Value IT will change its name to Rels Valuation
August 17, 2004
Value IT, the appraisal arm of a joint venture between origination giant Wells Fargo and First American, is changing its name as part of a corporate rebranding that will more closely identify Value IT's appraisal services with the title, credit and settlement services its sister organizations provide. The new name, Rels Valuation, will begin to be visible in the coming weeks to the company's fee panel appraisers on correspondence, order screens and business cards, as well as other media.
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New tack in fighting mortgage fraud: suit names banks as defendants
August 10, 2004
A Monroe County (Pa.) homeowners association filed a $1.5 billion lawsuit against two developers, two appraisers and 25 financial institutions last week in federal court in Pennsylvania.The County, the second fastest growing in the state, has been beset by allegations of mortgage fraud, with developers alleged to have lured poorer New York city area renters to new homes worth far less than the loans the buyers were talked into signing on to. Click to read more
FIRREA at 15: Is the profession stronger or weaker?
August 10, 2004
Fifteen years ago this week the first President Bush signed into law the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA), Title XI of which created today's appraiser regulatory structure, administered by the states to national standards maintained by the Appraisal Foundation and its boards.
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Tipping point reached in appraisal technology: from cost cutting to opportunity creation
August 10, 2004
According to a la mode CEO and founder Dave Biggers, technology's role in the appraisal profession has evolved from purely cost-cutting and timesaving to opportunity creation and client retention. Biggers made his remarks in a presentation in San Francisco at the Appraisal Today conference there last week. Click to read more
More Americans buying second homes—which can mean twice the business for agents
August 05, 2004
Fueled by low mortgage rates, alternative loan programs and baby boomers in their peak-earnings years, the second home market is experiencing a boom of its own, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. Click to read more
U.S. basks in record-breaking home sale bliss while agents in other countries struggle to find buyer
August 05, 2004
The robust housing market in America has broken records once again as the homeownership rate rose to an all-time high of 69.2 percent and sales of existing single-family homes rose 2.1 percent in June to a [seasonally adjusted annual rate] of 6.95 million units. But while real estate agents in the U.S. are enjoying the wealth of business, agents in Australia are struggling to keep up their sale numbers as hesitant Aussie buyers wait to see how the market pendulum swings. Home loan affordability declined across Australia in the first quarter of 2004 to its lowest level in 13 years, according to the Real Estate Institute of Australia.
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Still hiding in your Sunday newspaper listings? More prospects now using the Internet
August 05, 2004
While some homebuyers may stumble across their real estate agents by answering ads for property sales, more and more are starting to shop for their agents before even beginning the house hunt. A recent study by the California Association of REALTORS® revealed that more than half of all consumers are now using the Internet when buying a home. It also revealed that those Internet buyers spent more than twice as much time gathering information prior to contacting a real estate agent when compared to traditional buyers. Click to read more
Fiserv’s Lenders Financial Services (LFS) boosts appraiser productivity and speeds turn times
August 04, 2004
Agoura Hills, California-based Lenders Financial Services (LFS), a unit of Fiserv, Inc. and a national asset management and REO disposition service provider for banks, credit unions and mortgage lenders, recently completed a custom plugin for a la mode’s Mercury Desktop product for its nationwide roster of real estate appraisers. Click to read more
Riskiest homeowners ARMed and dangerous
August 03, 2004
According to a new survey by the Consumer Federation of America, 25 percent of Americans prefer Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARMs) over fixed-rate mortgages. Traditionally, the more affluent borrower was attracted to an ARM, and traditionally, ARMs were most popular during times of high mortgage rates. After all, you're betting your payment will go down, not up; and you have the wherewithal to lose that bet. Click to read more
Gaps in FICO data lead to new credit scoring product
August 03, 2004
Fair Isaac & Co., creators of the credit score (did you know it was an acronym for the company name?), said it had developed an "alternative" credit score to better serve "the underserved marketplace" in loan making. Click to read more
