Unlock Cost and Time Savings in Home Equity Lending

Are you relying too heavily on full appraisals for your home equity loans? You’re not alone—and it’s costing you. Many lenders default to using full appraisals on 80% or more of their home equity volume. But best-in-class lenders are moving toward a smarter, more efficient valuation mix—reducing full appraisal usage to 20% or less while leveraging hybrids, evaluations, and AVMs/PCRs.

This shift delivers:

• Lower costs: Save hundreds per loan by aligning products to risk profiles.
• Faster turn times: AVMs and PCRs return results in hours—not days—keeping borrowers happy.
• Sustained compliance: All products are compliant with Interagency Guidelines.

Why Optimize Your Valuation Mix?

The home equity market has evolved. Today’s valuation technology offers a range of solutions—from instant AVMs to full appraisals—that balance speed, cost, and compliance. Using the right tool for each loan means you don’t overpay for unnecessary full appraisals or delay closings with long turn times. Our analysis of 40,000+ home equity loans shows most lenders could save tens or even hundreds of thousands annually by optimizing their product mix.

How CSS Can Help

At CSS, we’re an unbiased advisor and a one-stop shop for valuation solutions. We help lenders:

• Evaluate current product usage
• Benchmark against best practices
• Build workflows that automatically assign the right valuation product for each loan
• Access best-in-class products from multiple vendors in one integrated platform