Appraisal News and Appraisal Tips For Real Estate Appraisers - Your source for appraisal industry news, appraisers' opinions, and discussions of appraisal issues

Go away appraisers 15

Go Away, Appraisers…

“Do they just want us to go away?” Appraisers Feeling Like Travis… Does anyone remember the Pepsi commercial awhile back that featured Jeff Gordon getting revenge on a guy named Travis from Jalopnik? Watch the commercial below to refresh your memory if you don’t. “Stop sir! This never works! Stop”! Travis yells from the back seat! As Travis’ car was being chased, Travis knew that what was going on wasn’t logical and didn’t make any sense, and it made even less sense to him that his driver didn’t stop the car right away. What Travis didn’t know was, his driver...

AIR Statement - Revision Requests 6

AIR Statement & Revision Requests

AIR Statement & Changes to a Completed Report I would like some of the experts to comment on the following: Scenario Here is a scenario: The lender request that the appraiser include an AIR statement in the completed report. Sometimes they even have a preprinted statement that you must include in the report. The appraiser completes the report and includes the required AIR statement. The AMC reviews the appraisal and send back a revision request. They want comp # 4 removed from the appraisal. Maybe they provide you with another sale that they want you to include in the report....

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Safe Room Adjustment in Appraisals

Use of a Safe Room has Increased by Property Owners Appraisers, If you’re doing a standard 1004 SFR, or 1073 condo (or perhaps a Co-op), report and encounter a “Safe Room“, you might need to add that to one of the extra adjustable component lines on the grid. The trick however, is how do you determine the value of such a safe room and apply a proper adjustment? I suspect they vary in size, interior amenities, vault door construction, and bazooka stopping power of their perimeter wall structure. I dunno! If encountered, I think I’d call Jonathan Miller, who is...

Computer Generated Value vs Human Brain 1

Computer Generated Value vs Human Brain

Around 1992, representatives of LSI (long before they became completely useless as an AMC) visited us in California to discuss some way to involve automation (as in AVMs) to eliminate appraisals. When I pointed out that they had JUST THANKED me for saving them from a quarter of a million dollars over valuation as a result of pressure from one of their very influential customers, and that the very same issue had arisen from that customers misapplication of data AND their potential misinterpretation of that data, they understood the connection. A KNOWLEDGEABLE human appraiser was required to resolve the difference....

Appraisal Standards should age like fine wine 8

Appraisal Standards Should Age Like Fine Wine

Changes in Appraisal Standards? We have barely got into the “New” 2016-2017 copy of USPAP and the ASB is meeting on February 19, 2016 to discuss making changes to the 2018-2019 edition of USPAP. Here is part of what I have written to the ASB. I believe it should be the duty of every appraiser to write to the Foundation and any board that is contemplating making changes. You have that right, and they will read your comments. Letter to ASB: I have been a real estate appraiser since the mid 1980’s and prior to mandatory licensure. I have been...

Chief appraiser says AVM is an appraisal 14

Chief Appraiser says AVM is an appraisal

Appraisers, Maybe I’m too much of an anal retentive type person, or perhaps it’s because I believe it’s important to use correct terminology. Regardless, I’m very concerned when someone with Chief Appraiser attached to their name attributes an AVM electronic value statement to an actual appraisal opinion produced by a human. So where did this rant come from, you ask? Future of Valuations Marries Automation and Human Instinct Within the article is this statement by the writer: “While AVMs do hold value — they are a cost-effective, fast tool to produce appraisals — the popularity of AVM usage among home...

Bank profits - Get rid of appraisers 11

Bank Profits: Eliminate Appraisers

Zestimate Gone Wrong. It all comes down to money and profits…

Once again the Zestimate has a home-owner up in arms. In a small town in North Carolina a home just sold for $20,000. It was listed at $55,000, then reduced to $45,000, and finally sold in 2015 for $20,000. Safe to say it needed a little TLC.

It was a shell in need of, well everything. But, we have to remember that automated valuation services don’t know anything about condition or circumstances. Before the house was listed for sale, the owner (from a different state) thought they had inherited a nice little nest egg. Not a fortune, but if it was close to the Zestimate, they would have quite a nice amount to play with…

AMCs vs Public Interest - VaCAP Advocacy 29

AMC vs Public Interest – VaCAP Advocacy

Since the beginning, Federal Regulation of the industry was initiated to “protect the public. “ FIRREA, USPAP, HVCC, Dodd Frank and state licensing of appraisers and appraisal management companies were initiated with consumer protection as the goal. Customary and reasonable fees, mandated by Dodd Frank, are also to protect the consumer. The Virginia Coalition of Appraiser Professionals supports customary and reasonable fees and believes in order to determine a customary and reasonable fee all things associated must be considered and incorporated into the determination. The below practices by AMC’s are not in the interest of protecting public trust and go...

Appraiser Expert Witness Issue 2

Appraiser Expert Witness Issue

Discovery of Draft Expert Witness Reports (Draft Appraisals) in State Court – a Chart Appraiser Michael Brunson, SRA, MNAA, and I recently wrote an article for the Appraisal Institute‘s 4th Quarter 2015 edition of Valuation entitled “Getting Ready for Expert Witness Work: 10 Practice Pointers.” One of the pointers is that while the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (Rule 26) now generally protect a retained expert witness’s draft reports (e.g., draft appraisals) from discovery by the opposing party, appraisers need to understand that if a litigation is pending in state court and thus subject to the state’s rules of civil...

Tax Appeal Work 9

Tax Appeal Work & Appraisers

Taxing the System – Tax Appeal The Department receives a number of appraisal complaints related to property tax assessment appeals each and every year. While most originate with assessors and boards of review, some come from appellants themselves. The most frequent complaint involves alleged undervaluation and advocacy on the part of the appraiser. The local assessor or board of review will allege that the appraiser deliberately omitted more relevant sales by “cherry-picking” distressed sales or choosing sales from inferior locations. Appraisers are not hired guns by counsel. Advocacy is a career-killer. Unlicensed practice is the next most frequent complaint. There...

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