together as a group, speak with one voice and be heard.

Our Survey Says (so far)
In our Working RE/OREP HVCC Appraiser Talkback Blog (and elsewhere), many appraisers predict that the profession cannot continue to attract competent professionals, capable of producing reliable reports, given the relentless pressure for lower fees and faster turn times from appraiser management companies (AMCs): the most competent and talented will migrate to professions that are more profitable and satisfying, goes the prediction. Do most appraisers really believe that there is no future for them in this profession? And if so, what does this portend for the future of honest lending? Just 57 percent who responded say they expect to be appraising full time five years from now. What do you say?

Coming Together
Working RE mails to the entire profession and is therefore a natural vehicle for gathering appraiser survey data nationwide. Why is it important for you to participate? First, the absence of comprehensive survey data makes it impossible for industry leaders to formulate and promote the appraiser-friendly agenda that is long overdue. Lobbyists will tell you that finding a consensus on anything among appraisers has long been a stumbling block to progress. A much stronger case can be made to regulators with hard data in hand.

The absence of feedback from colleagues also makes it impossible to assess your own experience relative to others and to learn from their mistakes and successes. Fill out the survey and we’ll bring you the stories. 

Finally, there is this: appraisers predicted the lending collapse years before it happened; those who complained about reckless lending, inflated values, lender pressure and the imprudent use of AVMs, were labeled anti-progress, shortsighted, incompetent...and worse. No one paid much attention to the “Chicken Little” appraisers, except to mock them, but this time, the sky really did fall. Here’s a chance for appraisers to come together as a group, speak with one voice and be heard. If you’ve already taken the survey, you may want to go back to weigh in on several new questions suggested by readers (Additional Questions Suggested by Survey Takers).

You can find a link to the Appraisers Talkback Survey at www.orep.org or www.workingre.com or click: www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=1drQU6WrYbQ73E4wH2vKVw_3d_3d