Accurate Group recently held a joint webinar with LendingQB designed to help mortgage and home equity lenders better understand the scope of the appraisal challenges facing the market and how to best address them.

As most of you know, property appraisals are often an area of frustration for lenders. Appraisal costs, turnaround times, regulatory compliance and a growing appraiser shortage in some markets all pose risks to lender profitability.

So as you are put under increasing pressure to reduce the cost per loan and loan cycle times, it’s important to consider how you can achieve greater efficiency and visibility in your appraisal management efforts.

In this webinar, titled “Streamlining the Appraisal Process: How to Improve Efficiency and Visibility,” Mike Kirk, SVP of strategic appraisal initiative for Accurate Group, and Angela Anh, UI/UX developer for LendingQB, teamed up to discuss the following:

• How leveraging innovative technology and automation can create greater efficiency in appraisal processes, helping lenders lower costs and cycle times
• How lenders can better integrate and align appraisal management with loan origination to improve turn times and visibility
• Appraisal alternatives to help lenders mitigate the appraiser shortage risk while still maintaining regulatory compliance
• Innovative new appraisal management capabilities from LendingQB and Accurate Group, including the integration of Accurate Group appraisal data into LendingQB’s new appraisal tracking dashboard

Key appraisal challenges discussed in the webinar included:

• Increasing appraisal costs, with the average FNMA 1004 now at $480
• Increasing appraisal turn times, with the average FNMA 1004 now at 18+ days
• Growing appraisal shortage, with a Survey of State Appraisal Regulators reporting a continuing annual decline of 4.5 to 7%

During the webinar, attendees were asked to participate in a live poll in which a resounding 63% of attendees cited appraisal turn times as their greatest challenge, while 21% cited a lack of appraisers. Surprisingly only 8% cited appraisal costs as their biggest concern, an indicator that most lenders place speed, quality and borrower satisfaction as top priorities.

To address these concerns, Mike Kirk presented a combination of recommendations – including selecting an integrated LOS/AMC combination (like LendingQB and Accurate Group), best practices for working with AMCs (scorecarding, transparency and accountability) and new innovations in desktop appraisal technology (ValueNet) that support interior inspections, meet compliance regulations and cut turn times by an incredible 60%!  To see this appraisal technology alternative in action, watch the ValueNet video.

Back to Blog