It looks as though the federal government will be weighing in soon on the issue of who is the rightful owner of property data. Last week, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Michael G. Oxley (OH) released a letter requesting a Government Accountability Office (GAO) study on the restrictions placed on Multiple Listing Services (MLSs) and […]
Based largely on appraiser input, Fannie Mae has revised its series of proposed new test forms. The new Test 1004 provides additional narrative and comment space, restoration of standard format for cost and income approaches, an expanded sales comparison grid, and more, including appending what had been the test 1004b, Definitions, Statement of Limiting Conditions, […]
In our last now biweekly edition we told you how and why we were providing Mercury Desktop users with free upgrades to XSite Order Manager, and additionally, Standard XSites (functional primarily for branding and order management) to the more than 6,000 Mercury Desktop users who did not have an XSite. We alluded to an overall […]
Standard & Poor's, the ratings agency which regularly tests the viability of Automated Valuation Models (AVMs) as a substitute for full appraisals "at the time of origination" as part of its ratings of Residential Mortgage Backed Securities (RMBS) for investors, recently had this (and only this) to say under the heading of "The Future of […]
Appraisal Subcommittee (ASC) Executive Director Ben Henson told a panel discussion at the Association of Appraiser Regulatory Officials (AARO) last month that prior to 2003, the ASC had warned six states about their appraiser licensing and certification programs, but in the past 18 months alone, 10 jurisdictions have been warned about some aspect of their […]
Unable to find a buyer for its mortgage business, Cendant Corp. recently spun off its PHH Corp. mortgage and fleet management operations to its shareholders to better focus on its travel and residential real estate sectors. Cendant's mortgage business, operating as Cendant Mortgage, is the sixth largest retail originator of residential mortgage loans in the […]
A lot of buzz in the media and in the halls came out of our booth at the 91st annual Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Conference & Expo in San Francisco October 24-26 with our announcement that in conjunction with Wave Systems, we're bringing digital signature technology to small and medium sized mortgage brokers and lenders […]
Last month, retail banking giant Bank of America (BoA) announced its plans to layoff 4,500 employees as part of its ongoing FleetBoston Financial integration. It already had plans to lay off 12,500 employees as a result of the merger completed April 1, which hailed to "bring unrivaled convenience and advantage to more than 35 million […]
Pittsburgh-based General American Corp. (GAC), one of the nation’s largest mortgage vendor management companies, recently completed a custom plugin for our XSite Order Manager (formerly Mercury Desktop) product for our nationwide roster of real estate appraisers. The plugin, available to all of the approximately 17,000 appraiser users of XSite Order Manager, connects directly to GAC’s […]
As a real estate agent, you know that by marketing your services daily you stay on the minds of your current clients, build relationships with new prospects – and, of course, grow your business. But between showings, listing presentations and closings and daily administrative duties, many agents don't have the time or money to dedicate […]
