Quantrix LLC (First American) - Quality is Priority 3?

According to a pdf flyer, "Quantrix LLC was founded by First American and JPMorgan Chase Bank in 2000 as a privately-owned joint venture. JPMorgan Chase is the largest financial institution by deposit base in the US and First American is the nation’s largest real estate data provider." Although it appears to be a promotional piece for valuation services, the main selling point appears to be this closing statement:

Quantrix provides world class customer service and will deliver your appraisals with turn times consistently higher than the competition.

Hmmm.....

Well, that's just a flyer, and it doesn't disclose much about the company, their motivations, or their priorities. Maybe, if we take a look at a recent job posting, we can make a determination about their prioritization related to providing valuation services. How do they rank quality, price, turn around time? Is it true, as stated in a guest post on Jonathan Miller's Matrix that "AMC’s shop around for the lowest appraisal fees that frequently end up on the desks of appraisers who are geographically distant from the subject property’s market, are not fully familiar with the local market and thus present sales that are not directly relevant", or do they present different priorities in practice?

Read the job posting for an Appraisal Coordinator. The priorities are clear in thse excerpts.

Processing Analysts are responsible for the timely and accurate placement of all Conventional and FHA orders within 24 hours of their receipt. Proper placement is ensured by the PA’s analysis of the appraisers available and selection of one that meets the company standard turnaround time, profitability requirements, and quality standards. Complete and concise documentation, as well as clear communication to all parties, is required on all files.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

• Placing orders. Focusing on rushes, orders on Hold, Finals and orders over 48 hours old first. Order Placement standards are as follows: Conventional - Placed with in 2 hours of activation, FHA – Placed with in 4 business hours, Declines – Reassigned same day, and Holds – Followed up on daily until resolved. The goal is to have 92% of all orders placed with in 24 hours. Each PA will be responsible for calling on any non accepted orders within their area along with placement of new orders.

• Assuring vendor acceptance of the Quantrix Valuation standard turn around time of 5 business days.

• If an appraiser requests a higher fee or longer tat, the PA is expected to get a minimum of 2 other quotes (for a total of 3) in order to determine the best appraiser option for each order

• After eliminating all reasonable options in VOM (by checking previous orders in the subject area and checking the vendor coverage detail report) a One Time Vendor can be used, check http://www.yahoo.com/ or the other web-sites given.

• Shorten turn around times by establishing a good flow of communication with our appraisers, keeping in contact with both the appraiser and lender to accomplish this goal.

• Holds – When the reason a hold was requested is out of the appraiser’s control, place the order on hold and contact the client to update them and-or request needed information.

• Fees – Products have a standard flat fee regardless of what state the property is located in on all properties up to 1 million dollar or 1.5 million dollars dependent on nusiness line. For this reason it is important for PAs to attempt to place the order to an appraiser with the lowest fee to maintain our profitability. On orders over 1 million dollars the PA is to obtain 3 fee quotes from 3 different offices before assigning the order. In situations where we must use a one time vendor or fee appraiser the PA will need to check as many options as possible to obtain the lowest fee.

Quality? It's priority 3!