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» VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM 23 valuations into that we would like for them to compare these to other choice built homes. However, since this is a brand new product being introduced to the market, the likelihood that they're going to find another CHOICE- built home that sold recently close by to use for comparison will be remote. So, the collateral policy flexibility will be to use other similar manufactured housing or use a site-built home as a comparable sale when it's appropriately adjusted. e training will help appraisers to make these comparisons, which in many cases are not apples to apples since many of the existing manufactured housing stock is below the standards of the CHOICEHome Program in terms of construction and design elements. On the other hand, site-built homes are more likely to be superior in these areas, thereby creating an issue for the appraiser to reconcile and adjust to appropriately value these homes. WHAT LED FREDDIE MAC TO PARTNER WITH THE APPRAISAL INSTITUTE FOR THIS TRAINING? e theory behind this training program is to work towards being mindful about the expectations set for the appraisers when they're in the field. And that led us to the partnership with the Appraisal Institute. Our peers at the institute agreed that this was something that needed attention in the marketplace. ey have been great partners, showed a lot of hard work and leadership in setting up this class so that we could introduce this course into the market. HOW IS THE COURSE SET UP TO BENEFIT APPRAISERS? e course is being offered in a couple of different ways. e pilot component is a four-hour course being offered to lenders and appraisers. We have also created a full seven- hour course so that it matches the continuing education (CE) needs of appraisers. is course is a full one-day CE option, which is approved across the country as well. e course is also receiving some academic interest as well as interest from numerous future course instructors from across the country. To become a trainer for this course, appraisal trainers actually take the course and must pass a one-hour exam. For appraisers, this course walks through various case studies to illustrate how the appraiser can develop a value for CHOICE manufactured homes. WITHIN THIS TRAINING, WHAT ARE SOME OF THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES THAT APPRAISERS AND TRAINERS ARE LIKELY TO FACE? e most significant training challenge would be to walk appraisers through how to appropriately adjust a site-built home to a manufactured home. At Freddie Mac, we manage risk and there was a concern that by allowing the use of site-built comparable sales to a manufactured home, there would be a real risk of overvaluation of manufactured homes. But this challenge is also the driving force for this training to arm appraisers with the appropriate training and knowledge to appraise such homes. e training is really a practical, step-by-step guide to how you can appropriately value the manufactured homes under our CHOICEHome Program. IS THE TRAINING BEING OFFERED ONLY FOR THE FIRST YEAR OR WILL IT CONTINUE BEYOND THIS PHASE? We launched this training in Dallas recently and are now rolling it out state by state. Once it's introduced across the country, it'll be in the permanent curriculum of the Appraisal Institute. To create this training program, the Appraisal Institute has put in a tremendous amount of rigor in terms of not only the content review but peer review as well. WHAT ARE YOUR TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS PROJECT? is project has been interesting because it's enlightened me to how this market acts and behaves nationwide. Many appraisers are in markets that are close to or on the periphery of where there is manufactured housing. Your typical appraiser, I'm told, will get anywhere from 12 to 15 manufactured home assignments a year if they're in a market where these are somewhat prevalent. From a practicing appraiser standpoint, that might be one a month. is course is also intended to be in the reference library for appraisers so that when they get these assignments, they can refer to the course booklet to appropriately walk through the steps they need to take to begin to gather their data, analyze it, developed the report, and finalize the value. We're also putting together a component for the underwriters and the lenders, to help them understand the appraising process better. One of the things we also did was to include a one-page job aid for underwriters and lenders. So hopefully that'll lessen some questions back to appraisers on manufactured home valuations. I'm sure we will, as we pilot and test and learn, make some more additions, but we're trying to be very thoughtful about how this may work its way through the system to allow, again, not only appropriate valuation, but also reduce the back and forth between appraisers, lenders, and underwriters, which defeats the efficiency. "A practicing appraiser faces challenges on a good day with site-built homes in rural settings, let alone the kind of specialized manufactured home that's built to all these higher specifications."

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