Ask Henry
Dear H2,
I have a client that is asking for an enormous amount of data research for review assignments and they are very specific about the order in which these items are to be placed in the report. I am concerned about data mining from my reports but wanted to get your thoughts.
Some of the items that they are requesting are a 0-6 month CMA of all applicable sales in a marketing area and a 6-12 month CMA of all applicable sales in a marketing area. I am okay about providing some of these items but then they also want both the MLS sheets and County records of all of the sales from the CMA. In some neighborhoods, we may be talking upwards of 50 or more sales in both CMAs -- which then may add upwards of 200 additional pages to the report. They want each one on an individual page and labeled very specifically as to what they are, so the additional amount of work that is being asked for each Review Assignment is extensive.
Any thoughts on how I can appropriately address these additional requests?
Thank you.
Cathy Putegnat
Homestead Appraisals
info@homesteadappraisalsinc.com
Dear Cathy,
The USPAP requires that appraisals be reported in one of three different types of appraisal reports. Most residential appraisals are Summary Appraisal Reports but it sounds like from your question that your client may be asking for a Self Contained Appraisal Report in their scope of work requirements. The first step in the required scope of work dialogue between the appraiser and the client is to agree upon which type of report is required. The USPAP specifies the minimum that is required for each report type, but the client and the appraiser can agree on any additional material the lender/client requests.
I once did a 25 mile pipeline right-of-way "taking" appraisal where we were asked to provide information about every sale in the past 10 years that took place within a mile of the proposed right-of-way. It was a great assignment because our fee was in the six figures and the client agreed to pay half of it 'up front' so that we could pay for the additional appraisers used to do the extensive research. By the way, this client also had a standard format for reporting each sale. The only problem I can see here is whether you are going to be adequately paid for all of the extra work involved, assuming you are willing to do what they request.