About Us
Appraising a wide range of properties in Central Illinois. From homesteads to homes, retail locations to industrial locations, old structures to modern structures, single-family income units to multi-family units and urban residential/commercial lots to rural agriculture lots.
We are a leading provider of real estate valuations for the mortgage lending marketplace Central Illinois. With many years of experience in the business, we have a proven track record of reducing lenders time, efforts and costs in managing the appraisal process. The staff comprises of two Certified General Appraisers to address your needs, cooperating on evaluations. We offer an extensive variety of skills, joined with experience, honesty and effectiveness.
Our investment in training and technology has helped us achieve high quality appraisal reports with short turn-around times. Also helped our customers greatly reduce their workload by offering online appraisal ordering and electronic delivery of the final product, we are able to eliminate the run around and phone tag hassles associated with this process. And since this process saves us money as well, we can keep our rates competitive with anybody in the industry.
Meet The Staff
Tim Nord, Head Appraiser.
Tim grew up in Bloomington/Normal and is a graduate of Illinois State University.
Click here for Tim’s appraisal qualifications
Tammy Nord, Office Manager,
Tammy grew up in Cental Illinois and has 10 years experience in lending with 4 years in mortgage lending
Nord Appraisal Services LLC prides itself in Customer Service by adhering to the following:
Appraiser Licensing
Appraiser licensing varies from state to state. To participate in what is called a “federally-related transaction,” which is, for example, a mortgage being underwritten by a national bank, an appraiser must be licensed or certified by his or her state. The license or certification is evidence that the appraiser has performed a certain number of hours as a trainee under the supervision of a practicing appraiser, may have passed an examination, and completes a certain number of hours of Continuing Education Training. Nord Appraisal Services LLC has worked hard to establish a reputation for quality and prompt work, performed professionally and ethically, with outstanding customer service. You should never just look for a licensed appraiser; you should be discriminating in choosing your service providers. You should always be sure your appraisal service provider is licensed and in good standing. The Appraisal Subcommittee (ASC) of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) maintains a national database of appraisers and their license/certification status. Among other things, this database, which relies on reports from each state appraisal board, will tell you if a service provider you are considering has had his or her license suspended, revoked, or whether the license has lapsed. You can rest assured that at Nord Appraisal Services LLC, our license is current and in good standing!
Appraiser Ethics
Appraisal is a profession, and appraisers are professionals. In our field as with any profession we are bound by ethical considerations. An appraiser’s primary responsibility is to his or her client. Normally, in residential practice, the appraiser’s client is the lender ordering the appraisal to decide whether to make the mortgage loan. Appraisers have certain duties of confidentiality to their clients, obligations of numerical accuracy depending on the assignment parameters, an obligation to attain and maintain a certain level of competency and education, and must generally conduct him or herself as a professional. Here at Nord Appraisal Services LLC, we take these ethical responsibilities very seriously.
Appraisers may also have fiduciary obligations to third parties, such as homeowners, both buyers and sellers, or others. Those third parties normally are spelled out in the appraisal assignment itself. An appraiser’s fiduciary duty is limited to those third parties who the appraiser knows, based on the scope of work or other written parameters of the assignment. There are ethical rules that have nothing to do with clients and others. Appraisers must keep their work files for a minimum of five years.
Nord Appraisal Services LLC only performs to the highest ethical standards possible. Nord Appraisal Services LLC does not do assignments on contingency fees. That is, we don’t agree to do an appraisal report and get paid only if the loan closes. Nord Appraisal Services LLC does not do assignments on percentage fees. That is probably the appraisal profession’s biggest no-no, because it would tend to make appraisers inflate the value of homes or properties to increase their paycheck. Nord Appraisal Services LLC does not do that. Other unethical practices may be defined by state law or professional societies to which an appraiser belongs. The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) also defines as unethical the acceptance of an assignment that is contingent on “the reporting of a pre-determined result (e.g., opinion of value),” “a direction in assignment results that favors the cause of the client,” “the amount of a value opinion,” and other things. This means you can be assured we are working to objectively determine the property value.
You can be assured of 100% ethical, professional service from Nord Appraisal Services LLC!
Appraisal Reviews
The Federal Reserve has recently reiterated that “financial institutions must have an effective, independent real estate appraisal and evaluation program,” and that appraisers performing reviews should “have the knowledge and expertise to assess compliance with the Federal Reserve’s appraisal regulations and guidelines.” Here at Nord Appraisal Services LLC, we provide appraisal review services that are independent, qualified, professional and square with the Federal Reserve’s guidelines.
Appraisal reviews “should determine whether the appraisal or evaluation is appropriate for the transaction, the risk of the transaction, and whether the process by which the collateral valuation is obtained ensures independence and quality,” the Fed says. They “should also indicate whether the appraisal or evaluation report is consistent with the engagement letter, which sets forth the scope of the appraisal assignment.” The Fed also notes that “some banks supplement routine reviews with post-funding evaluations of appraisal quality for some of their higher-risk or greater-value transactions as a control to assist in detecting valuation problems.”
In addition to conforming our work to the forms and guidelines of our review clients, there are four Fannie Mae forms that are generally used for review services, and we can prepare an appraisal review on any of them. They include an appraisal “desk” review, a “field” review, a “short” form and a “narrative” form. Here at Nord Appraisal Services LLC, we are experienced in all types of appraisal reviews, review procedures and the responsibilities of review appraisers.
Nord Appraisal Services LLC understands what makes a quality appraisal and what the most common deficiencies are, especially in our home market. At the same time, Nord Appraisal Services LLC is professional enough to recognize that our competitors in our market are capable of doing a good job! The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) govern appraisal reviews as well as appraisal reports, and you can count on Nord Appraisal Services LLC to ethically evaluate appraisal reports performed by others. Those others may be reviewing our work, too!