I mostly appraise commercial properties; the only time I get involved with residential properties is when one of my regular (bank) clients has a particularly sticky situtation or needs a comprehensive review performed on another appraiser’s work.
Anyways, most commercial appraisal assignments come directly from the lending institution that will be using the appraisal. Commercial lenders use a lot more discretion about whose work they’ll accept and how that work is built. Most of them won’t take in outside appraisals under any circumstances, and those who do take in appraisals ordered by someone else put them through a comprehensive review to ensure everything is on the up.
I have been getting more calls for appraisal assignments on commercial properties from mortgage brokers lately. Almost all of them are mortgage brokers who are trying to make the jump from residential to commercial, and who are finding out that there’s a big difference between the two.
Now if I was a greedy bastard I’d take the assignments with no questions asked and let these MBs take their chances with whether or not their lender would accept the appraisal. Their borrowers would get burned for the extra appraisal fee but that wouldn’t be my problem. But…. I am not fond of the idea of developing that sort of reputation around town, so I usually explain the facts of life to these brokers and teach them how to approach the appraisal engagement in the right direction – let the lender make that call – so as to save their borrowers from buying services they can’t use.
Inasmuch as I am not fond of residential MBs (as a group) to begin with, I find a certain amount of irony in the fact that I feel compelled to help them learn how to do their jobs properly.