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Tips on Selecting The Best Real Estate Appraisers

You will get the following in this e-guide
1. You will know what to ask your prospective AMC and understand the true meaning of true coverage.
2. You will learn more about the compliance points in AMC
3. You will also understand what questions to ask regarding top vendors and their fees
4. You will understand the nitty-gritty’s of quality control and review process in AMC’s
5. This guide will also equip you with questions you could ask regarding the management of the panel.

We feel that it is our duty to advise and be a go-to resource as a trusted AMC among the numerous mortgage professionals and appraisers operating independently all over the country. Consulting with us will give you all the tools you need to make the best decision for your organization. If you get our guide today you will be able to plan the future of your company in a much better way tomorrow.

Top 10 Ways to get the most out of your Appraisal

We have researched a lot to give you the 10 most comprehensive ways to get the most out of your appraisal. This is in hopes that this information will prove to be useful to you. This should help your borrowers have a pleasant loan experience.

1. If you have items at your home which need to be fixed then you should get them fixed. When the appraiser arrives he will want to check everything. He will assess the value of every little object and damaged goods could prove to be a detriment. Therefore it is ideal to get this fixed before the appraiser shows up. Chipping paint and tiles, flaws in the structure considering both indoor and outdoor spaces and plumbing errors could go down as disadvantages.

2. Maintain a list of things which you want to get upgraded. This list can be given to the residential appraiser along with the recent changes you have made to the house and property. This list will be verified by the appraiser and make adjustments wherever necessary.

3. You should understand the value of each item on your property. This is because the residential appraiser will only take into consideration the permanent fixtures at your home. This includes in-ground pools, and appliances which are built into the kitchen. Things which can be removed will not be taken into account. You should also know that basements are not taken into consideration when evaluating square footage. He will also check the basement and make upgrades which will exponentially increase the value of the property, but will never be included in the square footage. The count of bedrooms in the place is also a huge evaluation for real estate appraisal. This will be verified with thoroughness. Ideally every bedroom should have at least one window and one closet. It is not a good idea t merge dens with bedrooms or merge two bedrooms together. This shouldn’t be done unless the house has four bedrooms already.

4. If you have furnaces and air-conditioning units make sure they are in excellent working condition as they’ll be checked thoroughly by the best real estate appraiser.

5. If you are in the middle of renovating your home it is advised to get through with it before the appraisal starts. If they turn up in the middle of the renovation, they can also turn up at the end of the project. This will tax the travel expenses of the appraiser. This will be a detriment. The lender would like to have a finished report commending how professional the renovation project has been.

6. The outside of the house needs to be spic-and-span. The appraiser will take photographs of the front, back and the sides of the house. Therefore it is best to keep the exterior clean. Do not leave ladders, lawn ornaments or supplies of renovation materials lying around. Make sure that the exterior does not have peeling paint, either on the porch or the soffits. This will make an additional inspection if you want an FHA loan. This will need more time, resources and effort than usual.

7. Your house should maintain all the health codes. The appraiser will for sure check all GFI outlets in and around 6 feet of every water source. You should inspect your kitchen and bathroom pretty thoroughly for this.

8. If you have an attic or crawling space you need to make sure that it can be accessible for inspection. If it’s not then the lender will send the appraiser back to assess the property and cause you to spend more money.

9. Always add square footage. This holds true for those who wish to enclose the porch into the square footage area. This means that you will have to add the heating and cooling arrangements for that area. This will add to the value of the property. If you do not include the heating or cooling solutions you will not be able to include that area in the square footage.

10. The exterior appeal of the house is very significant. This holds true mostly for people who cover brick with sliding. This diminishes the value of your home since brick is considered to be more expensive than sliding.

