article thumbnail

FHFA takes a swing at racial bias in appraisal

Housing Wire

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is the latest stakeholder to examine how racial bias may creep into property valuations. But when the FHFA hunted for examples of racial bias by keyword searching the free-form commentary section in millions of appraisal reports, it found thousands of references to race and ethnicity.

Appraisal 459
article thumbnail

Will hybrid appraisals become the new normal?

Housing Wire

“The comments we receive will inform how we will modernize appraisals to improve both loan quality and the origination process.”. At the onset of the pandemic in March, the FHFA began easing standards on property appraisals that allowed drive-by and desktop valuations in certain circumstances.

Appraisal 482
Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

The Value of Words in Valuation

Appraisal Buzz

As a minimum basis, a real property appraisal report written for the government sponsored entities (GSEs) and agencies are what USPAP (Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice) refers to as Appraisal Reports. Standard 2 is the specific standard that addresses the reporting of appraisals.

Valuation 360
article thumbnail

The Challenges of Appraising Multifamily Properties

Appraisal Buzz

These properties are not for owner occupancy. Because multifamily homes serve a different purpose than single-family properties, appraisers have yet another factor to consider before presenting a number to the bank. Reproduction refers to how much a replica would cost to build. That’s where possible hurdles can arise.

Appraisal 397
article thumbnail

The New & Improved Fannie Mae “FRAUDULATOR 2.0”

Appraiserblogs

CU-2)i this always dubious product of Fannie Mae is increasingly being referred to by some, if not many American Appraisers as The Fraudulator / Underwriter 2.0 (FU-2). Dear representative, waiving/eliminating property appraisal for lending purposes is wanton recklessness.

Valuation 140
article thumbnail

From Forms to Reports: A Look at the UAD Overhaul

Appraisal Buzz

The new data set is all encompassing for every property type (residential) that were traditionally divided into 12 separate forms. The appraiser will be led through a process, defined by the scope of work. This scope of work is determined by the type of property and the characteristics of the property.

Appraisal 397
article thumbnail

Progress now or perfect later: Improving the appraisal process

Housing Wire

I hear these phrases quite often when it comes to product and software development, but I think they apply very well to solving complex problems like transforming the property appraisal process to work better for every stakeholder. And we absolutely should not compromise on that end result.