Reports from NAR

In my ever increasing attempts at getting updates and information posted before I forget, I finally asked for help. In getting to all of the critical meetings I had to enlist Burton Lee as a fellow attendee. He went to the key appraisal meetings in San Diego while I attended the education meetings. Worked great, but his reports are better than mine. We’ll start with his and then close with my report from the Professional Development meeting.

NAR National Conference – HVCC Session – November 13, 2009

A panel discussion that included FHFA, FHA, Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, and LSI (an appraisal management company) left the audience with a clear understanding that they like the HVCC. The perception is that complaints about pressure on appraisers has been reduced and the overall level of risk associated with faulty appraisals has been reduced.

NAR representatives from the Risk Management & license Law Forum and the Appraisal Committee highlighted the unintended consequences of the HVCC which include,

1. Lack of geographic competency associated with some AMC ordered appraisals, and
2. Appraisers fee reductions which have resulted in the more competent appraisers being unwilling to perform appraisals for AMC’s leaving the less experienced appraisers to do the work.

Since the HVCC is scheduled to sunset in one more year, does not appear to be actively pursuing legislation to suspend enforcement of the HVCC for 18 months. Most people in attendance were frustrated about the prospects for the future associated with HVCC related issues.

NAR National Conference – Appraisal Committee Meeting – November 13, 2009

The Good News – Mr. Thomas Strickland reported that HUD will be requiring appraiser fees to be separately identified on the HUD-1 and that AMC’s will be required to be required to compensate appraisers based on the customary fees for the region. Timing and details were not otherwise presented.

FHA will accept appraisals for a period of 4 months instead of the previously acceptable 6 months. Additionally two unit condominium units will now be eligible for FHA financing.

The Not So Good News – NAR has developed the REALTORS Property ResourceTM which will include a comprehensive, catalogued database of real estate information on every parcel of property in the United States. Part of this resource will include a REALTOR Valuation Model (“RVM”). The RVM will be used to produce a best-in-class automated valuation product. Most of the appraisers in attendance at the meeting posed the question, why are appraiser members of NAR funding a product that will compete with the services that the appraiser members provide and why weren’t appraisers included in the development of this product? The concerns of the committee were to be presented to the Executive Committee.

NAR National Conference – Professional Development Committee – November 14th, 2009

The PDC had a presentation of “The Shift” as well as covered the written reports from the family of designations. After which, I had no choice but to mention that there seemed to be a lack of committee business on the agenda and that the presentation should probably have been delivered to the General membership. That statement got a lot of positive response from fellow committee members.

Want more information? Visit www.realtor.org/conferencelive for all of the updates and information from NAR in San Diego.

ARELLO Annual Conference set for New York

I am reviewing my itinerary for the ARELLO annual conference being held in New York, and there are a couple of items of great interest. The Fair Housing Advisory Group, of which I am a member, worked to get the National Fair Housing Alliance on the agenda. They will be presenting on Sunday September 16th. Congratulations to Tony Duncanson, Senior VP from the District of Columbia, the work group chair, for his hard work.

Two key education sessions take place on Friday September 14th. The Education Issues Monitoring Committee and the Education Certification Committee both meet in the afternoon. Topics will include both real estate and appraisal education approval and topics. The Keynote address by Richard Mendenhall, the 2001 NAR President will be followed by the Appraisal Advisory Group.

A new session Sunday on Internet Based Developments for the Regulator is also scheduled, and Monday morning is the Case Law Report. This is one of the highlights of the meetings. Cases and issues from all over the country and around the world will be highlighted and discussed.

I would be remiss in not disclosing that one of the receptions will take place at the United Nations. I will also be going on the tour of the UN, including a tour of the Security Council Chambers and reception in the Delegates Dining Room. You can view the conference information by clicking here.

Ooops ~ guess nothing happened all month!

Having a difficult travel and business schedule, not to mention the end of the kids school year and other “at home” events, has made it hard to stay on top of my writings, but lets see if being back at an education conference gets me back on track……

This week the REEA conference is in St. Louis and I and my family are headed out there. I’ll be arriving on Sunday in St. Louis in time for the networking events. Our team here at VanEd has set up dinners and meetings with educators from all over the country this week, so it will be very busy.

REEA, the Real Estate Educators Association, holds this annual conference and expo as an opportunity for educators to learn and share what is new in real estate and appraisal education. For our part, VanEd is preparing our LMS, or Learning Managment System, for outside use. This means that schools who need online education added to their list of course offerings can utilize the same great system that our staff and team built from scratch. It also means that a school could use our LMS as simply a student management tool or a testing site. The options are extensive, and the pricing is fair. VanEd Partnering Schedule Flyer

As the meetings begin, please don’t hesitate to say hi if you see me there. I’ll be happy to stop and talk any time!

REEA looking for Directors, President-Elect

As with any volunteer association, REEA, the Real Estate Educators Association, recently began taking nominations for President-Elect and Director positions within the organization. While normally I wouldn’t express any public comment on such an issue, I have recently been elected to serve the Colorado Real Estate Educators Association as a Director for a three year term, so I thought a quick “idea” recap might be a good start in helping me determine who I might nominate.

These are interesting times for real estate and appraisal educators. Without fanfare among the masses, the AQB, or Appraisal Qualification Board, changed the requirements for pre-license education beginning in 2008. The new Criteria will require a college degree plus much more education than was required in the past. And while there are pathways to licensure that do not require a college degree, they are longer and more difficult by design. The educators have all been working hard to create the materials and content needed to meet the new criteria by the end of 2007. VanEd, for example, is authoring 15 new courses that will either directly relate to the criteria or be eligible for Continuing Education credits.

Should REEA have a board member whose primary focus is appraisal education in order to keep up with all of the changes going on? I believe so.

And what about standardization of course content? At VanEd, we’ve been working with our partners for over a year on standardizing the course content and delivery for classroom and online education. Should one of the board members of REEA be primarily focused on standardized requirements and course organization? I believe so.

And of course there’s distance education. The battle lines in distance education long since drawn; now there is talk of at least one state authoring a white paper taking a stance against distance education. Why? Because they feel that licensees who take their required education online (or on disk) are less prepared to work in the field than those students in a classroom. Let me be blunt here and now; When I council a student, I talk to them about dedication and commitment, focus and comprehension. If the student does not posses the self-motivation to get through my course, they may find it difficult to survive, let alone succeed, in their career in Real Estate. My program online is not lacking in detail or focus, and the student will have to work to complete the program.

The current state exam pass rate for VanEd in
Colorado is around 84 – 87%. That is phenomenal and is directly related to the course content and instructional support we provide our online students. Do I believe that classroom students are better prepared to succeed? No way. The Classroom is where I send the students that I think will have the most trouble completing the program, passing the exam and surviving in the industry. ARELLO has some resources and survey material that also shows that online learners may actually be more proficient than classroom students. You can find that research online at www.arello.org.

Appraisal Rates as one of the top 10 jobs

CNNMoney.com reported this past week that being an Appraiser is the 8th best job. With a reported average salary at $66,000 and 4,500 annual job openings, the appraisal field rates high on the CNN Money list.

The article points out that during the housing boom the appraisal field has not gotten overcrowded, leaving room for new candidates to move into the industry.

You can view the article using this link:  http://money.cnn.com/popups/2006/moneymag/bestjobs/content.8.html

With reported steady employment and a high average salary, combined with very low stress levels, the appraisal industry appears poised for growth over the coming years.

You can check out more on the education required to become an appraiser by visiting http://www.vaned.com.