Appraisal Management Company Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What is an appraisal management company?
An appraisal management company is a company that is put together in order to oversee and assist any number of professional appraisers who are licensed and certified. They do all of the administrative work as far as the tracking, ordering, and delivering of any appraisals for mortgage transaction that are ordered by either a bank or broker
What is the job of an appraiser?
The sole responsibility of an appraiser that is certified by the state is to come into a mortgage transaction as an independent third party in order to give an estimation of the value of the property. This value is based on several different factors including amenities, location, and other sales that have taken place for properties that are similar in the vicinity.
The appraiser has to do an inspection of the property, and this includes a walk-through which will give them a idea of the condition the property is in, and will allow them to list any of the amenities that can affect the value either positively or negatively. It’s not uncommon for an operator to take along a camera so that they can photograph the property, and also a sketch pad so that they can draw out the properties general layout. It’s also the job of the appraiser to notify the sender of any code violations or health hazards that are present which need be addressed before any loans can be made on the property.
Is it the job of the lender to select the appraiser?
The majority of lenders who offer loans for homes are going to require that an appraisal be made in order to have a clear view of the value of the property before they actually supply a loan for it. This is because the property is actually the collateral to back the loan, so they are never going to agree to lend more money than the property is actually worth.
In most cases the lender is going to order the appraisal of the property and you will be allowed to see and go over it. It’s important to keep in mind the fact that it is illegal for a lender or mortgage broker to “up charge” for any service from a third-party.
What’s the general cost of the mortgage appraisal?
The majority of appraisals will run between 350 and $600 depending on the property value and size of it. You also need to know that the lender will be charging you for the cost of the appraisal, and that it’s going to vary depending on the type of appraisal, the region, and how much work it actually takes to complete the appraisal to the satisfaction of the lender.
Typically you can get a drive-by appraisal in order to provide updates for a report that has already been completed for less than $275, but this is not something that a lender is going to accept for the approval of an original mortgage loan.
Who is responsible for the cost of the property appraisal?
In most cases it’s usually the borrower.
Do I need another appraisal if I am refinancing?
This is all going to depend on how long it’s been since the property has been appraised prior to the refinancing request. It is been appraised within a three-year time period, it’s likely that you’ll be able to order one of the drive-by appraisals so that they can use it as an addendum to the original appraisal for the property.
How long does a mortgage appraisal typically take?
Most commonly it will take between three and seven days for an appraisal to be completed.
Is it possible for an appraisal to double as a home inspection?
The answer to this question is no. When you get an inspection, it’s normally done by a licensed home inspector or a contractor. These people come into the home and evaluate the structure of the building as well as all of the mechanical elements, including the air conditioning, plumbing, and heating. It will be a full inspection from the foundation to the roof of the structure.

The only thing the appraiser is really going to be interested in is what type of amenities the property has, what the exterior of the property looks like, and what other properties that are comparable in the neighborhood have sold for recently. All they really care about are aspects that are going to affect the value of the property.
What is an independent appraisal?
An independent appraisal is an estimate of the value of any given property by an individual that has no personal interest in the property whatsoever. The individual who does an independent appraisal will not have any stock into whether the property is valued high or low.

If you have any other questions, feel free to call our toll-free number at 1-970-214-7401.

New AVM requirements by Dodd-Frank

So what are these regulations?
FIRREA Title XI was amended by Section 1473(q) of Dodd-Frank adding a new section 1125. 1125 of the FIRREA makes the requirement for the FHFA, the OCC, the CFPB, and the NCUA, while in consultation with the ASC (Federal Appraisal Subcommittee); an FFIEC subcommittee, and the ASB (appraisal standards board), who gained notoriety for their part in USPAP, to draft and implement new AVM quality control standards.

What are the regulations going to say?
Dodd-Frank hasn’t came out and told us exactly what these regulations are going to state, and there is truly no way to know until they are actually published, but they have provided the above-mentioned agencies with some guidelines for the rules that they feel need to be addressed. Some of these guidelines include a requirement for reviews and random sampling, protection against manipulation of data, avoiding situations where there would be a conflict of interest, and other issues that the agencies may see fit to address. It’s our expectation that you’ll also see the inclusion of validation requirements along with many concepts that have been borrowed from existing guidelines.

When are the regulations supposed to go into effect?
The date given by Dodd-Frank for the publication of these regs is 1/2013, and since they have to be implemented within a year after publishing, it’s our expectation that all of them will be in place before the end of the year 2013.

Who and what transactions are going to be effected by these new AVM regulations?
When it comes to the new section 1125 of FIRREA and its purposes, Dodd-Frank provides the definition of an AVM as being “[A]ny computerized model used by mortgage originators and secondary market issuers to determine the collateral worth of a mortgage secured by a consumer’s principal dwelling.”

Who’s going to be responsible for enforcing these AVM regulations?
For any entity that is a regulated financial institution, such as a bank, all of these AVM regs are going to be enforced by their current federal regulator. When it comes to other entities that aren’t regulated by the federal government, and who participate within the market, the burden of the enforcement will be placed upon the Atty. Gen. of the state, the FTC, and the CFPB.
If you have any other questions, feel free to call our toll-free number at 1-970-214-7401.

