News By Edition

There has been plenty of talk surrounding the Fannie Mae announcement March 1 relating to updates to its Selling Guide on appraisal modernization and value acceptance.

Valuation Review sat down with veteran appraiser and SingleSource Appraisal Modernization & Quality Control Vice President Matt Stepanovich, who shared his perspectives on the announcement.

Read on for Part I of our conversation with Stepanovich.

Valuation Review traveled to Sacramento, Calif., for a conversation with National Association of Appraisers President Josh Walitt at the 2023 Appraiser’s Conference & Trade Show.

Walitt addressed a few topics including more clarification about the March 1 Fannie Mae announcement and its effect on appraisers.

Read on for the full conversation.

On March 1, Fannie Mae announced the release of its Selling Guide Announcement SEL-2023-02 with significant updates for appraisers, including changes regarding valuation modernization.

Valuation Review spoke with Fannie Mae Single-Family Collateral Policy Senior Director Lyle Radke, who took us through some aspects of this announcement and other hot topics, and what it means for appraisers.

Read on for our exclusive interview with Radke.

Valuation Review sat down with Dan Legner, a senior appraiser and recent inductee into the Illinois Society of Professional Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers hall of fame.

Legner took some time to answer a few questions on farmland appraising and share his thoughts on this honor.

Read on for the full conversation.

Valuation Review spoke with R3 AMC CEO Brent Jones to discuss more details surrounding the company’s launch of Val-Insure.

This insured appraisal program addresses overvaluation and undervaluation inaccuracies as they relate to appraisal bias.

Read on for the full conversation with Jones.

Valuation Review sat down with Precision Equity co-founder and CEO Victor Whitmore who outlined cap rate movement in comparison with increased interest rates.

He said that “rising interest rates can have a small impact on commercial real estate cap rates but generally at a much narrower range.”

Read on for more of what Whitmore told us.

Realquantum reached out to Valuation Review to express thoughts on commercial appraising by sharing the insight from company co-founder and CEO Jeff Weiner.

He takes us through a couple of key themes and recommendations for combating challenges and scaling appraisal firms.

Read on to learn more.

Tavant, a provider of artificial intelligence-powered digital lending solutions for the consumer lending industry, recently announced expanded functionality within its Touchless Lending platform. The expansion includes an integration with PropMix.

The Mortgage Bankers Association recently filed an amicus brief in response to a Statement of Interest filed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Department of Justice examining the liability standard that would apply to lenders for the acts of independent, third-party appraisers.

REdistribute, a Multiple Listing Services (MLS) joint venture that collects and distributes MLS data for institutional use, launched a real estate information database. REdistribute aggregates and distributes data on behalf of participating MLS organizations and their broker participants.  

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) extended COVID-19 forbearance and home equity conversion mortgage (HECM) extension policies through May 31. The extension was issued in anticipation of the Biden-Harris administration ending the public health emergency declaration that defined the pandemic.

The Justice Department is joining interagency partners across the Biden-Harris administration in highlighting the progress made to ensure that every American who buys a home has the same opportunities to build generational wealth through homeownership. In a released statement, the White House shared highlights of what the Interagency Task Force on Property Appraisal and Valuation Equity accomplished over the last year.

ATTOM announced the launch of Property Navigator, a solution offering instant nationwide access with a wide array of search capabilities and detailed property information for residential and commercial properties.

Recently, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published the proposed scoring notice for the National Standards for the Physical Inspection of Real Estate in the Federal Register. This updated scoring notice is a critical step in HUD’s work to improve conditions in HUD-assisted and insured housing.

On May 19, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) will host the Appraisal Subcommittee for its second public hearing on appraisal bias. It will also be live streamed for those who cannot attend in person.