I've been doing this 12 years. I just don't like it any more. It provided very well for me for a time, but now it's time to move on. I'm not going to live my life spending the majority of my time on things I don't enjoy. More later, but the way to get out of this business, without working for somebody else, is at Wealthy Affiliate. Warning, you have to work at it...but if your willing to put in effort, with time things will never be better!

Technorati Tags: appraisal, appraiser, appraising, appraising jobs, frustrated appraiser, real estate appraisal career

Going back to my last post, from before Thanksgiving, I still haven't been paid by the Appraisal Management Company for that same appraisal. That is completely ridiculous. All the more reason to keep working on a career change to take control of my professional and financial future and not leave it in the hands of somebody else. The real estate appraisal business is not a business to be in right now, and with the continuing government intervention in the business, it is not a business to be in for the future.

Appraisers, I implore you, Take Control of your Career Now!

Technorati Tags: AMC fees, appraisal career, career change, frustrated appraiser, new career for appraisers

I really don't get it.

To protect all involved, they create this situation where all appraisals for conventional loans need to be ordered through the appraisal management company. Alright, fine, whatever.

Well, also added is the little nugget that an AMC will not order an appraisal until they have been paid. That is fine with me, having been through the collection wars. In fact, it is a damn fine idea.

Uh oh, but wait. So, the AMC has collected their fee for the appraisal, and now ordered the appraisal from an ACTUAL APPRAISER. Hmmm, so now, I've got to get this report done and back to the AMC, and I mean right now! Not next week. Right Now!

Luckily, I'm a very service oriented individual, and since I've built a reputation locally by providing good service and professional work, I'm able to deliver the appraisal to the AMC in a timely manner. Nicely done, appraiser dude.

The craziest thing happened on the way to the bank, though. I don't have a damn check! I completed the report five weeks ago, the loan closed two weeks ago, the borrower paid for the appraisal 7 weeks ago, and I, the ACTUAL APPRAISER, have still not been paid.

This is all really, really screwed up.

I'm out. I've got to create a new life for myself, and I mean NOW!

Technorati Tags: AMC fees, appraisal fees, appraisal payment, frustrated appraiser

So, like I wrote last week, I was contacted by a loan officer at the bank for not only an additional comparable in an appraisal for an Aframe home, but also to remove the active listing that I had included. Well, I included that listing given the lack of sales and because it was in the SAME NEIGHBORHOOD. So, here is what I wrote in the appraisal that I forwarded back to the bank...

"The appraiser was contacted by the loan officer and asked to provide additional A frame comparables and to remove the active listing that has been originally included in this appraisal report. The appraiser has added two closed sales of similarly designed A frame homes, one a lakefront property on a superior site, and the other a dated sale of a similar property.

The current listing is not being removed from the appraisal. For properties with a unique design, a current and active listing from the immediate neighborhood is a very strong indicator of market appeal for these types of homes. Given the lack of similar A frame homes that have closed in the subject neighborhood, it is this appraiser's opinion that the active listing in this appraisal is a key component of the overall value opinion. The inclusion of the listing does not indicate that this is a "soft" market or that there are any market concerns at all, it is merely included to provided, as noted, the underwriter and any subsequent users of this appraisal report with an understanding of alternatives and marketability in the immediate subject neighborhood as of the effective date of the appraisal. It is also noted that the current listing is in comparable position number 5, and is not among the primary value indicators considered in the final value opinion."

I just had to include the part that I was contacted by the loan officer. Isn't that a violation of HVCC? They say this is a secondary market loan. Who knows. Anyway, I hope this clears this issue up.

Technorati Tags: appraising aframe homes, frustrated appraiser, listing in appraisal

Personally, I'm frustrated and pissed off with the appraisal profession.  I've hated it for years, but now we've all kind of rolled over and let big brother give it to us.  Sorry for the kind of graphic reference, but that's the way I feel.  And I'm not passing blame, I've been just as guilty as everybody else.

Regardless of fault, I've found a new career for the talented appraisers out there in internets (that's intentional!) world.  It brings out all the best qualities of an appraiser...the analytical side, the creative side, and  by gawd the capitalist side.

What is that new career for an appraiser you ask?  The broad answer is web entrepreneur.  The more specific answer, and the quickest way to replace your appraisal income, is by learning the ways of the affiliate marketer.  What is an affiliate marketer?  Well, in the internet world it is someone who promotes a product on the internet, whether through email, a website, or even, like I'm doing right now, on a blog, and gets folks to click on their links, like this one right

here

Go ahead, click it and check it out.  I'll keep venting about the idiots in the appraisal world, and the way out for you and yours.

I saw a quote today that really kind of, well, hit me.  It was from a link from a comment on this site....

"Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it.  Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.  Begin it now. - Goethe

That is damn straight.  If  you think you can, by gawd, do it, because your right!

Technorati Tags: frustrated appraiser, new career for appraiser, new career for appraisers

Ok so 3 more posts today that I've dug up - I'm an information JUNKIE on this stuff lately. Give em a browse and let me know what ya reckon. They're just from a few different sites I've been surfing lately that are generally good for information like this...

Appraisals kill deals | Miamism

In today's market, appraisals are coming in artificially low. We see sellers today pulling their properties Read the rest of this entry

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Review appraisal after an appraisal.?

My mortgage process is hell. They are constantly giving me a 'to do list' for documents that I have know earthly clue what they are and only my agent can access. And I feel like it is impossible to get my loan officer to contact my agent!! What is a review appraisal? Is it really necessary? Do have to pay for it as well? Why is my mortgage company SO SLOW?? Read the rest of this entry

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Back with more news for you today. It's amazing how much good information there is on this stuff out there if you know where to look. Three in particular that I found really valuable were...

Short Sales Are About to Increase

Short sales have developed a bad reputation as frustrated buyers have had limited success. We'll see if the Treasury can change this, but we are skeptical. ...  Read More... Read the rest of this entry

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I hope you've been enjoying my posts lately. I thought I might do something different today and rustle up a few bits of info from around the WWW. These are some of the news items and blog posts that have been popular over the last few weeks. Leave me your thoughts.

A Look into the Future of the Appraisal Profession | Institute of ...

In today's litigious business environment, stakeholders in the Read the rest of this entry

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Ok so you might find the next few links interesting. These are from around the web, just random snippets that I've picked up in my reading, but I found some very cool information in them. You might too. Here goes...

Reverse mortgages proving a boon for the elderly

The amount of the loan is a percentage of the home's value — determined by an FHA appraiser but capped at $625000 — that depends Read the rest of this entry

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