How to handle large quantities and unusual appraisals

One of the characteristics of being a top appraisal management company is being able to service all banks and credit unions, big or small. When we thought of reaching out to speak with a local bank about their experience of selecting an AMC, we looked no further than First National Bank of America. Based in East Lansing, Michigan, the family-owned bank is small yet mighty. Like their national branch counterparts, their services include residential lending, commercial lending, acquisitions, and package purchases. Needless to say, the bank orders a lot of appraisals and evaluations. We sat down to speak with First National Bank of America’s Appraisal Department Supervisor, Glynis Chapman, to chat all things appraisal management, and see why their decision to partner with an appraisal management company has been the right one.

With a small appraisal management department of only a team of four, Glynis is a working supervisor who handles the majority of residential appraisals as well as vetting vendor companies the bank works with. In January of 2018 alone, her team ordered 520 appraisals and evaluations, and she oversaw it all.

With a lot on her plate, Glynis recognized the need to bring on help from time to time, especially when things get busy. “When I first started in the appraisal department, I was just an appraisal clerk and almost everything was hired by hand based on our own approved appraiser list. When AMCs came into vogue, so to speak, we started looking around and reading reviews about different AMCs,” she explains. MountainSeed was among the selected companies.

RELATIONSHIPS ARE A KEY PART OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION AT FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF AMERICA.

Since working with AMCs, and MountainSeed in particular, Glynis has been beyond satisfied with her experience. Along with staying in regular communication with her MountainSeed contact (they speak every 6-8 weeks), she appreciates the additional product scope that is offered. “We are very happy we chose MountainSeed. We tried MountainSeed once [for commercial appraisals] and never looked elsewhere,” Glynis says. She continues, “Everybody is so helpful and is happy to walk me through an odd situation. Every step of the way, they work with us to get it done.”

Odd properties and situations are a bit of a “thing” for First National Bank of America. Even though they are based in Michigan, they order appraisals all over the USA, and they’re proud of that. “We do non QM loans. We’re doing things other people won’t do, or other banks can’t do. Our acquisitions department which buys land contracts has a lot of unusual properties that we need evaluations for,” Glynis asserts. Some of their more unique requests include yurts in Hawaii and homes on Fire Island in NY which is only accessible via ferry taxi.

HOW WORKING WITH AN AMC HAS STREAMLINED FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF AMERICA’S APPRAISALS — AND QUICK.

Glynis says working with MountainSeed has streamlined her bank’s process. Since First National Bank of America doesn’t have their own in-house appraisal department with licensed appraisers, an appraisal management company’s help is invaluable. “I know when I send an appraisal to MountainSeed, it’s going to come back in a week. That helps our loan officers to set closings. Rarely has it ever been over a week. I know when I send it, 7 days later, I’m going to have the review in my hand which streamlines our entire process.”

As our clients know, we value efficiency and turn-times, and that’s evident in Glynis’ customer story today. To learn more about your own turn-times and how they compare to your peers, take a look at our Benchmark Report, and to discover how an appraisal management company could help your financial institution, reach out to our team. We’d love to discuss how we can help you streamline your processes too.