HELP WANTED: REAL ESTATE APPRAISERS

Appraisal Scoop Note: The following "Help Wanted" ad was posted as a comment to this blog.  The original author is unknown.  If anyone knows the original author or source, please let me know in the comment section so credit can be given!  Thanks.

HELP WANTED: REAL ESTATE APPRAISERS

DUTIES: Good phone and computer skills, proficient with the internet. You will be responsible for constant contact with AMCs to update your schedule, accept orders, document any fee increase requests. After the AMC's refusal, you will be responsible for documenting the date of the AMC's decline due to the fee increase, and the date of the AMC's cancellation of the order.

In addition, you will be responsible for scheduling appraisal appointments, updating the AMCs on any changes in appointment dates, do the inspection, write the report, deliver the report, produce billing statements, respond to all AMC quality control requests, and explain that the answers were already addressed in the report, and/or take the time to explain appraisal fundamentals to the AMC reviewer. Keep track of accounts receivables on monies that you are not earning interest on for the duration period from when the money was collected by AMC until received.

In addition to the tasks outlined above, any persons seeking this position are responsible for maintaining, at your own expense and time, payables/receivables accounts, budgeting, reconciliation of bank statements, creating profit and loss statements, maintaining all office services and equipment, such as the phones, utilities, and replacement of equipment; such as computers, printers, measuring devices, desks, cameras, ink, paper. You will also be required to pay all your personal insurances (E & O, medical and dental, etc.) and license costs, all costs from software providers, such as MLS, X-site, public records data services, and all your own vehicle maintenance and/or new vehicle purchase costs.

BONUS PROGRAM: We offer a great bonus program where you will be responsible for consistent solicitation of all the wonderful new business and additional income opportunities/avenues, the new regulations have allowed appraisers to seek. This includes making new contacts with AMCs for additional work, then documenting ALL the reasons why they are not accepting any additional appraisers at this time, and recording the number of months where you did sign-up with an AMC, but have received no work.

Note: Solicitation to any of your prior and new mortgage brokers/real estate agents is strictly prohibited. Any attempt to do so, will result in immediate dismissal. You must be able to bring new creative new ideas to promote additional income.

This will be a challenge, for the above reasons and because the Frank -Dodd Act and the other regulatory policies allowed the banks to hire their own staff appraisers. This section was not defined nor did they restrict it to hiring appraisers for review purposes only. As a result, there is less available appraisal work for independent appraiser.

Note: Allowing the banks to own AMCs and hire appraisers, resulted in the banks being allowed back into the appraisal ordering process. It defied the whole concept of HVCC and took away a huge portion of the independent appraiser's potential income who have be forced to work only with AMCs.

However, this is all it's OK, because the consensus of our elected representatives, who "fine tuned" the Frank-Dodd and other policies, is that the banks are more honest than mortgage brokers and by having staff appraisers doing most of the banks appraisal business keeps all the profits in-house.

Please note, in regard to creative new ideas for addtional income, that robbing a bank for the recovery of all lost income since the implimentation of HVCC, is not a NEW creatve idea. This avenue has already been explored and considered. Research revealed that it is legal for banks to rob appraisers, but an appraiser who robs a bank to get their money back, is not. It results in JAIL TIME. However, most surveys indicated that the free meals, free housing, the idea of having no overhead, and time to relax is very appealing to MOST appraisers these days.

Other noted requirements, conditions, and considerations before you apply:

1. Report turn around time is first priority. High quality appraisals is not.
2. Must be willing to lose your house and all your savings, if not already lost, and all aspirations for retirement. If you are a parent or plan to be a parent, you need not apply, because children just cost too much. 
3. Trainees need not apply, because the AMC system does not promote the growth of the appraisal industy. The banks are waiting for all current appraisers to die out, so they can take over the industry. 
4. Do not expect any fee increases for cost of living or for any increases in your operational costs. The fees are " fixed" and controlled by the AMCs. Only an act of God can change this. Just accept this, for you'll be working too many hours to waste your time in church praying and/or fighting City Hall.
5. Due to the AMC notorious bidding process, expect to see high-end and complex appraisal fees to be lower than a "fixed" survey appraisal fee. This was an issue that the writers of the Frank-Dodd and other regulatory Acts neglected to address, so it's must not be really important.

OFFICE RULES:

• Any reference to being a professional or appraising as a profession, spoken, written or implied will result in immediate termination. It makes the office staff cry, and there really isn't any time to mourn what is dead and gone.
• Since the approval of the Frank-Dodd act and other regulatory policies, any reference or claims that you are a "small services business" will be considered a lie and result in immediate dismissal. You do not have a small service business. A small service business in America, is allowed to set their own prices, control the volume of work, and solicit anyone or any avenue for potential new clients. Appraisers are not allowed to have same rights as other Americans.
• Must be able to work 24/7. Any requests for vacation or holidays will be denied. This is in your best interest, because you really you can't afford them anyway.
• Must be able to ignore all of USPAPs regulations and standards. The AMCs and banks now dictate the rules. They are the "Higher Gods " now. This includes "value" pressure. Although the writers of the Frank -Dodd and other newly adopted regulations/policies feel the AMCs are a great firewall, they all "forgotten" and/or "ignored" the fact that AMCs compete for business, just like the appraiser used to do. If the AMC is not "HITTING" the desired values, they will lose their client base, thus income. This just cannot happen, and is not considered "value pressure" at the AMC level.   Therefore, to assist them, you must agree to change the value on any appraisal to the value the AMC or bank needs, change any subject data they don't like, ignore your selected comparables and use only their "suggested comparables" for the report. It is ok, because these type of "suggestions and AMC/bank required changes" for a appraisal report are not considered "pressure" in the Frank-Dodd Act or Fannie Mae. Failure to do this will result in being blacklisted by the AMCs and immediate termination of this position. Remember since being "FORCED" to work with AMCs, with now minimal avenues for income, getting and continued work from an AMC is MORE important, than a "silly" little push on value or false information per the AMCs requests/suggestions. We feel risking a violation of UPAPs is better avenue vs being blacklisted and losing income the AMC. We understand it is a choice between violating UPAPs vs feeding your families.
• Complaining in any form, written or spoken, within the office area regarding any AMCs failure to follow the established regulations and rules is prohibited. Any written complaint to the established reporting agencies is forbidden. This is for your safety. Although the Frank-Dodd Act and other regulatory policies provided avenues for AMCs and others to report on any fraudulent appraiser behavior, it provided no "safe" avenue for appraisers to do the same. No one bothered to provide protection for an appraiser from AMC repercussions.

Don't let this great opportunity pass you by!

DISCLOSURE: Please note that compensation for your services will be ZERO, and because you have many expenses, your income will be much less than ZERO.