ClickFORMS is the simple answer
to your complex appraisal
software needs. We offer multiple
sketcher integrations, MLS integration, and easy
payment options.
Analyze the value of going green with real case
studies. The Appraisal Institute’s two new “green”
courses premiere Jan. 24-25, 2011!
Learn more today!
The online course Essential Elements of Disclosures and
Disclaimers is offered to OREP
Members/Affiliates for administrative costs, and for a
limited time, to Working RE readers at a discount.
Click for details.
Customary and Reasonable Fees Survey Results Now
Available.
Click to Download.
Where are you
Advertising?
Working RE Delivers
80,000 Appraisers - Print
52,000 Appraisers - Email
The most respected, most
cost-effective choice for reaching appraisers.
“The Special Edition ad was a HUGE success. Thank you
for all your help and for delivering what you promised.” - Todd Rasmussen, Regional Director Metro-West Appraisal
Co., LLC
“I save your magazines and reference them when
issues arise within the industry or my residential
appraisal business. I find your publication to be very
informative and worthy of archiving for future
referencing.” -Edward Rossi, State Certified Appraiser
Related Stories
WRE Subscribers and OREP
Members haveaccess to all stories at
WorkingRE.com.
New:
Customary and Reasonable Fee Survey:
The OREP/Working RE survey now has over 8,400 responses. If
you have participated pat yourself on the back - your input matters. If you
have not participated yet, the surveys are ongoing. You can
add your fee data here: www.surveymonkey.com/s/YZWHYT3.
Find a link to initial results
in sidebar. (Closed)
Take our other surveys:
HVCC - One Year On(Closed)
HVCC Appraiser Talkback Survey (Closed)
Editor’s Note: At the
“Appraisal Summit” last September, John Brenan of the Appraisal
Foundation discussed plans to raise the bar a bit higher for
appraisers.
Your Future: Appraisal Foundation Raising
the Bar by David Brauner, Editor
And you think your plate is full.
According to John Brenan, Director of Appraisal Issues at the
Appraisal Foundation (TAF), speaking at the Appraisal Summit in Las
Vegas last September, this is what TAF is up to and what to expect.
Education, experience and examination requirements for appraisers
will get more rigorous over time, not less: The Appraiser
Qualifications Board (AQB) is raising the bar. Brenan said
qualification requirements for appraisers across much of the world
are tougher than in the United States.
According to the
OREP.org/Working RE HVCC Talkback Survey, with over 6,000
appraisers responding, 69 percent answer “yes” to the question: “Are
you in favor of the increased licensing and education requirements
imposed by the Appraiser Qualifications Board?” (Thirty-one percent
said “no.”)
(story continues below)
Get free InterFlood maps!
Click here to claim your five free flood maps. Once you try it
you'll see why thousands of appraisers rely on InterFlood daily to
complete their reports.
How is InterFlood different?
Less steps than the FEMA website
Flood zone and census data comes with the
map
100% nationwide coverage and always up to
date
Reposition your subject on a Bing street map rather than a flood map
Why waste time with anything less?
Click here to try it now or call
1-800-ALAMODE today to learn more.
(story
continues)
College Credits
In an effort to attract some of the “best and brightest” to the
profession, the AQB seeks to permit more college-level credits be
transferable toward appraiser credentialing requirements.“It
doesn’t make sense that students graduating from an accredited
university should not be able to apply any of that coursework toward
appraiser licensing,” Brenan said.
Trainees TAF recognizes the problems facing trainees wishing to enter the
profession and the lack of mentorship opportunities. Brenan said the
recently-passed Dodd-Frank bill authorizes the AQB to establish
requirements for trainees and supervising appraisers. In the months
ahead, the AQB plans to expose requirements for public comment that
would establish such requirements.
According to the HVCC Talkback Survey, TAF has its work cut
out for it. Seventy-three percent of appraisers answer “no” to the
question: “Would you consider taking on trainees in the future?”
(Twenty-seven percent said “yes.”) To the question: “Would more
favorable state/federal regulations make you more inclined to take
on trainees?” – 48 percent answer “yes” and 52 percent say “no.”
TAF recognizes the problem of inconsistent state
enforcement of appraiserviolations and is
creating training and other programs to make enforcement
more consistent country wide. “It harms public trust in
the profession if an infraction results in a suspension
in one state but goes unpunished in another,” said
Brenan. “For enforcement to be taken seriously, it has
to be consistent.”
You are Heard Brenan says appraiser feedback to Exposure Drafts
are heard and can make a big difference- so keep the
comments coming. “Every letter is read and thoroughly
considered,” Brenan said. One recent example is
appraiser pushback to the proposed Communications
Rule in the Third Exposure Draft of 2012-13 USPAP,
he said, that resulted in the Appraisal Standards Board
shelving the proposed change- at least for now.
David
Brauner Insurance Services/ OREP/Working RE Magazine
David
Brauner Calif. Insurance License: 0C89873
(story continues)
Keynote: Fed Disconnect? In the keynote, Alfred Pollard, General Counsel of
the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA)- the agency
overseeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in Receivership,
said that the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) was
a success and that things shouldn’t change too much at
Fannie/Freddie as a result of the Code’s termination
under Dodd-Frank. A few weeks later, the Fannie Mae
Selling Guide (Oct. 15, 2010) came out to prove his
point. You can find the document at WorkingRE.com;
Sidebar: Fannie Mae Oct. 2010 Selling Guide.
Pollard said appraisal quality has improved since HVCC
(because Fannie and Freddie say so) and pressure is down
as hoped. He also said that HVCC is not the root of
appraiser complaints regarding AMCs and their loss of
business: AMCs have been around for years, he said, and
the hard times for appraisers are a function of the
troubled economy not AMCs. But these views are in stark
contrast to what appraisers say. According to the
HVCC Talkback Survey, One Year On, with over 3000
responses, 86 percent say
their appraisal-related income has declined since the
HVCC was implemented in May 2009; 81 percent attribute
the decline “mostly to HVCC.” Thirty-nine
percent of survey takers say they “feel pressure from an
AMC to make a deal work” (33 percent say they
sometimes feel pressure and six
percent say they feel it
always/often). Only 41 percent agree that
they “are experiencing less pressure today to alter
appraisal reports, for any reason, than they did before
HVCC was implemented.” According to the survey,
61 percent say appraisal
quality in general is worse since HVCC, not better.
Pollard also said the role of appraisers is elevated
today due to the financial crisis: lenders “want the
data.” Other “hot button” topics in Washington he says
are fraud, green lending/appraising, and rental-related
issues- the thought being, that perhaps too much
emphasis has been placed on home ownership in the past.
About the Author
David Brauner is Editor of
Working RE magazine and Senior Broker at OREP.org, a
leading provider of E&O Insurance for appraisers,
inspectors and other real estate professionals in 49
states (OREP.org). He has covered the appraisal
profession for over 19 years. He can be contacted at
dbrauner@orep.org
or (888) 347-5273. Calif. Insurance Lic. #0C89873.
