Tagged: neighborhood

Unaffordable Affordability? Avoiding the Cobra Effect - Appraisers Blogs 4

Unaffordable Affordability?

If we value higher, what about affordability?… A great deal of economic, social, and political talk has been around affordability of housing. To explore this topic, it may be helpful to ask some questions. Good policy starts with the right questions. In simplest terms, some people have the resources to have nice homes in nice neighborhoods, others have just tolerable homes for shelter. And others have no homes at all. We call them “home-less.” More recently, we have become aware of the connection of poor housing and groups of certain ethnic categories. Discovery. There is association between housing status and...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Federal Housing Finance Agency / FHFA

Who’s REALLY completing bifurcated/hybrid Reports? 14

Who’s REALLY Completing Hybrids?

Who’s REALLY completing bifurcated/hybrid appraisal reports? This essay has been “rattlin’ around my cranium” for a few months from the time I acquired two ‘case study’ report examples in early 2020. I’ve recently received a third bifurcated report, which has similar appraiser data. So now is a prime time to spill the beans, so to speak. Especially since FHFA, the conservator of Fannie and Freddie, is currently on a mission to “modernize the appraisal process.” They are seeking input from appraisers and other stakeholders who use appraisals. But first, as the infomercials say, there’s more! One ‘more’ concerns appraiser obligations...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Fannie Mae - Freddie Mac

Our Job Is to Observe & Report... Not to Commit Mortgage Fraud 25

Our Job Is to Observe & Report

Our job is to observe and report. For an appraiser to arbitrarily go into another area to get “comps” merely because it would result in a higher value is an act of fraud… Dear President Biden, Sir, I welcome your incoming administration, and my sincerest hopes and well wishes are extended to you in terms of healing in this nation. Additionally, as an appraiser, I welcome the desire for equality in housing opportunity in the United States, and if there is any bias in my profession, I support efforts to correct this. However, in watching your party’s position on race...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Fannie Mae - Freddie Mac / Political Action / Trending

Appraisal Racism... Fact or Fiction? Where is the Actual Evidence? 10

Appraisal Racism… Fact or Fiction?

Not one single point provides any evidence to the appraiser engaging in a racist act… No appraisal reports or actual evidence of racism has been produced by the accuser… Not one single case has been presented to the appraisal state boards… The real estate community is aware of the recent onslaught of articles going around accusing real estate appraisers of racism and appraising homes for less than what the actual homeowner thinks the home is worth. It started with Abena Horton in Jacksonville, FL Additional accusations were made in Chicago, Denver, and Newark, NJ. Each article written accuses the appraiser...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Automated Valuation Models

How Does the Presence of Sex Offenders Affect Appraised Value? 11

Sex Offenders & Appraised Value

“You know there is a half-way house for sex offenders in the neighborhood, don’t you? It’s about two blocks away from the subject”.. OK. You’re well and truly involved with your research on a job that’s already late. You think you’ve got all your due diligence-bases covered. But you call the broker to confirm on last detail and she asks you, “You know there is a half-way house for sex offenders in the neighborhood, don’t you? It’s about two blocks away from the subject”. Needless to say, you are taken aback! No, you had no clue there was such a facility two blocks away from...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice / USPAP

Biden Calls Out Racial Bias Among Appraisers 56

Biden Calls Out Racial Bias Among Appraisers

To counteract low appraisals in minority neighborhoods, Biden says he’ll push for training to address racial bias among appraisers… Appraisers, you might want to “take a gander” at this article in the link below, because it indicates possible/probable changes coming. I especially like the ‘extra training for appraisers’ to avoid discrimination/racial bias. Not. In other words, appraisers are at fault for lower values in certain neighborhoods which are not as highly valued as others, and so we must be indoctrinated to be more sensitive. Buckle up folks, as it’s going to be an interesting ride. Excerpt from Biden Admin and...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News / NAR / National Association of Realtors

Why is Only One Side of the Racism Claim Appraisal Story Being Told? 261

Why is Only One Side of This Story Being Told?

There are always two sides to every story; however, understanding is a three-edged sword: your side, their side, and the truth in the middle. Recently there has been a wave of news stories about racism in the appraisal profession brought on by a couple in Jacksonville, Florida. That couple, Abena Horton, a black woman, and her husband Alex Horton, a white male, made claims that an appraiser who first appraised their home came in low on the appraisal due to her race. You can read one of the numerous stories here. Before anyone here accuses me of being racist etc.,...

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

Pictures in Private Neighborhoods Can be Tricky 11

Photos in Gated Communities Can be Tricky

Let’s talk about assignments in private neighborhoods, gated communities, or secure communities. Rich folks buy, sell, and refinance their homes, too, so they need appraisals. You have an assignment in a security community. There is security at the entrances, you must be on security’s authorized visitor list to get in, and your permission to enter this private community extends solely to visit your subject. So, here is the question: while inside this gated, secure community, do you also drive around and take photos of the comps? Now, even though you are reading this, I can see you looking at me...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News

Until Census Data is Made Illegal in Appraisals, There will Be Discrimination 5

Use of Census Data in AVM & Discrimination

Every single appraisal any of us do has a census tract number as a required element. There are no exceptions for federally regulated transactions. Even where no bias or prejudice is intended, language that the PC Police have ascribed as being ‘potentially racist, biased or prejudicial’ has long been prohibited. Buyers clearly do care and weight ‘neighborhood or school or special amenity neighborhoods’ in terms of ‘desirability’, but no appraiser can consider this. We are even prohibited from having people in pictures which could be indicative of race. It’s gotten so nuts that property owner’s own photos of religious icons,...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Automated Valuation Models / AVM / Valuation Technology

Biden's Claim of Racial Bias in Appraisals Faces Criticism from Appraisers 33

Biden Claims on Racial Bias in Appraisals

Over the past week or so, Presidential Candidate Joe Biden publicly called for more regulation and oversight over appraisers to combat racial bias. He specifically cited the Brookings Institute Study ”The Devaluation of Assets in Black Neighborhoods, The Case of Residential Property”. If you are unfamiliar with this study, in a nutshell, the findings accuse appraisers of undervaluing properties in black neighborhoods. The study is an easy read and can be found here. We will warn you, much of the data used in the study carries very little weight as Census Bureau (self-reported data) and information from Zillow were used....

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

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