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One of our appraisers just got an addendum request for an appraisal we recently delivered to an appraisal management company. If you know my history, relax, it’s an AMC that accepts our reasonable fee and turnaround times rather accepting the typical AMC terms dictated to most appraisers (we won’t work for that type of AMC). But as reasonable as this AMC is to deal with, we do receive maddening addenda requests (asking the appraiser for written clarifications on the report originally submitted).

Here’s the latest:

Reporting discrepancies noted regarding subjects site size (pg 1, addendum comments, survey). Appraisers to comment and revise as appropriate, including applicable site adjustments.

Translation: we needed to reconcile the following:

– Lot size per town records (and used in our report): 0.365 acres or 15,529 square feet.
– Lot size per survey: 0.3655 acres or 15,530 square feet.

That’s a 1 foot difference in the amount of land under the house or a 0.006439565% difference in the amount of land reported in public record and the survey (aside from the fact that the town drops the 4th digit from the acreage measurement in their public record listing).

As a result of using public record for the acreage information, we got dinged on our “appraiser rating” which impacts our volume flow (appraisal requests from a client)

This is just the tip of the iceberg as to the types of addendum requests we receive. Curiously, we NEVER receive requests questioning the value or how we arrived at it – the questions are always clerical minutia, reflecting the 19 year clerk chewing gum who doesn’t really know what an appraisal is.

Sigh.

2 Comments

  1. Cliff Troyansky February 28, 2014 at 4:30 pm

    Box Checkers and Phone Monkeys. This is pretty much the extent that an appraiser has contact with most AMC’s. No personal relationship & no one to talk to about this type of addendum request. Common Sense? What Common Sense?-Double Sigh

  2. Eric Sizemore March 17, 2014 at 10:13 am

    It seems they ( Amc ) do thus to control the amount of work sent, as well as justifying their for the most part existence and value to the system……completely fabricated on most levels…..it is maddening that in my state to become a certified appraiser, it requires a 4 year degree,….then to turn the expertise over to a desk jockey with no experience or to a sweat shop, with no morals…..just is killing the integrity of this profession. And after all is said and done in today’s market that 4 year degree is in most cases making less than minimum wage…..

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