New UAD Appraisal Requirements For Hawaii Real Estate

Besides being a Realtor for 11 years, I am also a State Licensed Appraiser. In the last several weeks, I’ve been preparing for the new requirements that will have a major impact on buyers, sellers, Realtors, appraisers, and lenders.

As of September 1, 2011, there will be new requirements for appraisers, known as UAD (Uniform Appraisal Dataset) format and will be required by the GSE, FANNIE MAE, and FREDDIE MAC. These requirements are for single family residences, condominiums, and small income residences, but guess what? Bank of America has already enforced these requirements, go figure!

Newly remodeled kitchen in 2011 with granite counter tops, African mahogany cabinets, robusta wood flooring, and hansgrohe fixtures (lifetime warranty)

The reason why for these changes? Well, when I would ask a Realtor what condition the home or condo was in when it sold, most would reply, excellent, good, average, or fair. I can no longer use those descriptions for condition and am required to use a code C1 through C-6, and this also applies for quality, which will use code Q1-Q6.

Fannie and Freddie want consistency across the board for all appraisals nationwide and the codes are the way they are trying to get this accomplished. No more giving us appraisers any leeway on how we determine condition or quality. These codes are specific and are on an automated system on the forms.

So, why do I need your help? Well, unless you don’t want to get a call from me and every single appraiser asking the same questions about the same listing you just sold, you may want to pay close attention. Believe me, I know how busy Realtors can be and they sometimes don’t like being bothered with questions, especially from an appraiser. The most important thing I will need help with is basically the condition and quality of your listings.

Here are the main points on what I will need (and I suggest to get this information with every listing you already have and for any future listings):

1. What YEAR any renovations to the BATHROOMS and KITCHENS were completed. If you don’t have an exact date, month, or year, then an estimate time, like less than a year, in the past 5 years, the past 10 years, or the past 15 years.
2. Photos of the renovations and added descriptions under your photos. Include the year the renovations to kitchen and bathrooms were completed, or use the range noted above.
3. Explain the extent of renovation. Now the difference between RENOVATION/REMODEL for appraisal purposes is a significant change, gutting bathrooms or kitchen and replacing all new paint, floors, counter tops, cabinets, fixtures, etc. An UPDATE is bringing up the property to current market appeal like new paint, new fixtures, refacing cabinets, etc…without doing the complete refurbishing.
4. What kind of materials used, like granite, marble counter tops, wood, laminate, ceramic tile, carpet floors, copper piping, etc. Anything that can help with quality of materials used would be great too.

The more information and photos you put on the MLS the better. Putting the descriptions under the photos with the heading, remodeled or renovated, or updated, date, and description will help not only me, but you too.

If you have this information ready in the MLS, it will be quicker for me to get the appraisal ready for the lender and a quicker close for you Realtors. Yay, and who doesn’t want an escrow to close quickly, especially when dealing with these short sales?!

So, I am thanking everyone in advance for your time and help. In the next 6 months there will be delays and glitches, and it probably be a mess for awhile. So please be patient, as this will affect all of us, lenders included. All-in-all I think in the long run this will be beneficial for everyone, and maybe once in our lifetime, we will all be on the same page.

Newly remodeled bathroom in 2011 with glass block and Italian porcelain walls, and river stone basalt flooring