Tagged: comparables

Line Item Adjustments for Every Little Difference? 8

Bugged About Adjustments

Illogical line item adjustments… Appraisers, I’ve recently ‘come in contact with’, in a semi-official capacity, a recently completed appraisal report. In looking at the adjustment grid pages for 5 comps, items jumped out at me. These do not appear logical. All comps, except one, have sale or list prices at even thousand dollar figures = $XXX,000. The one is $XXX,950. These are pretty typical in our market. Very seldom do we see these in odd numbers, unless the listing agent is trying to be cute, and buyers accept the oddity. For line item adjustments in the report, the appraiser has...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News

They are mad! Have You Got the Integrity to Be an Appraiser? 11

Have You Got the Integrity to Be an Appraiser?

We’re talking about downright mad… Appraising real estate is a tough job, even under the best of circumstances. There are too many occasions where every person involved in the transaction is upset and all eyes are focused on you. Even if you’ve done the best appraisal of your career, had perfect comps, and though you did a great job that no one could argue with; argue they do and at the end of the day, you are the only person screwing up the deal for everyone involved. And, we’re not talking about being a little upset. We’re talking about downright...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News

GLA Adjustment & Pizza Slices – They Do correlate! 22

GLA Adjustments & Pizza Slices – They Do Correlate!

Determining the GLA Adjustment in Appraisal Reports I promised in a previous post I’d send out my method for determining the GLA adjustment in appraisal reports. Goodness! Appraisers actually found that statement buried in the prior post, and have ‘rung my chimes’ requesting this info! OK, but first, the pizza analogy. I often tell clients and other appraisers that appraising (residential) real estate is far more complex than grabbing a store-bought pre-boxed pizza (that has exactly the same ingredients from box to box no matter which store you shop in) at a grocery and then applying 425 degrees of love...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Collateral Underwriter / CU / Fannie Mae - Freddie Mac

When Residential Appraisers Fail to Bracket 5

There Go My Brackets

When appraisers fail to bracket… Forget college hoops and all of the upsets. This is about the upsets that occur when residential appraisers fail to bracket. Say that your subject property has a contract for $102,900. Ideally your three sales should surround the contract price like a cozy, warm blanket. Comp #1 might end up, after adjustments, at $100,000. Comp #2 might reach $102,500 and Comp #3 might conclude at $104,000. Yay! All you need is a pretty bow and you can deliver a lovely report to your client. But…it really doesn’t work that way on most days. Does it?...

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

Incorrect 1004MC Form Trend Reporting 22

Incorrect 1004MC Form Trend Reporting

Appraisers, I have ‘come in contact with’ an appraisal report, produced by a Certified appraiser and its Licensed Trainee – working in the area near my office. It’s clear to me that these two appraisers do not understand trend reporting that this form indicates. By the way, I’m no great fan of the MC form. However, since we are required to use it, we better darn well learn to use it properly. Report what the trends on it show and not something obtained from elsewhere, sometimes called “PFA.” If we don’t, or choose to ignore what the form shows, then the ENTIRE...

1004MC / Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Fannie Mae - Freddie Mac / Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice

Dreaded Fannie Mae Certified Letter Regarding Condition Ratings - Imagecredit Flickr - Mehta12 32

Dreaded FNMA Letter RE Condition Ratings

Certified Letter From Fannie Mae Regarding Condition Ratings And then it happens, the moment we all know is coming – the dreaded certified letter from Fannie Mae. My door bell rings and the mailman is standing on my porch with pen in hand.  Now don’t get me wrong, we have all been warned. They have the super computer comparing all of us and if you are the outlier you’re getting notified!  If a majority of Appraisers give a specific house a certain rating and you disagree, you must be wrong – BOOM – letter.  I assume this is the case as I...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisal Quality Monitoring / Appraisers News / AQM / Collateral Underwriter

The "Property Prices Reach All Time High" Hype - Imagecredit Flickr - FaceMePLS 2

The “Property Prices Reach All Time High” Hype

“Property Prices Reach an All-Time High” Oh really? The subject line is a press release headline put out by a national sales organization. Do you buy into the hype, or do you actually do local comparable property market research to verify trends? I just completed an appraisal on a property I appraised 2 years ago. I did a 5 year market study on comparables then, and found the market for that type of property had been DECLINING at that time. I did another 5 year market study on this same property this time around. And guess what? The property values for this type...

1004MC / Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News

What is Gross Living Area and What Does it Include 29

What is Gross Living Area (GLA)?

What is Gross Living Area and What Does it Include? Appraisers, There are certain properties where aspects of Gross Living Area (GLA) might not be obvious. It’s more confusing when the selling real estate agents lump all “living space” together, because that’s what they are selling, or when the county assessor includes basements with upper level areas. These include homes with a detached ADU, additional rec room or sleeping space above a garage, additional living space with roof attached to the primary dwelling via covered breezeway, basement living spaces with separate entry, etc. Fannie Mae has a giant book called...

American Measurement Standard / American National Standards Institute / AMS / ANSI / Appraisal / Appraisal News

Appraisers - The Reason You Have No Business Functional Obsolescence - Imagecredit Flickr - Howard Lake 16

Appraisers – The Reason You Have No Business: Functional Obsolescence

Functional obsolescence is the reason many appraisers are going out of business. On a daily basis, appraisers moan: “It’s because of the HVCC that my business is down” or “that AMC or X or Y or Z caused my income to decline.” Really? Are you sure? So, why is my company buried in business and you’re not? We’ve all heard about blacksmiths being out of work; Seems the use of horses has declined. And the need for typewriter repairmen, the demand just isn’t what it was 20 years ago. The people in these jobs failed to adapt; Maybe appraiser are having the same problem....

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

An appraisal is not THE opinion of value - Imagecredit Flickr - takomabibelot 0

An Appraisal is not THE Opinion of Value

My opinion of value is well-supported… Some of you are going to need to hang up your ego hats for this one. You know who you are. I see you hanging out on the online appraisal forums. You are the ones who do not just have an opinion, but THE opinion. Don’t worry, I will let you put it back on before I am done. As appraisers, we are often asked a question similar to this, “Why can two professionals appraise the same property, yet come up with two different values?” It is an excellent question, and one that has...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News

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