u/domalu4U

I received an appraisal assignment directly from a lender and rolled my eyes as soon as I looked up the listing. The listing agent has always been unpleasant to deal with and I don't think he is a very good agent. This year, I have appraised three properties he was involved with that had a higher contract price than my opinion of value. He went through Tidewater on one but did not request a ROV on either of the others. His contracts are always pushing the limits but anyone familiar with looking at market data could quickly see the problem with these contract prices.

I tried to schedule the inspection through the mls and the request was denied with no explanation. The next day I sent him a text asking for clarification but received no response. The next day the lender reassigned the report. The listing agent says they were told I had a conflict of interest. Someone else close to the deal told me the listing agent was threatening to have his sellers cancel the deal unless the lender used a different appraiser.

I know this violates appraiser indolence regulations, but I don't think a realtor is bound by Reg Z. Are they violating realtor code of ethics? I'm not sure who I need to bring this up with.

I work in a Midwest market where my hometown is smallish and surrounded by lots of rural areas and smaller towns, plus a city of about 100K. I typically see a couple deals not appraise every year, a few more after staring VA work early last year. I'm having a very strange run of about two years' worth of deals not appraising just in the last two months.

It's never an "oh, well" situation for me. I always go back and look closely to make sure my comps and adjustments are what I believe to be the most reasonable comparable sale. Sometimes spending a couple hours digging and tweaking to try and figure out what the value the buyer was seeing.

It isn't just one market or common thread that I can find with this. Each time I've gone back and looked to see what homes are selling at the contract price and they are clearly superior in features. I'm not seeing a shortage of listings like I did in Covid years and these areas don't make sense that they would suddenly have high demand, although values have been flat for a couple of years.

Is there a national trend that is pushing this? People spooked by rates, inflation or war doesn't seem to make sense.

I am looking to relocate in the next 2 - 5 years once my kids are in college. I work in real estate (not a Realtor) running a firm that could quickly be set up in a new community. I prefer a left leaning or progressive community.

• Growing community with sustainable, pragmatic approaches to challenges
• Active/outdoor type people
• Within 2 hours of a large airport
• Strong (or growing) art scene
• Preference for older/historic downtowns and buildings
• Not a tourist based economy
• Trees and greenspace
• Close to quality hiking, camping

Places I've spent time that feel like home

• Brooklyn
• Portland, OR
• SF bay area
• Mountain town in Colorado (Buena Vista, Leadville, Salida, etc.)
• Kansas City
• Binghampton, NY

Places I've spent time that don't feel like home

• Florida
• Seattle
• SoCal
• Philladelphia

I can't grasp the incompetence of these AMCs sometimes. AAA AMC spent weeks battling me on wanting me to use a mailing address instead of the address assigned by the county. It is a rural property on acreage that is being divided to separate the two SFR currently on the same parcel. I finally changed the address to use the mailing address and added a paragraph explaining why it wasn't a real address.

A few hours later I started getting revision requests for the paragraph because they can't comprehend the simple difference between an assigned address and a mailing address someone made up. Once I finally got someone competent to read the report, they asked me to change the address back to the original one I used.

The next day I got another revision request asking me to do the same for the 1004D report. There is no 1004D, they never ordered one.

I cannot find a clear answer on this: VA appraisers, are you still requiring exterior paint repairs on homes built after 1978 or is that now exclusively considered a cosmetic repair? It seems like that is what is being said but I personally disagree with calling exterior paint only cosmetic when exposed wood deteriorates quickly.

I'm a solo CRA using one of the more known vendors but not feeling like they're keeping up with the industry changes.

I would like to start hiring staff but don't want to train on multiple systems. Anything that slows you down or you appreciate about the system you're using now?

I need the most inexpensive residence in KC as close as I can find to Corporate Woods. I'm a single dad with custody, but I have a consulting business that has been merging into KC. I need to spend enough time there that it makes more sense to have a small place to stay unpacked to make it easier to shuffle up and down I-35 between my main thing and my work.