Appraisal Management Companies can be demanding at times as some require appraisers to have turn times as short as 24 hours after inspection. Even local lenders and mortgage brokers are becoming more demanding as work has continuously slowed down since the economic boom times a few years ago. Many appraisers are upset and see these demands as outrageous. The reality for most of us across the country is that there is an extreme oversupply of appraisers. Of course this all depends on the coverage areas as everything is local.That said, lenders and appraisal management companies are obviously aware of this oversupply reality and are taking advantage by picking and choosing appraisers at their discretion and raising their expectations of appraisers. Those that do not conform to their client's requests will likely be kicked to the curb and stop receiving any orders as there is always another appraiser on the list to choose from.
This demanding trend is here to stay so long as appraiser supply exceeds appraiser demand. After reading many AMC oriented threads on the Appraiser's Forums and other appraiser portals, it is apparent that many appraisers do not fully understand this reality. Just like it has and will take years for the housing market to correct, it will take years for appraiser supply and demand to balance out. That's a reality that many appraisers need to grasp. Up until the last year or so, appraisers have been coming into this industry at record numbers during the boom times.
I just recently performed a query on the Appraisal Subcommittee website on October 22nd for all active certified residential appraisers in the United States and came up with 56,907 appraisers. I performed the same query for active licensed residential appraisers and came up with 26,799 appraisers. Assuming all things are accurate, that means there are 83,656 active licensed/certified residential appraisers fighting for work across the country. Even though some are probably retiring, others not appraising currently yet are keeping their licenses on ice for better times and others appraising part time, we still have an oversupply of epidemic style proportions. This 83,656 does not even include all the trainees performing appraisals or the certified general appraisers that may be doing residential work. Include the trainees and certified generals and we are probably pushing 100,000 residential appraisers!!!! Maybe more, maybe less, there is no way to accurately calculate the total number. Using the 100,000 appraisers and the US census population estimate of just over 300 million, that means 1 out of every 3000 people are appraising residential real estate!!!
So long as appraiser supply exceeds appraiser demand, the clients will have the upper hand when it comes to turn times, fees, etc. Appraisers must understand this and take this reality into consideration when developing new relationships with appraisal management companies and other lender clients. This also applies to older clients that you have been working for months or even years. This does not mean that you have to be a slave to their demands, as that is self destructive, yet you need to be flexible and be able to work with them. Appraisers must adapt to the industry changes if they want to stay in business and thrive during these tough times. The slow and declining real estate market is very likely not going away anytime soon and will get much worse before it gets better.