Tagged: data

Appraisers Destroying Goliath's Messaging 35

Appraisers Destroying Goliath’s Messaging

Goliath’s strength is in his messaging. It is appraisers who are destroying the message.  The seeming destruction of the appraisal profession by the federal government, GSEs and lending stakeholders is a collective action problem. Appraisers are responding to new GSE and lending dictates with reactions based on our own personal well-being. Not enough people speak up or stand up to change the trajectory of the narrative. Or so it seems. Appraisal waivers, hybrid appraisals, automated valuation models, all based on the last 13 years of data collection by an entity I will call Goliath has created a paradoxical inversion of...

Finding of Bias in Home Valuations Fails by Own Measure 34

Finding of Bias in Home Valuations Fails by Own Measure

To the surprise of no one, their redacted study found that what Perry et al. had characterized as race-based differences in home valuations were almost entirely due to socio-economic status, not racial bias by real estate appraisers. In an updated refutation of the findings of Brookings Institution researcher Andre Perry, Edward Pinto and Tobias Peter of the AEI Housing Center demonstrated just how broken the Brookings research was. Perry’s 2018 research, titled “The Devaluation of Assets in Black Neighborhoods,” pinned the nation’s racial wealth gap on 80,000 state-licensed real property appraisers. Unfortunately, these now-discredited findings have been levered by housing-industry...

Appraisal Bias - A Counterpoint 14

Appraisal Bias – A Counterpoint

It is a fact that 85% of appraisers are white with the majority of them being middle-age white men, although that is rapidly changing. The bias argument presupposes they are inherently more biased than women, Hispanic, African American, Asian, Pacific-islander, etc. We simply don’t have enough data to verify whether this is true or not. Therefore, as the argument goes, white appraisers must be biased. Just as there are more black NFL players in professional football it follows that the majority of touchdowns will be scored and fumbles made by a black player. We can, and should, encourage more diversity...

Garbage Data In Means Garbage Results Out Every Time! 24

AVMs… Garbage In, Garbage Out

Garbage data in means garbage results out every time!  It’s no secret that AVMs have been a thorn in the side of real estate appraisers since they first came out. Despite all their bells and whistles, these automated valuation models still rely on inaccurate public records and often come up with wildly inaccurate home values. Unfortunately, some consumers don’t realize this until it’s too late – when reality comes crashing down from a local real estate professional after they’ve already gotten their hopes up about their home value thanks to an AVM. Yesterday, a Virginia assessor emailed us with an...

ASC Data Breach Involving Social Security Numbers 8

ASC Data Breach Involving Social Security Numbers

On October 13, 2022, the Appraisal Subcommittee discovered a data breach that occurred on the new ASC.gov website. The incident involved Social Security Numbers. They made an announcement on January 24, 2023 and have contacted all State Appraiser Regulatory Agencies concerning the data breach. They are also notifying all individuals whose Personal Identifiable Information had potential for exposure. Those appraisers who could have had their data exposed will be offered credit monitoring to prevent identity theft. The Appraisal Subcommittee (ASC) is contacting all State Appraiser Regulatory Agencies concerning a data breach that occurred on the ASC.gov website. Please note: This...

House Measurement by Property Data Collector Gone Wrong 142

House Measurement by Property Data Collector Gone Wrong

The lender allowed an unlicensed property data collector give bad data to the appraiser… I work for this lender and they will not let my trainee inspect. The owners are now underwater by more than $100,000…  I’m sad and I’m mad! I recently took on a measure job for a client who was questioning the square footage of their home. The couple bought the house at the height of the market last year. They paid 12% over list price to get the house. They put an appraisal waiver in the contract which meant they could not walk away if the...

Bringing More People Into a Dying Profession! 84

Bringing More People Into a Dying Profession!

Some people want to bring more people (primarily of color, which is great) into a dying profession. But the profession is being killed off by (mostly white!) people who think technology is the golden spoon to accurate valuations.  Appraisers, I’ve been studying, and writing about since 2006, all kind of issues surrounding our profession, and frankly some currently does not make sense. As many know, ‘we’ have been accused of not having “enough black people” in appraiser ranks. The claim is that blacks only represent 3% or so of the total population of appraisers. The people engaged in blaming appraisers...

Visualizing Market Activity Using Graphs & Trendlines 4

Visualizing Market Activity Using Graphs & Trendlines

Spreadsheets and graphs are powerful tools for appraisers. With proper data, and incorporated into reports, they can enhance your professionalism and decision-making ability.  Appraisers, this article will highlight the process I use to bring clarity to my research and analysis of ‘comparable’ properties. This completed process becomes an exhibit in all my appraisal reports because it helps the Intended User(s) visually see what the market has been doing over a known time period. The exhibit graph also indicates a daily rate of change for the sales over the time period, which can then be applied as a ‘time’ (market) adjustment...

How to Destroy the Appraisal Profession: Government 101 45

How to Destroy the Appraisal Profession

Anytime the government gets involved in an issue, it tends to have more adverse effects than positive ones. It makes things worse when they only have their plan in mind and NOT the FACTS from the people they are about to hurt. This is especially true in the Real Estate Appraisal profession and the newly introduced H.R. Bill entitled: Fair Appraisal and Inequity Reform Act of 2022. It’s essential to bring some information that not one person in the government or the people they are getting information from is talking about. First let’s step into my time machine and go...

Appraisers Are Ultimately Liable for Data Collected by Third Parties 25

Appraisers Liable for Third Parties Data

Ultimately the appraiser is responsible and liable for data collected by third parties. There has been a lot of discussion and debate among appraisers around liability issues for data collected by third parties for hybrid and desktop appraisals. On April 22, 2022, the Maryland Commission of Real Estate Appraisers cautioned its appraisers that they are responsible for the data they rely upon. Hello Maryland Appraiser: It has come to the attention of the Maryland Commission of Real Estate Appraisers, Appraisal Management Companies, and Home Inspectors (“Commission”) that there may be confusion over where a supervising appraiser and trainee are supposed...

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