Just getting my big toe in the mobile ocean… Appraisers, For those of you interested to learn how to ‘sketch’ using a la mode’s Total for Mobile Sketch (T4M) on a tablet or phone, the attached PDF might be of interest to you. I’m a greenhorn, just getting my big toe in the mobile ocean and could not find a user guide for T4M Sketch, except as ‘single pages’ on the a la mode web site. I turned in a Support Request asking if such a guide was available. Turns out they don’t have a self-contained guide. So the support tech got...
Lenders are having a problem finding enough appraisers to fulfill the number of ‘alternative’ reports… This is my follow-up to the previous essay about FIVE different types of ‘hybrid’ reports. You need to know some background about why I’m writing about this. I’m acquainted with a highly skilled appraiser/instructor of 40+/- years in the trenches. I had the pleasure of meeting this appraiser in glitter gulch in 2008, again in 2013, and we have stayed in touch over the years. I greatly respect this appraiser’s opinions and willingness to contribute cogent remarks in-person, when teaching, and via various forum posts, etc....
“…after forty years of studying markets, I got it wrong…” As time goes on, the one thing that appears to be both a societal and financial markets constant, is our inability to learn from our past mistakes. Late, a couple of nights ago (10/23/17), while channel surfing, I happened on an economics program intended to explain the financial crisis of 2008. My apologies for referring to a programming without its name or network. Instead, I had to consider the person who was the primary focal point of the program: Hyman Minsky (see link to The Economist here). Before reading the...
Big data comps sharing assisting appraisers… I admit to having a dog in the fight. Maybe even a pony, camel, or even a pure bred Clydesdale horse… On 10/09/2017, the owner of alamode software informed customers of a significant new change in how ‘comps’ can be added to a current report – which will be implemented sometime early next year. Read his message here. This is significant because the ability of ‘Big Data’ is being put to work ASSISTING appraisers, rather than being withheld from us as is done with the GSE’s highly touted Collateral Underwriter – even though ‘we’...
The image above is not a part of the Appraisal Technology Special Report “Across the street from a house are two vacant lots. Zillow thinks one of them is worth $16K and the other one’s worth $169K. You can see them on the aerial view here.” I was recently asked by professional peers if I would read and comment on a Special Report published by ValuationReview, with the introduction penned by Mike Holzheimer, Editor. This Special Report may be downloaded here. Let’s be clear up front. I was not asked because of my proficiency with grammar, punctuation or even my...
Assignments Funneled Back Through HouseCanary & Your Data Appraisers, CU from the GSE’s was thrust on appraisers in 2011. Since then, the giant sink hole designed by the ‘enterprises’ has gobbled up millions of home data elements. And in some cases, this data has been used AGAINST appraisers – who have no direct access to it, even though ‘we’ are the ones supplying the data. But they are not the only entity doing this. A company named ‘HouseCanary’ has also been amassing more millions of data points about US properties. During 2017, HouseCanary has had $64 MILLION dollars of investor funding...
Weighting Process & Gridding of Comparable Sales Couple of weeks ago, I sent out a survey to NW WA State appraisers asking how they organize the comps grid page(s) on completed reports. Of the appraisers emailed, approximately 10% responded. Thank you. I did a limited distribution to keep my compiling time to a minimum, but I wanted to share the results with appraisers across the country as an FYI. I also sent a similar query to review appraisers I know. I offered 6 possible ways to do the grid, but as often happens, several appraisers wrote back saying they did it differently...
Is the FTC asserting that FNMA is exempt from antitrust laws? I don’t think of myself as being obtuse, nor do I think those that know me well would consider me to be particularly slow of wit or comprehension. Despite this, I’m truly confused by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) attorneys response to the American Guild of Appraiser (AGA) email letter we sent them. The first sentence states “The federal antitrust laws prohibit anticompetitive mergers and business practices that seek to prevent hard-driving competition, such as monopolistic conduct, attempts to monopolize, and conspiracies and combinations that harm competition and consumers.”...
Big Corporations like CoreLogic are like sharks… This morning, as I do every morning, I made some coffee and began work on one of the two appraisal reports that were soon to be due. The first was for an AMC known as Speedy Title and Appraisal Review Services. This appraisal management company is owned by CoreLogic. From their website “CoreLogic is an Irvine, CA based corporation providing financial, property and consumer information, analytics and business intelligence. The company analyzes information assets and data to provide clients with analytics and customized data services. The company also develops proprietary research, and tracks...
If the ‘story’ can be told using 3 comps, why are 4 or more really necessary? Folks, As you are probably aware, all of our appraisal reports receive an initial examination electronically. There are a number of businesses which have written and provide to the industry various types of ‘rules check software.’ This actually began in the early 1980’s by the appraisal computer software pioneers who wrote programs to ‘check’ reports for inconsistencies. I just learned about one such ‘rules check’ company, and the results they’ve seen using their software – below. They even admit to users that the users can ‘mine’ reports...
