Jessica Burke of the Daily Business Review has interviewed Florida Real Estate Appraisal Board chairman Frank Gregoire and appraisers about the toll on residential appraisal businesses due to the plummeting home resale market and decline in refinancings.
With the sales downturn, South Florida appraisers must expand their search criteria for comparables sales and spend more time explaining their conclusions. Some are taking on other types of appraisal work to stay afloat.
“There are a lot of appraisers sucking wind,” said Florida Real Estate Appraisal Board chairman Frank Gregoire.
"Some appraisers around the state who once worked 10 to 12 assignments a week are now down to one or two, he said. South Florida appraisers are not immune."
One of the more interesting topics in the article came at the very end:
Now all of the big lenders hire management companies, which separate them from the appraisers. But management companies have their own tactics.
LSI, the management company for Bank of America, sent memos to South Florida appraisers suggesting they lower their fees, local appraisers said.
An e-mail obtained by the Daily Business Review from Damon Zeigler, LSI’s vice president of supplier management, wanted appraisers to be aware of the lowest fees in their areas, in case they were interested in bringing their appraisal fees “down to be more competitive with the lowest Tier 1 appraiser.”
Zeigler could not be reached for comment before deadline.
The e-mail lists the lowest appraiser fees paid by LSI as $215 in Broward, $155 in Miami-Dade and $175 in Palm Beach counties.
The average price for a single-family appraisal is about $350, and Lindsey knows some appraisers “freaked out” after seeing the memos.
“I think only the most inexperienced appraisers would take a fee like that,” he said. “We might as well be working at McDonald’s.”
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