Thursday, March 28, 2024 | The Latest Buzz for the Appraisal Industry

Virtual Spring Valuation 20/20 Recap

Irimar Waters, Director of Media, Allterra Group

Virtual Valuation 20/20 was a remarkable experience. Hosted virtually on June 16th and 17th, we had appraisal professionals networking and building their businesses from the comfort of their own home! Attendees were still able to meet with leaders in the industry and listen to experts in the field through the screens of their computers. Valuation 20/20 started on Tuesday June 16th with Buzz Academy Sessions and our 2nd Quarter Collateral Risk Network meeting.

Attendees still enjoyed the old favorite sessions, as well as several new ones. Some of these features include our Virtual Trade Show Floor, Land Shark Pitches, Buzz Academy Sessions, and our prize Leaderboard. If you missed it, you can still register for the On-Demand access to all of the General Session speakers, Buzz Academy courses, and so much more. Register here for more information. Our Trade Show allowed you to network with attendees in the lounge and exhibitor in their booths. Our Land Shark Pitches were short presentations demonstrating products relevant to appraisers. The Leaderboard added points to your profile for all of the sessions/activities attended – the top ten on the leaderboard all won an amazing prize such as a laptop or a Smart TV!

Valuation 20/20 began on Tuesday at 11 am ET with the Buzz Academy Sessions. The Buzz Academy Sessions were designed specifically for appraisers to build and polish their business. These sessions were: “Appraisal Investigations – Great Expectations” and “Technology and Assistance – Who is Pushing the Buttons” both hosted Joshua Walitt of Walitt Solutions, “Dig Your Well Before You’re Thirsty” and “Building the Million Dollar Appraisal Business” both hosted by Blaine Feyen of Real Value Group, “Social Media: The basics of creating, maintaining and expanding your business” hosted by Mark Skapinetz of What’s It Worth Appraisal Services, and “Stop the Revolving Door on Revision Requests” hosted by a panel including Kim Perotti of AXIS Appraisal Management, John Dingeman of Class Valuations and Bill Waltenbaugh of Clarocity. Whether you’re looking to polish your client list or build your own million-dollar company, these sessions are exactly what sets appraisers apart from the competition.

The Collateral Risk Network held their 2nd Quarter Meeting with a panel of experts presenting on the different factors impacting the CRN today. It began at 11 am with “Collateral Risk Management – What Lies Ahead?” by Cliff Rossi. At 5:30 pm was the ACI Masks and Mimosas event. Attendees competed in a few rounds of trivia while enjoying a drink in a mask of their choosing – the top two winners received a pass to our next in-person event!

Our Trade Show was held virtually from 11 am to 6 pm. Attendees were able to message, call, or video chat with exhibitors at their booths, other attendees, and experts within the field. Represented on the Trade Show Floor: ACI, Amrock, Anow, Appraisal Buzz, Appraisal Institute, Appraiser eLearning, AXIS Appraisal Management Solutions, Bradford Technologies, Class Valuation, Clear Capital, Clearbox, Computershare, DataMaster, FHA-Philadelphia Homeownership Center, IE Impact, Intercorp, LIA Administrators & Insurance Services, Nationwide Appraisal Network (NAN), OREP Insurance Services, PropMix.io LLC, ProxyPics, Real Value Coaching Academy, Sekady, SFREP, Solidifi, Valuation Review, and Walitt Solutions.

Our Land Shark Pitches were available to download for attendees. The companies represented: ACI, Anow, Bradford Technologies, Clearbox, Computershare, DataMaster, IE Impact, ProxyPics, Sekady, SFREP, and ValueLink.

June 17th began the General Session and Lenders Live. We began the day with our Keynote Speaker, best selling author of “Weapons of Math Destruction,” Cathy O’Neil. Ms. O’Neil highlighted the relationship appraisers have with algorithms and AVMs. Explaining how there can be bias ingrained into the very code of something made, she delved into how appraisers are consuming that information. The next speaker was Scott Reuter. He presented the Freddie Mac Covid-19 Policy Guidance for appraisers that are still facing complications today due to the pandemic. He provided clarification on how appraiser feedback is being used and what exactly the next steps are for the industry as a whole.

