A housing industry still reeling from a tsunami of new regulation is slowly getting back on its feet, but industry leaders were hoping to lend each other a hand at a meeting of the minds held today at the Bank of Canton in Canton.
The event, jointly sponsored by the Massachusetts Mortgage Bankers Association, the Greater Boston Association of Realtors and the Massachusetts Board of Real Estate Appraisers and co-sponsored by Banker & Tradesman, featured a panel of leaders from all those industries discussing new regulations changing their practices and how to improve their working relationships.
Appraisers have been some of the most burdened by the wave of changes over the past few years, and banks’ increasing strictness has reduced the number of eligible appraisers who can do the work, warned Amy Tierce, regional vice president, Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp. "People have to understand that appraisals are just going to take longer," she said.
Lorrie Beaumont, owner of LB Appraisal Assoc. in Westwood, called on real estate agents to be on alert for errors or misstatements when entering listing data. For example, counting the basement when calculating a home’s total square footage, Beaumont said, even if that’s acknowledged in the comments on the listing, may result in a property being screened out as a potential comparable when an appraiser later goes to search the MLS.
Everyone called for better communication among all sides of the transaction when a complicated property is up for sale. A property listed on tax rolls as a two-family but which may be being used and sold as a single family with an in-law suite can rapidly turn into a nightmare for all sides, with conflict between lenders, appraisers and realtors over its true value.
The pressure is on for all sides, and lenders acknowledged that they’re keeping agents and appraisers’ feet to the fire as well.
"The data is there, and people do check on it, and it can cause tensions because we may be asking questions we weren’t asking before," acknowledged Richard Fisher, senior vice president of Bridgewater Savings.
