Tagged: neighborhood

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,...

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....

Time Saving Shortcuts Undermines Our Profession. Skip the Comp Photos 53

Skipping Comp Photos, Suicidal Shortcuts

I refuse to undermine my own profession by pretending that time saving shortcuts are always acceptable just because they are ‘more modern and progressive’. I know how long it takes to produce USPAP compliant, credible appraisal results. I charge accordingly for my time. I make no effort to compete on fees with half assed hybrids, evaluations, or single approach partially performed field work. Respectfully, neither should anyone else. Please stop undermining our own profession…. Recently The Appraiser Coach posted an article and links to a podcast suggesting its no longer necessary to photograph our comparable sales. I wrote a counter...

Failure to Inspect & Photograph Comps Backfires on Appraisers 52

Appraisers, did you Shoot yourself in the Foot?

When I explain the rules many of the appraisers start complaining: “An MLS photograph depicts the house at the time it sold so it’s more accurate than my photograph would be”… There’s a lot of yelling and screaming about bifurcated appraisals. Unfortunately, appraisers may have shot themselves in the foot when it comes to this issue. Allow me to provide an analogy to help explain the issue. I’m not sure if this happens in other areas of the country but in Seattle there is a strange “left leaning” way they do things: State and Federal governments perform numerous traffic studies, to...

Property Selection for analysis & Statistics in Appraisals - Appraisers Blogs 11

Property Selection for Analysis & Statistics

The importance of proper property selection and ‘statistics’ in appraisals… Appraisers, I would like to direct you to info written by Mr. George Dell in his latest blog post circulated on July 3, 2019. This is one of the best explanations I’ve seen him write on this topic, of how to select and analyze properties when doing appraisals, and why correct ‘statistics’ presented in reports is important. I first became aware of the importance of proper property selection and ‘statistics’ when I attended an appraiser’s training class in 2008 in Las Vegas. The primary speakers were Mr. David Braun and Mr. Patrick...

Should Appraisers Study Statistics? - Beyond the Old Inferential Statistics 11

Should Appraisers Study Statistics?

Yet what was (and still is) presented in appraiser education is the old inferential statistics. Difficult statistics. Convoluted statistics. Statistics for appraisers started to become a hot topic some 15+ years ago. I was more involved with the Appraisal Institute then, and often argued that with the changes in data sources — appraisers would have to learn to apply statistics. Around 2003, the AQB (Appraiser Qualifications Board) revised qualifying education to include the requirement for Finance, Statistics, and Valuation Modeling class. Although I was not solicited to write this class, I was put on the development team, which reviewed and suggested edits and improvements. The...

Is Race Baked into Big Data? Who's Regulating Big Data When It Errs? 18

Is Race Baked into Big Data?

Chicago appraiser and friend (even though she calls me “fancy pants”) writes a stellar explanation of what an appraiser actual does – and what one of the panel experts got completely wrong because he didn’t understand our role in the mortgage process: Greetings Congresswoman Waters, Chairman Clay, Ranking Member Duffy, Ranking Member Gooden, and the Members of the Housing Subcommittee: My name is Maureen Sweeney, and I am a real estate appraiser. I grew up in a real estate family and lived through the savings and loan crisis of the 1980’s, which had a profound impact on my life. I...

Race Never Considered... Emerging Narrative of Appraisers Being Racists 75

Appraisers Don’t Use Race

Appraisers don’t use race… Race is NEVER considered during a valuation Last week in a congressional hearing on the future of the appraisal profession, some research was used to suggest appraisers are showing racial bias and essentially undervaluing black neighborhoods. I was not expecting the conversation to go that way during the hearing and I’ll admit I’m deeply concerned about the emerging narrative of appraisers being racists… In the congressional hearing a panelist talked about a study that shows black neighborhoods are devalued by $48,000 compared to otherwise similar white neighborhoods. That’s alarming and society needs to have some serious...

Different Properties on the Same Form? Are you Appraising the Bulk... 12

Different Properties on the Same Form?

Are you appraising the retail values of 10 sites to 10 different owners? Are you appraising the bulk or discounted market value of the 10 sites to a single purchaser? Can the Same Form Have More Than One Property on it? Lots of folks have asked me, “Dustin, can I appraise two different properties on the same appraisal report at the same time?”. Now understand I am not a USPAP instructor, I am an appraiser, so I’m going to answer this question as best I can. The question before us is legitimate, and one which I had to answer recently....

Let's Get Those Pesky Appraisers Out of the Way! Hybrid Appraisals Part 5 22

Robust & Precise Inspections – Hybrids V

No more pesky appraisers blowing up sales commissions & bonuses & salaries… A “hybrid” appraisal is a new name for where the property inspection is separated from the analysis and appraiser’s certification. It is faster and cheaper and… This is Part 5 of a (soon to be, so far) six part discussion of Hybrid Appraisals. Part One, Two, Three, and Four are behind these links. Many years ago, I had several trainees, and as each gained experience and competence going out with me, I first let them inspect homogeneous neighborhoods, with me driving by on the outside to check on locational and optimal use issues. In time, they did...

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