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60 the homeowner as an "interested party" to the transaction. is is where the story of innovation starts. NECESSITY IS THE MOTHER OF INNOVATION Within the first month of the pandemic taking hold in the U.S., no fewer than eight companies, including my own company, Bradford Technologies, developed digital solutions to keep the appraiser and homeowner safe while still getting interior photos to the appraiser. e solutions varied, but all met the criteria for keeping both parties protected while providing the appraiser with vital information they normally would not have in this situation. e result: appraisers were able to provide more accurate and credible valuations, lenders received collateral valuations they could trust, and homeowners received their loans. To understand the significance of this flurry of innovation, we have to go back three years to the height of digital transformation in the mortgage world. We all know how the millennial demographics and new fintech technology was driving lenders to reconsider how they did business. Well, the millennials have not disappeared. ey are largest generation in American history and are estimated to be 85 million strong, a force greater than the baby boomers. Millennials live in a digital world connected by their smartphones, and they expect everyone they deal with to be connected as well. For sure, they do not know why it takes seven days to perform an appraisal when they can get approved for a loan in minutes. In late 2017, the pressure to move into the digital world caused the GSEs to take notice and start an initiative to modernize the appraisal process. eir premise was that appraisers should be at their desks, not in the field with a measuring tape inspecting properties. Someone else should do the inspection. By dividing the labor, productivity would increase, reducing the time to produce an appraisal. To test this theory, the GSEs implemented pilot programs using third-party inspectors paired with appraisers at their desks. ese programs are ongoing, and the jury is still out as to the degree of their success. However, most appraisers view Appraisal Modernization, as the pilot programs are called, as a threat and are dead set against it. Fast-forward to today. Appraisers, now facing the threat of catching the COVID-19 virus, are experiencing the benefit of producing appraisals from their desk while using information collected by a third party, in this case the homeowner. is, of course, takes the GSEs' idea of division of labor to another level. Even though appraisers were initially against Appraisal Modernization, based on our surveys, they are now finding the interaction to be delightful, smooth, and nonthreatening to their livelihood. e interior photos add another dimension that they never had when doing desktop appraisals. And homeowners, contrary to earlier fears of fraud and deception, are providing an abundance of quality information to the appraiser. THE SEED HAS BEEN PLANTED As an interested party, homeowners have become a part of the appraisal process. e question is, where does it go from here? Will the homeowner's involvement be curtailed once the threat of the virus is gone? Or will the homeowner-appraiser digital connection grow stronger? From the millennials' point of view, they're wondering what took so long. ey want the involvement; they don't want to wait seven days or longer for an inspection to be scheduled. e GSEs and lenders want an appraisal produced quicker but without a loss in accuracy and credibility. So, what is standing in the way of homeowners becoming a permanently accepted source of information for the appraiser? e short answer is trust and privacy. Besides the capability to deliver information and photos to the appraiser, these new digital services need to maintain the privacy and Will the homeowner's involvement be curtailed once the threat of the virus is gone? Or will the homeowner- appraiser digital connection grow stronger? From the millennials' point of view, they're wondering what took so long. Feature By: Jeff Bradford