Tagged: neighborhood

Suburban Inside Urban City Limits 26

Suburban Inside Urban City Limits – Really?

Pre-filled template with ‘Suburban’ already checked… Appraisers, Another appraisal report was delivered by a homing pigeon to my windowsill the other day. After leaving a ‘deposit’ on the sill that kind of matches the goop I observed in the report, off it went. The subject property is within a built-up neighborhood area within the largest city in this particular area; it is within city limits. The neighborhood was developed in the 1950’s and 60’s. It is fully built out (i.e., all subdivided lots are developed) and has a couple of neighborhood parks. Population density is similar to other areas within...

Rules Check Software 6

Rules Check Software

If the ‘story’ can be told using 3 comps, why are 4 or more really necessary? Folks, As you are probably aware, all of our appraisal reports receive an initial examination electronically. There are a number of businesses which have written and provide to the industry various types of ‘rules check software.’ This actually began in the early 1980’s by the appraisal computer software pioneers who wrote programs to ‘check’ reports for inconsistencies. I just learned about one such ‘rules check’ company, and the results they’ve seen using their software – below. They even admit to users that the users can ‘mine’ reports...

Purchase Price with an Appraised Value to Match? 15

Possible vs. Probable

Refusing to ‘rubber-stamp’ a purchase price with an appraised value to match. Recently, there was a news story out of Atlanta, highlighting an appraiser who had refused to ‘rubber-stamp’ a purchase price with an appraised value to match. What followed was an increasingly disturbing trend to find another appraiser who would. According to the story (which was full of holes and unknowns), the second appraiser ignored comps in the subject’s neighborhood and found sales in a superior location to help support the purchase price. This situation was talked about on social media and a man who identified himself as a...

Market conditions analysis 2

What Do You Suppose Might Have Caused This?

In my area, the Market Conditions data is basically worthless. Folks, One of the data analysis aspects I do in all reports is research sales trends of comparable properties, using MLS data, and making a graph to show report readers the actual market activity that has occurred over a long real estate cycle…usually 4-5 years back from the Effective Date. I use this to supplement, but not replace, the cruddy Market Conditions form, which poorly accounts for only 12 months of activity. In my area, the Market Conditions data is basically worthless. I’m sharing this because in the 8 years...

Market Action and Reaction 5

Market Action and Reaction

I believe it is time that we take a practical look at what a subject’s market is… Drawing on part of my heritage, the Native American Cherokee part, “Many Moons Ago” when I was employed as a Management Consultant/District Director for a Century 21 Franchisor, one of the challenges that I faced in dealing with over 50 separate brokerages was helping these often small brokerages define their markets. There was a theory that someone had come up with that it was about a 3 mile radius around their office. Well, in some cases that would have put some markets in...

Desirable - banned Fannie Mae words 10

Desirable, Rite or Rong?

Desirable, banned or permitted? I was caught up in a minor ‘dispute’ last week when a review appraiser wacked my knuckles when I described a ‘neighborhood’ as being “Desirable.” My original message was re-distributed on various forums and I’ve tried to read all comments to see how I might learn from this episode. Lots of appraisers offered their input. Some supportive and positive, some cautionary, and some who believe much of what we have to deal with is pretty trivial. “Banned words” were originally identified in the Fair Housing Act law many years ago (not the EEOC law as I...

Urban or Suburban 8

Urban… or Suburban?

Difference between Urban and Suburban locations Appraisers, Last week, I asked your input regarding why in many cases appraisers check suburban in the Neighborhood Characteristics when often the subject’s location is actually an Urban area (at least from the definitions perspective below). The example I used was from an actual report. The subject property is located within a city of 90,000 population. It has typical urban services, including police and fire protection, utility water deliver and sewer service. It is surrounded by competing subdivisions, nearby shopping, colleges, city administrative offices and business buildings. It is also close to Interstate 5,...

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The Cost Approach – An Approach to Value, Without Worth, Really?

Back to Basics (Part 2): The Cost Approach – An Approach to Value, Without Worth, Really? The foundations of appraisal were based upon three independent approaches to value. A system, when developed correctly, presents a check and balance within the report. The idea being that when an appraiser takes the time to develop each report, the data will show three independent motivations and three separate value conclusions. Nonetheless, the conclusions will support one another because the underlying principle for each approach is the principal of substitution. For the purposes of valuation or real estate appraisal, the principle of substitution is...

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