Shawn Foppe

Happy Saturday night, fellow appraisers. 🍷 While normal people are out living their best lives, we're here doing what we do — wrestling with ANSI Z765-2021 on a Cape Cod with a 6.5-foot upper level ceiling like it personally offended us. Here's a fun little game the GSEs invented called 'Hold the Appraiser Accountable for Data They Cannot Obtain.' The rules are simple: ✅ You MUST measure the subject per ANSI Z765-2021 ✅ You MUST make credible GLA comparisons to competing sales ❌ MLS is NOT required to follow ANSI ❌ Tax records don't know ANSI exists ❌ You may NOT enter the comparable sale to verify ANYTHING ❌ You may NOT knock on a stranger's door and ask to measure their ceiling ✅ You WILL sign a certification and accept full liability anyway So essentially — Fannie and Freddie mandated an exacting measurement standard for appraisers, put zero requirement on the MLS, zero requirement on agents, zero requirement on anyone actually generating the comparable data we're supposed to analyze... and then handed us the liability. Every home I appraise with a ceiling under 7 feet is now a complexity case requiring a dissertation in the addendum — because somewhere, someone in a board room decided ANSI was the answer without asking who was going to provide the supporting data infrastructure. Spoiler: nobody did. And before anyone says 'just note the data source limitation' — yes, we do. Every time. On every report. Because that's apparently the solution to a systemic problem. A disclaimer. Oh, and if you want to talk about UAD 3.6... I can't. It's Saturday. Same problem, bigger headache, newer acronym. To every appraiser out there turning a Cape Cod into a compliance exercise tonight — I see you. You're not alone. 🏠📐😂