Low-Cost E&O Insurance from OREP Working RE Home Library/Previous Editions
Fannie/Freddie, Cuomo Agreement
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> Just
a note regarding AMC’s Mr. Verret of Houston says he still turns out high
quality appraisals with no pressure from AMC’s. What else is he going to say?
“Yes, my quality has suffered and I made a conscious decision to go that way in
order to stay in business”? AMC’s add nothing to the quality of appraisals.
They are merely a conduit that the industry uses rather than developing a
relationship with local appraisers. They are also an easy excuse for the
industry and IMOH, are a scourge on the industry as a whole. - Name Withheld
>
Comments in the Working RE Magazine are correct in the statements that the AMC's
control the business of the appraiser.
As one who has encountered the AMC for years they can be arbitrary, insistent
and they do not know the territory like the Music Man says so. They do no not
know what the appraiser encounters. Here in my area, it is like an urban area in
a rural setting and comps are not readily available so the search has to be far
and wide but the AMCs do not understand that as they want the appraisal
yesterday. If the direction of the Cuomo plan is in the direction of the AMC
then it is a poor choice for the appraisal business.
- John Bentkowski
>
In that the parties from each of the involved professions
ultimately want the same thing, can we not have leading individuals meet and
derive a solution that doesn't entail the appraiser losing control of his/her
business? The government is definitely on the right track in recognizing the
problem and offering a solution, but should the involved industries not be given
the chance, now that it has come to a head, to resolve the problem once and for
all? I strongly encourage all involved to request a written plan of action be
submitted by a committee of leaders from the respective facets of the lending
industry. By so doing, the solution can come from within the impacted businesses
and cumbersome legislation can be avoided. The threat of a government crack down
on the industry can be a powerful incentive for a mutually acceptable
resolution. - Harry W. Hammel, III, Maryland & Delaware Certified General
Appraiser
> Good day. Great article. The main problem as I see it is plain old greed. When I started in the real estate business everyone was independent. Now every mortgage company, real estate company, and title company are one company. There are no checks and balances. - Edward Hadnott
> In our local county, it is currently very common for banks to buy properties at Sheriff's sales, then market these properties who are in turn purchased by individuals (often landlord investors). As an example: ABC Bank purchases property at Sheriff's sale for $30,000; then places the property on the market for much less, possibly selling for $15,000. I am seeing this type of scenario over and over. My question is...what is the logic, or reasoning for the inflated price that the bank pays vs. the much lower amount that they market the property for? - Berkley Rose
>
Thanks for spelling it out to the general
public. I (we) have been crying the "sky is falling" for mortgage practices for
many, many years. Now I read they want to use the "middle man" to send us
work???? Talk about pressure, be good and on time (theirs) or get put on the
blacklist.
1. Send orders without influence or "estimated" value. Just let us appraise it
and THEN figure out how much they can borrow.
2. Allow people with adjustable or bad subprime mortgages refi at today's rate,
with the current payment they are affording and adjust the length of the loan.
Why does it have to be 15 or 30 years?. If they can afford $1,200 a month at 6%
fixed rate, (due the math backwards) and so what if it comes out to a 38.2 year
loan. Beats foreclosure or the lenders writing off part of the loan!
3. Make lenders adhere to the same or similar USPAP we do and get as much
regulation on them as we have (or more). We are talking about giant sums of $$
in the hands of ah, of, ah, who knows what they are?
4. So sorry to the speculators.
5. Pay me when I deliver a report, not IF or WHEN it closes. Jeeze, tell your
doctor you'll pay if and only if your cured! Good luck.
6. The feds are currently killing the dollar with all this fake support. What ever happened to market driven forces? Econ 101?
My .02 cents. Sorry, ranting over. Thanks again for the commentary. - Scott K. Neuman
> Excellent article,
"Rise and Fall of Real Estate Values"! I have forwarded this on to everyone I
know in the business, including the few clients I have left that actually want a
legitimate appraisal, all two of them. Isn't that sad? - Steve Tessmann,
Certified Residential Real Property Appraiser, The Appraisal Shop, Inc.
> The Rise and Fall article is the best of the recent articles. Will anyone listen and understand what most appraisers saw happening even 5 years ago?? - Evelyn Simpson
>
Thank you for writing
this perceptive article, and especially for mentioning the custom of including
closing costs/rebates/decorating allowances/down payment allowances in contract
prices and expecting appraisers to cover them in the final opinion of value.
This is a dirty practice that benefits the lenders and real estate agents, since
they earn a percentage of every closing. Purchasers think they have gotten a
good deal, but end up taking a 30-year amortization for closing costs long
forgotten after closing takes place.
I would love to see the issue of lender sales addressed more thoroughly. When
lending practices switched from traditional conservative underwriting of actual
creditworthiness and property valuation to commission-based sales that benefited
a pyramid of lending "players", the system was corrupted and left open to
gamers. I truly believe the seeds of the current crisis were planted about 25
years ago when this practice started to become widespread, and educated honest
appraisers were slandered to their faces for trying to practice a profession
that used to be honorable. We spend thousands of dollars on licensing and
continuing education and have a big USPAP manual that we are supposed to adhere
to, and for what? Maybe the bonfire of license regulations will keep us warm
while the market idles along and Alan Greenspan works on "getting it". Again,
thank you. - Dana
Grimm, Cert. Res. Appraiser, Heritage Appraisal Services
>
Thank you for putting the basic problems all together in one succinct article. -
Jill Kinnaird
> Just read your article! How could
you be more clearer in explaining the mess we are now in? I have survived but at
a financial cost that is high. I am still called when someone really wants to
know but that is infrequent. Most of my residential work is VA and Fannie!
Luckily, we are involved in working for the GA DOT and have had some good years
as well. Thanks for putting to words what some of us feel in the gut as well as
in the pocketbook. -
Tom L. Davis
> Just wanted to thank you for your very
insightful and well written article. - Kevin J Ryan, MAI, SRA