Appraisal News and Appraisal Tips For Real Estate Appraisers - Your source for appraisal industry news, appraisers' opinions, and discussions of appraisal issues
You are not the boss over who does or does not do business in 'your area.' “Our investigation and the Board’s review concluded that the evidence did not reveal a violation of the Board’s laws and rules governing the practice of Real Estate Appraising. The Board has, therefore, closed the file in this matter.” That is how the most recent complaint against me ended. The ordeal began last spring. I have been called upon multiple times from my current clients to please be willing to go to a new area. It is an area with few appraisers, and there is...
The info below from AI’s Appraiser News OnLine is about the action taken by the AQB at their recent meeting in Seattle, WA, which I was unable to attend. It’s still unclear if “existing license holders” must undergo a background check at the time of their license renewal. Apparently that’s determined by individual states. And it’s still difficult to get all the multiple clients appraisers deal with, to accept “one” background check performed in a state or by a separate organization. So appraisers are sometimes faced with having to spend money to provide different background checks to individual clients. Frankly,...
I Did Not Quit when HVCC, UAD and CU Came Along. I Do Not Quit, Not Ever! I do not quit. Not ever. I have a different perspective based on lifelong lessons from my father. I did not quit when a lost helmet in the last play of the season made it painful to block during high school football. That effort got me my school letter despite being 3 quarters short. It was worth the headache. I did not quit Boot Camp in 1969 when at 129 pounds and six feet, very few thought I’d make it. To this day I...
Many agents have asked; “Does this square footage stuff really matter to me? Isn’t it more of an appraisal issue? Fair questions. Let’s take a look at one sale where the agent now understands just how square footage affects a listing value. It was a hard lesson in the importance of square footage, and one they will not soon forget.
Arizona will join a handful of states that don’t have an appraiser board or commission. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey on March 12 signed into law SB 1480, legislation that eliminates the Arizona Board of Appraisal effective July 1. The ABOA’s administrative functions will be reassigned to the Department of Financial Institutions. This provision was included in the state’s FY 2016 budget that passed the legislature March 7. Arizona will join a handful of states that don’t have an appraiser board or commission. According to the Executive Summary accompanying the Governor’s budget proposal, the action was necessary because the shrinking population...
Appraiser No More, Think I’ll be a Lawyer: it takes less time to get a law degree than to get an appraisal license. I heard from an old friend today that worked as an appraiser in Raleigh, NC for at least a dozen years. Shortly after 2009 and the HVCC, he (like so many others) started looking for career options. After appraisal reports kept requiring more and more pages, had more and more restrictions (far too many that were totally useless and had nothing to do with the home’s value), and his fees kept going down instead of up, he...
Why I’m Leaving Residential Appraisal – Dear AMC, Goodbye! The Law of Unintended Consequences is a law, like Murphy’s Law, which is always lurking in the background to foil the attempts we humans make to control the world around us. It is particularly true of government attempts to reduce crime. A couple of examples follow: I used to love air travel. I was a flight test engineer at Boeing and for many years I flew all over the world for both work and recreation. Then came the shoe bomber. Now I wait in long “security” lines while thousands of security...
Podcast a growing medium Podcasts are a growing medium for both education and entertainment. Research shows it has grown over 25% per year for the past few years. As an appraiser, I find myself spending a lot of time at my computer as well as traveling to and from appraisal inspections. I discovered podcasting about a year ago and have not turned on talk radio since. Podcasting allows me to specifically pick the topics I want to hear and listen to them when I have the time to listen. I love ‘em. Recently, a few friends of mine turned me...
I am quite familiar with the reasoning for providing confirmation of each section and detail within the original report… It appears that we, as an industry, have finally reached that all time high of stupidity in action. I was recently instructed by an appraisal management company to provide additional MLS sales on a grid to demonstrate market support for my opinion of value because I agreed with the origination appraisal. Had this been something other than a typical residential subdivision where the appraisal used sales from the same development, perhaps I would understand this requirement. Still, one wonders at what...
Appraisal Bias & Appraiser Pressure: Why All Appraisals are Always Wrong Real estate markets cooled down in the fourth quarter of 2014, and despite historically low interest rates, refinance volumes dropped as well. The increasing pressure on lenders and real estate agents to maintain loan and sales volumes has brought about renewed interest in appraisal accuracy and increasing concern that residential real estate appraisals are inflated. A recent Wall Street Journal article asserts that “home appraisers are inflating the values of some properties they assess (appraise), often at the behest of loan officers and real estate agents, in what industry...
