Category: Appraisal News

COVID-19 Pandemic and Exterior Appraisals - Appraisers Blogs 64

COVID-19 Pandemic & Exterior Appraisals

Everyone, not just appraisers is getting bombarded with information on COVID-19. So much of the information differs, it is hard to know what is real, hype or hysteria. So much has been shared within the appraisal groups on social media that there are more conversations about COVID-19 then appraisals. VaCAP is a volunteer organization of appraiser professionals. We are not medical professionals and are just as confused as most of you. Each and every one of us is different. We have different levels of health and different people living in our homes; some may have compromised immune systems, some maybe...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News / Trending / VaCAP

A Flipper Transaction - Appraisal vs AVMs... Are AVMs Reliable? 3

Appraisal vs AVMs

…the ‘flipper’ realized that the list and contract price was way too high… I just saw an article titled “Realor.com now providing third-party home valuations” about Realtor.com now using a ‘new’ service to provide a home value. Just for grins, I thought I’d do this essay using one of my recent assignments for the case study, which was in Bellingham, WA. The home was undergoing renovations by a ‘flipper’, and it had a signed contract for a high $$ amount. The report was written ‘subject to’ completion of the repairs/renovations. During the initial inspection, the ‘flipper’ was present and doing...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Automated Valuation Models / AVM

Unsolicited Appraisal Request - Don’t Be Afraid to Charge Your Worth 15

Unsolicited Appraisal Request

…an unsolicited appraisal request instructing payment be collected at the door… Well who said 2020 would be a nice calm year for appraisers? VaCAP has been receiving messages from appraisers about some of the crazy dumb stuff lenders and amcs are doing. What is scary is the things we are hearing are very reminiscent of 12-15 years ago. A long time VaCAP member forwarded an appraisal request to us he received via Mercury Network. All was good with the order, turn time, fee; all good except for one little issue, payment was to be collected at the door from the...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News

Appraisal Inspection Procedures & Protocols 64

Appraisal Inspection Procedures & Protocols

The industry needs to discuss the coronavirus issue and how to conduct inspections. I set up an inspection a few days ago using the Procedures & Protocols form below and this is how I handled it. I called the listing agent and tactfully told him that we had to discuss this Coronavirus issue … that I had a family member with a compromised health situation and that we had to presume the virus was already within our community. Then I explained to him that I inspect a lot of homes every week and that normally involves touching a lot of...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Federal Housing Administration / FHA / Trending

Biden's Claim of Racial Bias in Appraisals Faces Criticism from Appraisers 33

Biden Claims on Racial Bias in Appraisals

Over the past week or so, Presidential Candidate Joe Biden publicly called for more regulation and oversight over appraisers to combat racial bias. He specifically cited the Brookings Institute Study ”The Devaluation of Assets in Black Neighborhoods, The Case of Residential Property”. If you are unfamiliar with this study, in a nutshell, the findings accuse appraisers of undervaluing properties in black neighborhoods. The study is an easy read and can be found here. We will warn you, much of the data used in the study carries very little weight as Census Bureau (self-reported data) and information from Zillow were used....

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News

Coronavirus Will Cause Our Next Recession - A Black Swan has Appeared 25

Coronavirus Will Cause Our Next Recession

A Black Swan has Appeared – Coronavirus will cause Our Next Recession In a previous post entitled The Black Swan published in August, 2019, I wrote, “though more common now, especially in Australia, Europe, and Asia, black swans (Cygnus atratus) were once thought to be almost extinct… so rare that a sighting of one was considered to be an unexpected, improbable event. Today, The Black Swan is a metaphor for an unpredictable, unforeseen, random event, typically one with extreme consequences. Today’s best technology cannot predict their cause or emergence. The only thing we know for certain is that someday, somewhere,...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Trending

Sharestates Seeks to Overturn NY Appraiser-friendly Statute of Limitations 15

Lender Seeks to Overturn NY Appraiser-Friendly Statute of Limitations Law

Sharestates operates a crowdfunding platform that provides alternative mortgage lending secured by both residential and commercial real estate. Over the last 10 years, it has reported average annual returns for loan investors ranging from 9.24% to 11.02%. With returns like these, there is likely some loan risk – and Sharestates reports a current foreclosure rate of 2.44%. Following several of its foreclosures, Sharestates has filed professional negligence cases against about a dozen defendant appraisers, appraisal firms and appraisal management companies, blaming the loan losses on inflated appraisals. Last year, it lost one of those cases in a Nassau County, New...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News

Report Finds Connection Between Student Housing Values and Elite College Football Programs 0

Connection Between Student Housing Values & Elite College Football Programs

If you watched the 2020 college football national championship contest, you probably weren’t thinking about investment properties as LSU handed Clemson a 42-25 whipping. But maybe you will during next year’s title game… Universities with big time college football programs also have valuable student housing. That was the finding of a recent report issued by CBRE. The commercial real estate giant discovered schools with high-profile football teams have experienced boosted enrollment in recent years. The influx causes student housing demand to increase, and along with it, property values. Newer student housing builds resemble traditional multifamily in terms of function and...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News

Final Inspection When Not the Original Appraiser - Appraisers Blogs 29

Final When You’re Not the Original Appraiser

When You Complete a Final and Were Not the Original Appraiser First of all, let’s clear the air of any initial confusion that could be potentially floating around out there. It is absolutely okay for an appraiser to complete a final for a property when they were not the original appraiser on the original report. It is perhaps slightly more unusual, but completely ethical. However, there are a few issues that an appraiser could potentially run into if they are completing a final for a report where they were not the original appraiser. I am going to talk about one...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Federal Housing Administration / FHA / Trending

Appraisers CASH the Darn Check! - Appraisers Blogs 52

CASH the Darn Check!

…AMC in question is refusing to allow new vendor appraisers to accept fee payments by check… Appraisers, I had an interesting conversation with a Chief Appraiser at a prominent AMC today (and no, you don’t have to berate or chastise me for using that expression) who told me they have a real problem with appraisers FAILING TO CASH FEE PAYMENT CHECKS! This news was absolutely stunning to hear. It is incredulous to me that people who claim to be ‘professional’ in their work, can’t figure out how to take a piece of paper with their business name on it and...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Trending

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