We expect you to be truthful, honest, and realistic. The company was founded by and is run by appraisers and we know all the tricks as well as how long things take and can very easily tell what type of appraiser you are and the amount of work put into an appraisal. Do the best you can and perform to the best of your ability at all times as we review your appraisals often. 

We expect accurate reliable appraisals that are neither aggressive nor conservative. All of our appraisals are reviewed by a trained appraiser who is licensed or certified and we will ensure appraisal quality is in line with the clients expectations for service. 

Fannie Mae Appraisal Requirements: 

All appraisals are required to meet the new Fannie Mae appraisal requirements that went into effect Sept 1,2010 New Requirements: 

Inclusion of Interior Photographs in the Appraisal Report 

When completing an appraisal requiring an interior inspection, interior photographs of specific rooms and areas must be included in the report. Photographs must be clear, descriptive, original images from photographs or electronic images, copies of photographs from a MLS, or copies of photographs from the appraiser’s files. 

Required photographs include :
- The kitchen
- All bathrooms
- The main living area
- Evidence of any physical. Deterioration, if present
- Evidence of any recent updates, remodeling, renovations, etc, if present

Sources of Comparable Market Data:
Data or verification source(s) used by the appraiser must be disclosed on the appraisal report. Single or multiple sources for data and verifications are acceptable provided the appraiser verifies the comparable sales. The appraiser is required to state the specific data source(s) used and must refrain from using broad categories such as " public records." Regardless of the data source (s) used, there must be sufficient information available from the data to determine 

Condition of the property, existence of financing concessions, physical characteristics of the subject property and comparable sales, and determination if it was an arm’s length transaction. Many times public records do not provide this degree of information; therefore, the appraiser would need to obtain the required data elsewhere. 

When comparable sales data is provided by parties that have a financial interest in either the sale or financing of the subject property, the appraiser must verify the data with a party that does not have a financial interest in the subject transaction. Please remember this requirement when obtaining data from builders and/or sales agents.  

Selection of Comparable Sales When Appraising New Construction:

When appraising new construction, the appraiser may need to rely solely on the builder of the property to provide comparable sales data as this data may not yet be available through typical data sources. In this case, it is acceptable for the appraiser to verify the transaction of the comparable sale by analyzing a copy of the HUD-1 Settlement Statement from the builder. The appraiser should confirm the sales date and price and if any sales concessions are present. The appraiser still has the responsibility to determine the upgrades and level of finish to the property and how they attribute to value. 

When appraising new construction it is  required that at least one comparable sale be selected from the subject’ s subdivision or project, and one comparable sale must be selected from outside the subject subdivision or project (outside the developer/builders control).   The third comparable sale may be selected from either inside or outside the subject’s subdivision or project. As a reminder, use of comparable sales that are more than 6 months old require an explanation as to why more recent sales were not available. 

Clarification for Completion of the Market Conditions Addendum the Appraisal Report (Form 1004MC) For consistency, and to provide the most accurate depiction of the " Months of Housing Supply" as of the effective date of the appraisal, when completing the analysis for the " Total # of Comparable Sales Active Listings" the data should be based on a specific point in time. When completing the " Current – 3 Months" column for " Total # of Comparable Active Listings", the number should reflect the listings on the most recent day in the 3-month period (which is also the effective date of the appraisal), and not the cumulative number of listings for the entire 3-month period. Using a cumulative number of listings for the 3 month period may result in an artificially high number for " Months of Housing Supply". 

When completing the " Months of Housing Supply", the number for the " Total # of Comparable Active Listings" is divided by the absorption rate, which provides an accurate depiction of the existing housing stock as of the effective date of the appraisal. 

When completing the analysis for the previous time periods, such as " Prior 4-6 Months" and " Prior 7-12 Months", the " Total # of Comparable Active Listings" should be based on the most recent day in each of those time periods. 

As an example, if the effective date of the appraisal is 8/21 /10: The data used to complete the " Current – 3 Months" column for " Total # of Comparable Active Listings" should be what is available on 8/21/10. 

The data for the " Prior 4-6 Months" column should be what is available on 5/21/10. The data for the " Prior 7-12 Months" column should be what is available on 2/21/10.