It is imperative that appraisal inspections be conducted by licensed and trained appraisers, not others.  There is no legitimate reason to split up an appraisal to delegate the responsibility of inspecting a property to individuals who are not licensed appraisers and have never worked in the appraisal profession.  From the standpoint of an appraiser, I would not feel comfortable or confident preparing an appraisal if I had to rely on someone else's inspection.  There's too many things that could be missed by not inspecting the property personally.

The idea of using non-appraisers to inspect properties appears to be part of a growing push to streamline the appraisal process to make it faster and cheaper to obtain an appraisal.  We have seen these types of efforts time and time again.  The appraisal process works and is critical to the safety and soundness of our country's financial system.  We are a check and balance against reckless lending and abuses.  Turnaround times and fees for appraisals are very reasonable.  Appraisers are efficient at what they do and their skills and professionalism need to be protected for the sake of preserving the public trust in our government-backed mortgage system.