Credit Union and Appraisal Management Companies

If you’ve gone through any of the current AVM regulations and requirements for validation in the revised interagency appraisal and valuation guidelines, and you are still at a loss as to what’s really going on with it, your head might start spinning even faster when you find out that there are even more of these regulations related to AVM forthcoming. Yep it’s true, and these are going to
be more broadly targeted towards residential mortgage loans that slipped through the cracks on the other interagency guidelines.
So what are these regulations?
FIRREA Title XI was amended by Section 1473(q) of Dodd-Frank adding a new section 1125. 1125 of the FIRREA makes the requirement for the FHFA, the OCC, the CFPB, and the NCUA, while in consultation with the ASC (Federal Appraisal Subcommittee); an FFIEC subcommittee, and the ASB (appraisal standards board), who gained notoriety for their part in USPAP, to draft and implement new AVM quality control standards.
What are the regulations going to say?
Dodd-Frank hasn’t came out and told us exactly what these regulations are going to state, and there is truly no way to know until they are actually published, but they have provided the above-mentioned agencies with some guidelines for the rules that they feel need to be addressed. Some of these guidelines include a requirement for reviews and random sampling, protection against manipulation of data, avoiding situations where there would be a conflict of interest, and other issues that the agencies may see fit to address. It’s our expectation that you’ll also see the inclusion of validation requirements along with many concepts that have been borrowed from existing guidelines.
When are the regulations supposed to go into effect?
The date given by Dodd-Frank for the publication of these regs is 1/2013, and since they have to be implemented within a year after publishing, it’s our expectation that all of them will be in place before the end of the year 2013.
Who and what transactions are going to be effected by these new AVM regulations?
When it comes to the new section 1125 of FIRREA and its purposes, Dodd-Frank provides the definition of an AVM as being “[A]ny computerized model used by mortgage originators and secondary market issuers to determine the collateral worth of a mortgage secured by a consumer’s principal dwelling.”

We really don’t have any idea yet which of the AVM transactions are going to be directly affected by these new regulations yet, as all of that is going to be detailed in the actual regs when they are published, but we know the main point of them is going to focus on AVMs which are used by loan originators, and issuers of secondary mortgages when they are secured by the individuals primary residence.
Who’s going to be responsible for enforcing these AVM regulations?
For any entity that is a regulated financial institution, such as a bank, all of these AVM regs are going to be enforced by their current federal regulator. When it comes to other entities that aren’t regulated by the federal government, and who participate within the market, the burden of the enforcement will be placed upon the Atty. Gen. of the state, the FTC, and the CFPB.

Receives the 2019 Excellence in Customer Service Award

Collateral Management in Fort Lauderdale, FL has won the 2019 Spectrum Award for excellence in customer service and earned a rating of 5 out of 5 stars. This coveted service award was presented to Collateral Management by City Beat News.

The Spectrum Award is given to businesses who have displayed excellence in customer service in their business and industry. To identify top companies City Beat News researches the overall customer satisfaction performance of businesses and business professionals across the US. Our proprietary algorithm distills the information and provides a single unbiased rating for the year.

The Spectrum Award is given to those who earn our highest ratings. Do you want to find out more about the award?

Click here to find out more about The Spectrum Award.

Named to 2017 Inc 5000 with Three-Year Sales Growth of 248 Percent Increase

Collateral Management Named to 2015 Inc. 5000 with Three-Year Sales Growth of 99 Percent Increase
Fort Lauderdale FL – Inc. Magazine announced the inclusion of Collateral Management, a national appraisal management company, in its annual ranking of the 5000 fastest-growing private companies in the country. This is the first year that Collateral Management has entered among the top 5000 companies. The list offers a comprehensive look at the most important segment of the economy – America’s independent-minded entrepreneurs.

“We are honored to be included in the Inc. 5000 and to have climbed so dramatically in the ranks this year,” said Jessica Massad, founder and CEO of Collateral Management. “It is a tribute to our clients, employees and appraisers across the country. As the work/life conversation evolves to better understand and appreciate the value of the mortgage industry, Collateral Management continues to serve as a liaison and ally between lenders, banks, brokers, realtors, attorneys, credit unions and appraisers.”

Collateral Management earned a ranking of 1589 – posting a 248 percent increase in revenue over the past three years. Additionally, the firm earned the Better Business Bureau A+ nationwide complaint free award for 2017.

Complete results of the Inc. 5000, including company profiles and a list of the fastest-growing companies sorted by industry and region can be found at http://www.inc.com/.
About Collateral Management
Collateral Management is a is a nationwide residential and commercial real estate Appraisal Management Company also knows as an AMC that provides valuation services by certified real estate appraisers. Companies of all sizes trust Collateral Management as their go-to appraisal resource for finding the best experienced appraisers. We help these companies leverage our national network of over 20,000 appraisers and traditional assigning methods to find the best high-caliber appraisers for their organizations. We attract, educate and place candidates seeking greater work-life satisfaction. Our approach has been recognized in the news media and awarded on a national level. Follow us on Twitter @collateralmanag, and on Facebook and LinkedIn.
About The Inc. 5000
The Inc. 5000 is a list of the fastest-growing private companies in the nation. The list debuted in 1981 as a ranking of the 100 fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. The following year, it expanded to the Inc. 500 and, in 2007, the Inc. 5000 was inaugurated. As an Inc. 5000 honoree, Collateral Management is ranked among some of the most successful private companies in America.