A new service unveiled by a growing appraisal management company promises to provide more accurate automated appraisal values than traditional automated valuation models.
StreetLinks Lender Solutions LLC is a subsidiary of former subprime mortgage lender NovaStar Financial. The company acts as an AMC, with 150 staff appraisal underwriters on board to review property appraisal reports across the country.
So it seems like an unlikely move for StreetLinks, a Mortgage Daily advertiser, to develop a service that provides automated values.
But that’s just what the Indianapolis-based company has done with its launch of ValueComp.
The new offering, which is powered by Equifax Property Data & Analytics, “uses technology to systemically replicate an appraiser’s approach to analyzing comparable selection and property valuation.”
A quality examination rules engine utilizes appraiser-based methodology, according to StreetLinks. Appraisal information is analyzed and presented to users as a summary of automated rule “passes” and directives on items that require manual examination.
A product brochure explains that AVMs utilize comparable sales with a wide range of values. For instance, an AVM might use comparable sales ranging from $90,000 to $400,000 to determine that a property is worth $227,000.
“A sale does not make it a comp,” the brochure proclaims. “ValueComp is the first and only automated valuation model built to technologically replicate a local review appraiser’s execution. Utilizing appraiser-based logic to first determine the appropriate comp set, ValueComp then executes a regression analysis on only those comparables.”
StreetLinks claims that ValueComp’s “results are substantially and consistently more accurate than traditional AVMs.”
ValueComp is part of a suite of quality examination products, or QX, that are being offered through a new automated examination and valuation division.
“Our clients that participated in the build and beta of the product agree that QX delivers a significantly higher level of accuracy and has drastically reduced their collateral review time,” StreetLinks President, Tom Hurst said in the announcement.
StreetLinks has been expanding as AMCs have become a popular option for mortgage origination firms to meet appraisal requirements that prohibit steering business from or to appraisers based on whether or not their estimated values satisfy loan originators.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott was on hand in August when StreetLinks opened a new Tampa, Fla., facility. Around 300 additional employees are expected to eventually be recruited for the facility.
A year earlier, the company reported that it was hiring 150 people in Indianapolis.