In the afternoon was the panel “Virtual Tools and Fraud Controls.” Adam Johnston, Genworth Financial, spoke about how fraud can always be a risk. He said, “Fraud can be so easily manipulated – there is technology that can protect against the risks, but 100% protection is unrealistic. What we want is to reduce as much as possible.” Following this was “Market Conditions.” Cristy Conolly, Nationwide Appraisal Network (NAN), and Bill Waltenbaugh, Clarocity Valuation Services, spoke about Market Conditions and how lenders need to know exactly how you’ve reached your conclusion as an appraiser – each market appears to be experiencing different impacts.

The next panel in our General Session was “No-Inspection Appraisal Data Collection for GSEs: Covid-19 and Beyond!” by Robert Murphy, Collateral Advisors, LLC. He spoke about the current climate of stay-at-home orders and showed how appraisers and GSEs have adapted to these new times. We had James Heaslet, Supervisory Appraiser for the VA, present on this topic that ranged from discussing new types of forms to the new Covid-19 policies in place. After this was the panel “Price vs Value” hosted by Bill King, Bradford Technologies.

Peter Christensen of Valuation Legal expounded on “Covid-19 Legal Considerations”. In this presentation, Christensen went into detail about how this current pandemic could spell out trouble in the next coming years if appraisers aren’t careful. The next speaker was Randall Bell, Landmark Research Group, LLC. He presented his Disaster Index, typically founded on researching historical market data and trends during disasters, economical or natural. The final presentation was USDA Policy Update by Michael Schnetzler, USDA. He covered a range of topics including Real Estate Damage issues, how Covid-19 impacts those currently, and answers questions on liabilities during this time. Our General Session was lucky to have such a wide array of talented speakers.

During our Lenders Live sessions, attendees heard from lenders about what they are looking for. Our first speaker was Gina Rascati, Iberia Bank. She gave the lender perspective on how a reviewer/underwriter looks at an appraisal and what things to consider when analyzing market data during a National Emergency such as a pandemic. Our next speaker was Tony Reese, Flagstar Bank. Tony addressed the topic of appraisers as business partners and what the results have been for those that do not follow this.

The next speaker, Katherine Owen, Bank of America, reviewed examples and talked about some tips to increase the efficiency and quality in your appraisal report. For our next speaker, we had Jeff Rauland, UBS Bank. He held an open discussion about UBS appraisal guidelines, complex residential assignments, and other topics that attendees wanted more on. The next speaker, Matt Custer, Truist, went into the pros and cons of completing hybrid appraisals. Then we had Brad Davis, Morgan Stanley, explain The Morgan Stanley criteria for selection of appraisers and covered issues like cancelling assignments after inspection.

Our next speaker, Rick Langdon, Wells Fargo, went over the overall structure of how Wells Fargo handles valuations. The next lender represented was Prosperity Home Mortgage. Sheila Nourimoghaddam addressed the venues used to search qualified appraisers and how they recruit appraisers. Our final presentation was by Wes Costello, Annie Mac, where he described a case study in responding to findings that your valuation is not supported. All of our lenders presented valuable information to our attendees about their companies.

Thank you to all the exhibitors who participated and donated some great prizes for the Leaderboard Giveaway!

Prize Winners

Computershare Scavenger Hunt $500 Visa Gift Card: James Welsh

1st Prize Dell Latitude 3500 Laptop ($941): Tammy Schoenbeck
2nd Prize Disto E7500i ($599): Kelley Booth
3rd Prize Ipad Mini (64 GB) Sponsored by LIA ($349): Robert Peacock III
4th Prize 55” Smart TV ($299): Sheila Nourimoghaddam
5th Airpods Pro ($249): Mark Skapinetz
6th SNAPTAIN SP510 Foldable GPS FPV Drone ($199): Danny Shaw
7th Fitbit Charge 4 ($169): Patrick Brown
8th Omaha Steaks – Deluxe Grill Out Collection ($149): Mark Gerber
9th Harry & David Rogue Valley Gift Box and Wine ($99): Crispin Bennett
10th Amazon Echo Dot ($39): David Southern

We want to thank all of our attendees, speakers, sponsors, exhibitors, lenders, and absolutely everyone involved in making our very first Virtual Valuation 20/20 a huge success! We appreciate you all.

All of the presentations from Valuation 20/20 are available for up to 30 days after the conference. If you were registered, just log back in and watch at your convenience. Remember, if you missed it, you can still register for the On-Demand access to all of the General Session speakers, Buzz Academy courses, and so much more. Register here for more information.

Have any comments or would you like to submit an article of your own? Email comments@appraisalbuzz.com for more information.

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