can a "conservative" appraiser stay in business?

[sniglet]

Does anyone have any thoughts as to whether it is even possible for "conservative" appraisers to stay in business? Which loan-officer or mortgage broker would want to work with an appraiser who always produced reports on the more pessimistic side? It would be harder to close deals when dealing with such conservative value assessments.

On the other hand, an appraiser who was more "optimistic" in their analyses would hit higher values, on average, making it easier finance and close those deals.

There seems to be a lot of grey area between outright fraud and giving rosy, or gloomy, appraisal values. I just wonder if it is even possible for someone on the more pessimistic side of things to stay employed in this profession?

[SeattleMoose]

Hi, this is Barney Aldridge from Benchmark Lending. Take out a loan from us and we'll even pay to have your house appraised (using OUR bought and paid for appraiser....who always "hits the mark").

Oh yea, and we're "nice people too".....

Puke!!!!

[jillayne]

Hi Seattle Moose,

As part of the settlement agreement in the New York/Andrew Cuomo case, (recall: WaMu, and firstam's e-appraise-it collusion) as of January 1st, mortgage brokers/LOs will no longer be able to order appraisals. The appraisal must be ordered by the lender.

However, industry trade groups are heavily opposing the settlement. We'll have to wait and see.

As far as sniglet's question, I get a fair amount of appraisers who wander through my classroom as students and here's the word on the street right now: The appraisers whose values have held up, and who did not succumb to pressure from loan originators are actually going to do just fine.

Right now the highly ethical appraisers with low default rates (lenders have the ability to track this as part of their systems that monitor mortgage fraud) are being sought out by the loan originators who need appraisers that the lenders will trust.

On the flip side, when the bubble was rising, these same appraisers with higher moral standards may or may not have been able to make tons of cash because they were turning down the a-holes who were piling on the pressure to meet values.

When I was a full time mortgage loan underwriter (FHA, VA, Conventional) we loved conservative appraisers. Right now, loan processors and loan originators must be able to work WITH their underwriters.