Tag Archives: Appraisals

StreetLinks Lender Solutions has expanded its executive sales staff to accommodate the company's growing nationwide base of lender and appraiser partners. Shane Martin joins as VP of national sales, Tony Gioia assumes the role of VP of national external sales, Mark Tague has been tapped as assistant VP of national sales for LenderX, Joel Munn also steps into the role of assistant VP of national sales, and Geoffrey Helmen is StreetLinks' newest national account manager.

The Appraisal Institute has released guidelines to instruct its members on how to deal with distressed sales and foreclosures when seeking comparables. According to the organization, some homeowners claim appraisers have undervalued their homes by relying on nearby foreclosed and distressed homes to assess a property's value. The Appraisal Institute stresses that qualified appraisers know what adjustments to make when using distressed sales as comparables, but because the issue is ""particularly crucial"" in the current market, it's offering additional guidance.

Valuation Partners, a national appraisal management company, has hired Clint Reinhardt as VP and national account executive. Reinhardt brings more than 25 years of appraisal, mortgage banking, and settlement services experience to the company, as well as sales leadership and knowledge of credit, flood, and automated valuation products and services. Reinhardt will be responsible for broadening Valuation Partners' reach in the central United States.

MountainSeed Appraisal Management, which serves community and regional financial institutions, announced last week that Lisa Scott has joined the company's sales division. Scott was previously the national sales manager for Valuation Management Group. She originally established herself as an account executive with First American Title Insurance Company, where she worked for more than 15 years.

BestAssets has named Melvin Siemer to the position of EVP and director of asset management services, responsible for the national strategic growth of the company's operations and business development. Siemer leads a team of REO and default servicing professionals that service national, regional, and community banks, as well as credit unions and mortgage servicers. He also works closely with a national network of real estate brokers, subcontractors, appraisers, and property inspectors.

Clayton Holdings announced Friday that it has agreed to buy Green River Capital. The transaction is expected to close within 60 days. No financial details were announced. Green River will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Clayton Holdings. The company will continue to operate as a standalone business, under its current brand, in its current location, and will be led by its current management team.

eMortgage Logic, LLC, a national provider of property valuation services, has developed a new report that the company says continues to demonstrate its ability to bring clarity and transparency to the residential valuation space. eMortgage Logic's new Platinum Valuation Report (PVR) combines broker price opinion (BPO) and automated valuation model (AVM) data, coupled with a detailed reconciliation analysis report completed by a licensed or certified appraiser.

More than 42 percent of prospective home buyers believe home values increase by about 7 percent each year, according to a recent survey by Zillow. This estimation is out of line for the current economic times and high even for years prior to the housing crisis. In a normal market, home values tend to increase by only 2 percent to 5 percent per year, according to Zillow. While home buyers revealed a lack of understanding of home values, respondents answered about 65 percent of questions correctly.

Clear Capital announced Thursday the appointments of Gabriel Nacht as CFO and Brian Wick as VP of marketing. Both individuals bring more than 24 years of experience to their positions with the company. A few weeks ago, Clear Capital also announced the appointment of Erik Lundquist to head its commercial valuations team, and the company says it's looking to add further to its staff, with a number of key positions currently available.

Refinance applications and appraisal complications are holding up home sale closings, according to a HousingPulse survey released Monday. The report states that the normal timeline for a closing is about 30 days. That timeline has been extended to between 45 and 60 days. However, the delay is even more exacerbated among short sales and sales of foreclosed homes - which according to the survey made up 44.4 percent of the market in September.