"It would appear that you have chosen to value the subject at the lower end of the spectrum. Please go back and re-examine your comparables and adjust the price of the subject." Sold comps were $58,000, $61,000 and $69,000 - all the same style, all the same features - exterior BPO - I said the subject was worth $63,000. Most recent sales - in the last 2 weeks were the lowest priced ones - so - I told them the market prices were declining - and kept my price.

I had that happen lately with EML. I got blackballed for one disagreement after hundreds of accepted reports. Not fair. It was a huge chunk of my business.

That stinks, I learned to just give them what they want rather then argue its not worth my time, at the prices most companies offer its already a loss doing orders these days

It's hard to give them what they want when what they want doesn't exist.

Thats true, I guess I havent had that problem yet. If they ask for something that doesnt exist we solve it another way I havent had the be a real problem yet. I have had issues with disagreement with value conclusions and I used to argue and make my case.
Yesterday I had someone tell me i was on the low and end of market and asked me to "re-visit" the order and re evaluate comps. LOL

I called them and said "what value do you want" he told me and i said fine
then he said i can make the adjustment for you, I was like great thanks. At $45.00 I am not going to kill myself

Unless you were having a screamin' match with them, I'd suggest calling management.

Yesterday, I had a QC issue with them.......was told "your comps don't justify your final value". I did a fast review.....my numbers were right on target. In the comment section, I always include the values I use for GLA, bath, pool, and lot adjustments. I'm not sure whether QC didn't read it or just not understand it. At that point, I just added the final values for each comp in the comment section.........5 minutes later, it cleared QC......

I've never had an issue with eML that we couldn't work through....If I don't reoognize the name of the QC person, I just assume they're new and still working off a "cheat sheet".

Again, I would suggest you call or email management.......This issue may be a simple fix.

Not trying to start a flame here because I realize that every situation is different but.......I am not sure I would change my value just because QC does not like it. I have lost a major client because of it but did not lose any sleep over it. At the time, I just did not feel good about doing it. I went to a CE class on Appraisal Fraud today and found out that it may have kept me out of jail! One of the case studies had to do on a property that was under contract for 1.4 million. The appraisor said that his appraisal came in at 750k. He was asked to get it up to at least 1.2 million. He agreed. Of course he did not know that this conversation was being taped by the FBI. He ended up being sentenced to 2 years probation and can not longer work in the appraisal/real estate business.

Uncle Salty,
In the case of a full Appraisal, I can imagine the illegality of agreeing to change your figures over the phone.
However, in the case of a BPO, I really wonder if they'd be that harsh. We (who do BPO's) are not giving "values", we are giving our opinion of what we think the property should "list" and/or "sell" for based on our experience in the "neighborhood".
If anyone would ever ask me to fudge my figures, I'd ask for time to reevaluate the whole BPO. In my forms, we don't have the requirement for adjustments, so I tell anyone asking for a specific price (usually brokers in the middle of a "short sale") "Hey, I can't adjust, therefore, if my comps don't show your value, I can't help you. I have to go with what I see on the comps."
Lately I've been amazed at List Prices (for short sales) way below recent market values. I'm actually starting to see "flips" again, where the low price was a short sale, and the next sale (within a few weeks - [maybe they did fix it up?]) was at market.
Anyways, I've never been asked to change any of my figures after submitting. And hope I never am. It's been over 10 years now, and I love this better than "selling" real estate. Got it as automated as I can, and am heading to 150/month without killing myself.
Good luck to all of us!

I just did a duplex that the QC person insisted was an SFR. I sent her the county assessor card and she still insisted I "correct" my comps to represent a single family residence. (Something about that word "correct" rubbed me the wrong way. What am I, an unruly child while she's the schoolmarm?)

I told her in an email that the place "is a duplex unless someone has been inside of it and knows it isn't." After all, I'm just doing a drive-by BPO for $45! And there are clearly 2 front doors and 2-driveways to this place. I'm waiting to hear back as to whether she wants me to re-do it as an SFR or if she's going to tell me to do an interior BPO on it. Maybe they're just going to tell me to go away, I don't know at this point.

Miami,
Good response. I don't know if it would be as harsh but still would worry about changing my opinion of the property value to meet what the seller/owners wanted it to come in at. I did actually have one that I reevaluted after being asked to and said "dang" they were right. I was lowballing it. But that was the only time I changed one.
While most of my BPOs do not allow for adjustmants (I wish all did), I do keep the adjustments in mind while coming up with a value.
I too see a lot of short sale List Prices that are way too low. I hate to not be able to help the List Agent out but such is life!
Not ten years here yet but been at it for over eight. I wouldn't have to take my shoes off to count the number of times I have been asked to change my figures, but it has happened. Also not anywhere near 150 BPOs a month but I concentrate more on listing REOs.
I love the "Good luck to all of us!

OK - I have one on hold - for a listing - because someone loaned money on it as a duplex - listed in tax records as a single family - one electric meter - one water meter - one gas meter and no second door on either unit. "not currently zoned as a two family" and a copy of the tax record - didn't seem to be enough documentation to back me up. Geez - I am always surprised. Does current use comform to zoing - as a two family no - its a frickin' single family with a peice of drywall dividing the first floor. Dorks.

I just completed an assignment that came to me as an interior BPO. Just a couple problems with it.
1. Point of contact is realtor in Florida (this is Upstate New York). POC didn't know anything about the place.
2. It's a vacant lot.

After a couple days convincing the assigning company that there is no building on the property, so it's pretty difficult to do an "interior" even if the POC DID know something about the property, they changed the order to land only.

So, in this inner city neighborhood, of course there are no sold comps in the MLS (managed to find 3 sales in public records). Active MLS comps have no photos.

Photos of all comps are required, plus an "interior" photo.

So yesterday, I drove around taking pictures of vacant lots. And their "interior" photo is a picture of a homeowner For Sale sign.

Sure hope I never see that one again!

I had one assigned twice by 2 separate BPO mills 3 or 4 weeks apart. At one time there was a house there, but the county tax records show that it was sold to a milk processing company in 2006 and when I drove by (for the first order), all of the houses on the block had been demolished and the milk company was storing tractor trailers there. The company had bought out all of the houses on the block in 2006-2007.

Both wanted a land BPO on commercial. The lot is 1/20th of an acre. It has no commercial value. Took over a week, both times, to get the mills to remove the order.

That's a trickier question than it might appear when it had been previously listed as a short sale and now it's a bank owned.

I mean....I don't want to come right out and say the bank really screwed up by rejecting the six offers that were on it at more than the comps showed it was worth.

OMG - the bank screwed up seems like the perfect answer to that question.