Welcome to the web site for AM / PM Appraisals, Inc. AM / PM Appraisals serves your local Cape Fear Region for New Hanover (Wilmington), Brunswick, Pender and Columbus Counties in NC.

    Hiring an appraiser in today's environment, well, it's just not easy. I do sympathize with the task at hand. The problem is you really never know what to expect or what you're going to get until you've finally received what you've asked for (unfortunately you've already paid for it as well). The truth is, there have been some very poorly trained appraisers that have been practicing over the past decade. This is another negative result from the rapid run up in real estate from the mid part of the last decade; a lot of work demanding a lot of appraisers. Poor training and a volatile real estate market have resulted in some terrible regulations, restrictions and a large number of less than qualified appraisers holding fully qualified credentials. Forgive me for being so forward however, I have not survived in this business by being misleading. In fact, I am obligated in my every day practice to be transparent and forthright.

    Here's the truth about what I can do for you: If you require some form of residential valuation, I can more than likely help you from start to finish. If I cannot help you, I will freely tell you who can. If they can't help you then they can likely get you closer to who or what you need. I connect with some of my peers throughout the year whom I trust and who have specialties in this field. I do this every day for various reasons for a wide range of clients, be them public or private, big or small.  

    My area of focus is not the entire State of NC. I work locally within New Hanover (Wilmington), Brunswick, Pender and Columbus Counties. Staying focused provides for reliability and most importantly, credibility. This is a locally owned and operated business. I live in the community that I work in.

My success is a reflection of my continued commitment to quality. 

    With approximately thirteen years of residential experience, I have a proven track record of meeting my client's needs. My objective is to save you time, money and the hassle while educating you at the same time. The more informed we are, the better the decision that will be made. I would encourage you to ask any questions that you may have about the process. 

    I am a leading provider of residential real estate appraisals working in New Hanover (Wilmington), Brunswick, Pender and Columbus Counties. Here are some reasons that may require that you seriously consider hiring a competent real property appraiser:
 

    There are a number of reasons why and custom ways to originate and deliver a residential appraisal. This is not a "one size fits all" process.

We keep our rates competitive with anybody in the industry by offering:

    Spend a little time finding out a bit more about the appraisal business here or better yet, give us a call. The more informed you are, the more comfortable you will feel. Find out whether or not you actually need an appraisal at no cost to you, just a phone call and a bit of our time. You will feel better once you've made the decision to contact Adam at AM / PM Appraisals, Inc. 

    I hope that you consider hiring AM/PM Appraisals for your local Cape Fear Region property appraisal needs (New Hanover (Wilmington), Brunswick, Pender and Columbus Counties). I look forward to working with you. Thank you again for visiting and feel free to please call me directly if you should have even one question about the appraisal process. 

Sincerely,

Adam Connolly, owner/operator

Proud member of the NAR, WRAR, BCAR, National Registry, NCPAC.                                      Registered with the ASC, Adam Connolly is a NC State Certified Residential Real Estate Appraiser.

What you should know:

"The American consumer is being significantly affected and lied to about the valuation of the most significant asset they will ever own"

**Have you refinanced, purchased a home or investment property or had any dealings since 05/09 in real estate? Chances are you paid a hidden fee that you thought went one place but went in another entirely different direction. Why or how does this affect you?

You see, an agreement was made in 05/09 to separate the appraiser from the mortgage broker (mortgage brokers could no longer pick their appraiser; a move to help curb possible collusion). The ordering process was outsourced to what is called "Appraisal Management Companies" during that month and since (to date) via an agreement called the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (or HVCC- since retired and essentially transplanted into the Dodd/Frank financial Reform Bill that you may have been hearing about); the HVCC was a six page agreement that turned the industry upside down. The idea was to remove the pressure placed on the appraiser by the commission based agent (mortgage broker) to "hit" numbers (the higher the number the higher the commission, the deal gets done, etc.). The HVCC sounds like a good idea, right? Let's take a look at what happened.....

The cost of an appraisal actually went up since then but the fee got split up between a company/agent of the lender (the AMC) and the appraiser. So, the motivation to hit higher values (which is a practice that will never go away) THEN shifted to hiring the cheapest and fastest appraiser to complete the appraisal while the AMC (Appraisal Management Company) pocketed the difference. Essentially, we ended up with APPRAISAL BROKERS. Sounds like it's not a big deal for you, the consumer right? You're paying anyway, why does it matter where your hard earned dollars go?

Here's why: If you pay $400 for an appraisal, typically from 30-50%+ will go to an AMC for taking the order, logging it in, sending it to a licensed appraiser who had the lowest bid (to increase the AMCs spread), getting the appraisal back and then forwarding it to the lender. So $200 to the appraiser and $200 to the AMC.  

The AMC shops (basically brokers) an appraisal request from a lender to a panel of appraisers within any given area. The lowest bidder most often gets the deal (the issue: typically the least experienced appraiser with the least bit of understanding that comes with the value of an actual appraisal, the amount of work that is REQUIRED to produce a quality and credible product), fills in all the boxes and the AMC keeps up to and in excess of half. All the while you believe that your best interests are being served and met; your HUD-1 reads "appraisal fee to." You are led to believe that your money is going to an appraiser who will produce a credible and reliable opinion out of every penny that it cost you. Nowhere on the HUD-1 is there an indication that (most or much of) your hard earned money went to a outside company that not only shopped for the lowest bidder on your dime for their own financial benefit but, are you ready for this.........is likely owned ALL or IN PART by the lender them self.

The biggest lenders actually OWN their own AMCs which are subsidiaries of their parent institutions. Read that again. And you thought FREE checking account FEES were too much? You've essentially paid for a Mercedes and they've delivered a Pinto (my father owned a Pinto; I love and am proud of him and the car got us from point A to point B HOWEVER, he knew what he was paying for; you understand the analogy). Please understand and submit to the fact that the appraisal process (specifically, the lending sector) is so far beyond your normal day to day dealings that you are none the wiser. Now you are. AMCs use to handle anywhere from 20-30% of the appraisal ordering process pre-2009 (HVCC). They have been said to now CONTROL up to and near 80% as a result of banks/AMCs lobbying against your best interest. I highly recommend you find out more on this topic before you make your next big decision with your property.

My primary suggestion: hire a local lender that you can sit in front of and drive to go see if need be. They're out there wanting to work with you. Avoid national, "virtual" contacts. This will get you much further ahead of the game that is being played with your financial security and your future.  

Keep in mind that this is happening very often but not always (far too often as a matter of fact).   

If you have questions, concerns or would like to discuss any aspect of a past valuation, the industry and how you have been or may be affected by such an abuse of your trust or any related concerns, please feel free to call or email me. There are ways to avoid this violation and abuse of your trust out there.  

I highly recommend (local lenders):

Alpha Mortgage Corporation

http://www.alphamortgage.com/index.php

American Security Mortgage

http://www.americansecuritymortgage.com/index.html

Cape Fear Credit Union

http://www.capefearcreditunion.org/