Mercury Network: More important than ever

The mortgage market has seen its share of ups and downs, and collateral value is at the core of lending once again. You need accurate, independent appraisals done in compliance with all of the existing and new regulations, especially with regards to the new HVCC ("Home Valuation Code of Conduct"), which is slated to take effect in early 2009. Of course, with a new regulator of Fannie and Freddie and all the market turmoil surrounding them, nobody even knows if the HVCC will actually take effect. So, you’re in a quandary. Do you outsource appraisals to an appraisal management company and take on the risks associated with abandoning appraisers with whom you’ve had a good working relationship for years? Or do you manage them in-house and risk being accused of influencing values? Is there a way to hedge your bet and get the best of both worlds?

You bet there is. Since 2002, our Mercury Network website has been used by more than 200,000 mortgage professionals to order and manage tens of millions of appraisals, at full fee to the appraiser. And with our new update to Version 3.0, you get all the "double blind" ordering and communications that protect your legal liability, without losing access to your existing appraisers and without alienating them by inserting an appraisal management company in the middle.

You use us already and don’t even know it

Even if you aren’t using the Mercury Network website right now, you’re using our appraisers. That’s because over 50% of all the appraisers in the country connect to you using our desktop and web products right now. You might order an appraisal by phone, fax, or email, but the report is likely prepared and delivered to you using our Mercury Network technology backbone. Look at the bottom of your delivered appraisals and you’ll see "a la mode" there over and over and over.

So sign on today and start using the "other side" of the Mercury backbone. You’ll get an easy-to-use website interface (that scales up to full server-side XML integration if you’re a bigger originator), better appraisal management, full nationwide coverage, more flexibility in handling appraisal assignments, complete automated rule checking of appraisals, and of course 100% compliance with existing and upcoming regs. There is no larger system, no more robust system, no more flexible system for managing collateral valuation than the Mercury Network.

You can be ordering and managing your first appraisals in minutes.

Compare:  Traditional appraisal management companies

Have you looked at AMC platforms and don't really know where to begin?  Unlike most AMC platforms that are built for large lenders systems that don't interact well with real people, Mercury Network is built so that it's easy to configure and use.  You can setup your account and start placing appraisal orders immediately.  You can build your fee panel based on criteria that matter to you.  In the near future, you’ll even be able to import your existing fee panel and configure your custom appraisal review rules and each of these two things will take literally minutes.

Cost and risk management are primary concerns for every lender, but newer, scalable technology for appraiser panel management has become equally important.  Fortunately, the Mercury Network technology that many of the leading AMCs have enjoyed and depended on for years has been expanded and made available directly to lenders.  Our robust web-based technology platform connects lenders directly with their fee appraisers in a secure, firewalled environment. Best of all, all of the tools that today’s compliance-driven business demands are here. There's even a seamless connection to the sophisticated review engine that runs on the appraiser's desktop so the quality control checks are run prior to delivery to the lender's in-house staff.  Industry standard XML data is bundled in the original, unaltered report, and in the near future, our new Report Analytics will be bundled with each report providing detailed and custom market analysis which help underwriting teams make smarter decisions.

Lowering lender overhead, preserving appraisers' livelihoods
As a lender, you pay nothing to place an order. Appraisers are only charged if they accept the order. We've found that between $10-15 is applauded by appraisers. The alternative is that lenders can use an AMC which charges appraisers 40% or more of their fee, and as a natural by-product has a much smaller appraiser panel.

Click here to see Mercury's lender solution.
Click here to see Mercury's appraiser solutions.