KnowYourPro

I could go on all day about assessments. Around here they tend to be lower than actual values, unless you have a newer home and the assessment is probably closer to actual values. In MA, they reassess every three years so that complicates things. Buyers obsess over taxes but I would say that while assessment in my town might be the same as in the town north of me, their tax rate is much higher. I always tell people not to look at the assessments or tax rates. Better to see what the taxes are on a similar sized home in different communities. Also should see if the city/towns have had overrides which are voter approved tax increases. Some towns have them almost annually. Those are not towns I would be wanting to live in for the long haul.

Fees are what they are. I don't mind ordering through the AMC. What I do mind is the 5 day rule for reviewing an appraisal that the AMC ordered. The lenders must love this. Who can get by with just a 30 day lock? Even if we had 24 hour turn times, it's nearly impossible.

Bottom line: Lender makes more on the lock period. Lender makes money from a new profit center, their AMC. Borrower pays more for appraisal & unjustified appraisal reviews. Apprasier makes less. We make the same with more effort. Good deal all the way around, isn't it?

After speaking with a few bank reps, they dislike the HVCC more then I do. I didn't think it was possible. I hear many appraisers are replying with "data not available" when asked for simple appraisal condition's because they are not happy with the new amount of money they are receiving. How long before this little experiment gone bad ends?

Recently I had an appraiser call me directly after I sent in a rebuttal on an appraisal he wrote up. He was bitter. After a 20 minute conversation and pointing out that he missed a perfect comparable match a block away and one of the bathrooms in the actual home, he said "okay, what value do you need to make this happen?" I did not reply to that question directly, but I did laugh Another interesting note is; he said he may have subconsciously adjusted the value down because the kitchen sink was full of dirty dishes

Jeepers Paul. I suppose he puts a bad apprasial out every 28 days.

Frank and Brian are in New York presenting the HVCC Petition to Cuomo's office right now (117,394 individually printed petition signature pages). Be sure to stay tuned in to the TBWS Daily for the latest updates directly from New York. Mark Savitt from NAMB is with them and it looks like they already have Fox News and CNBC covering our collective efforts to get rid of HVCC once and for all. The three of them are making it clear to everyone that this is not the end of battle, but just the beginning, and we will not abandon this petition or our efforts to get rid of HVCC until HVCC is Gone! We are quickly moving from a "minor annoyance" to a "major pain in the @$$" for everyone in support of HVCC and we need to put the pressure on more than ever so please keep forwarding the petition site to everyone you know. Everyone that has anything to do with the real estate industry has an obligation to join us in our effort to make their lives and industry better. We are ramping up our efforts in a big way right now and we plead with you to do the same.

Thanks so much for your continued support!


HVCC PETITION SUMMARY (HVCCPETITION.COM)

117,394 signatures collected and printed as of 11-16-2009
97,234 of the signatures are confirmed as valid unique petition signers
The 20,160 non-verified signatures collected were not counted in the formal total but were included in the printing for the following reasons.

1. A large percentage of them are believed to be valid but some information was missing.
2. Though thousands of them appeared to be duplicate signatures they contained new horror stories of HVCC victims. Many Real Estate professionals appeared to be trying to submit fresh stories of how their most recent clients were directly harmed by HVCC. We felt those stories were relevant and worth including, especially since the new victims listed could be contacted through the signer listed.
3. A few of the duplicates appeared to be a previous signer attempting to update their signature with formal authorization to pass their information along to the press/media since that feature was added to the petition several weeks after it was launched.

39.6% of the petition signers were mortgage originators
29.8% of the petition signers were real estate professionals
17.4% of the petition signers indicated they worked in some other facet of the industry
The remainder of the petition signers were primarily homeowners or potential home buyers

Jeff what service? None have caused me a "deal" but a lot more time, work and aggravation than in the past for me and more money spent on the initial appraisal by my client and it seems all my files have had to have a drive by or field review costing several hundred dollars more. You would think a lender would be comfortable with an appraiser hired by their AMC, wouldn't you?

Saw that Sherri. Not sure inf Andrew Coumo give a flying eff after the TV cameras leave. Still it feels good that there is some common sentiment out there that this is hurting more than helping. Next up is the new RESPA. I dont care about the new GFE. All the other BS around it will basically stop 30 day transactions and increase closing costs. So how does that benefit consumers? HUD thinks this will save consumers an ave of $700 per transaction. Not sure how. No one is allowed to up charge third party fees. Pay for brokers is disclosed. what figging more is needed?

I wouldn't mind seeing the HVCC gone... Then brokers can order appraisals from whomever they want, even the good AMCs.

Just finished 7 days of cleaning up another HVCC mess. Reports comes in with a $5,000 positive value adjustment for a workshop/cottage in the properties backyard. Appraiser failed to take any pictures which of course the bank wanted. I submit the request through the AMC and a day later they call me and say the appraiser is requesting $75 to revisit the property. I explain to the AMC what happened and that the appraiser should not be receiving more money. It really irks me when someone complains about having to do more work when they are simply cleaning up their own mess. Had he done it right the first time, a revisit would not be necessary. Appraiser ends up getting paid and when the report comes in, the interior of the cottage was in rough shape so the value had to be adjusted down. As with all HVCC appraisals the most annoying part was everything had to be delt with through the AMC. No direct contact and people in the middle who weren't qualified to get my point across. After all, the AMC are the ones who let the original appraisal get to me without noticing the missing pictures. HVCC cost this borrower an additional couple hundred dollars in appraisal fees compared to the past, a week in underwriting which should have only been a day forcing us to miss our purchase closing date and now we are scrambling to close in the middle of the hectic holiday's. HVCC can not be gone fast enough!

Not HVCC related but more a CYA by the DE UW on an FHA purchase. The UW asked for a second appraisal. So they order one and it comes back higher than the original appraisal. There are some minor issues that are not matching up so the UW calls the appraisers to see if they can change some fields. It comes down to an 80 square foot difference on the back deck. Neither appraiser is willing to change their measurement, so they both have to go back and measure the deck. This has delayed closing one week on a purchase loan.

How can you be 80 square feet off on a deck? One of them would not do well on "Are you smarter than a 5th Grader"

maybe it was 8?

Oh that Andy Cuomo is a peice of work I know that for sure

I saw a show on TV that said that appraisers were messing up the housing market on purpose, cause they get paid crap now compared to before the new laws. Is that true?