Tagged: property values

Report Observation & Trigger Points - Don't Fall Into a Trap! 10

Report Observation & Trigger Points

Appraisers, this is another essay written about a report I have ‘observed.’ I’ve mentioned before that I “come in contact with” appraisal reports from a variety of sources. Those that I determine have significant issues I write about. Conclusions about the ‘real value’ will be disclosed below. Trigger points for having reports formally reviewed are discussed. I do this because a majority of appraisers do not participate and interact with their peers on a consistent basis, and therefore may not get exposed to items that clients and lenders see in reports, which they question. I believe it’s important to expose items in reports that...

How Zestimate Works - Accuracy Is an iIsue with Zestimates 8

How Zestimate Works

Accuracy is an issue with Zestimates… I happened to find this article, which explains the processes used to generate Zillow’s Zestimate, the estimate of residential property value: Inside the Zestimate: Data Science at Zillow I found it interesting that they use the ‘R’ spreadsheet for doing some number-crunching, not Excel. ‘R’ is what George Dell has been demonstrating in his classes. But the graphs are generated by a different software. Accuracy is an issue with Zestimates, according to Zillow, per the article:  “Nationally, the median error rate is 8.3 percent, the company says.” However, they don’t define what ‘error rate’ means. Is...

A Real Estate Agent is Not an Appraiser - Who Are You Going to Call? 10

Who Are You Going to Call?

Is a real estate agent the right individual to state what adds value on a home appraisal? …Ghost Busters! (no, actually an appraiser) Social media can be rife with misinformation, even when the information presented is well intentioned, but of a national scope. National studies are not local studies, and blanket statements presented as fact are potentially misleading. Real estate agents are professionals who are involved in selling houses on a daily basis and know their markets — as well as what drives interest with the buyers and sellers they are working with. Their job is difficult; often rewarding, and...

Deal Falls Through & Everyone Blames the Appraiser - AppraisersBlogs 17

Blaming Appraisers

…deal falls through and everyone involved is convinced the appraiser ruined everything… We hear all about low appraisals, but we never seem to hear about homes that are flat-out over priced, often by an agent who wants to prove they are smarter than everyone else and will take advantage of any unusual feature or circumstance to push the value beyond any other homes in the local market. For example: A buyer finds a house in need of some updating. Medium sized market and things are selling between 90-120 days on average. The neighborhood is good and the house has a...

Goodbye 1004MC, Hello Analysis 22

Bye-bye 1004MC, Hello Analysis

On July 31, 2018, at the Appraisal Institute Annual Conference, Fannie Mae announced the end of the 1004MC. News quickly spread among the appraisal blogosphere, and on August 7, 2018, the new Selling Guide showed that the 1004MC was no longer required. Rejoicing was heard throughout the land. Although the 1004MC is no longer required by Fannie Mae, the appraiser still needs to support their opinion of market trends, supply and demand, and marketing time. The exact verbiage found in the 8/7/18 updated Selling Guide is: The appraiser’s analysis of a property must take into consideration all factors that affect...

Crystal Balls Don’t Work When Reporting Market Trends! Nor does the MC Form! 8

Crystal Ball & PFA Techniques

PFA figures & opaque crystal balls don’t work when reporting market trends! Nor does the MC Form! Appraisers, by now you’ve heard that FNMA finally has decided that their 1004MC form is basically worthless. That form is no longer required in appraisal reports for properties sold to FNMA, as of August 7, 2018. poorly designed form which never has reported accurate trends…However, sidekicks in mortgage lending have not come to the same conclusion… yet. Hopefully, in short time, they will also remove the MC ‘inclusion’ requirement in reports of this awful, poorly designed form which never has reported accurate trends – despite the...

Importance of Including Sales Price Trend Graph in Appraisal Reports 2

Importance of Graphing Sales

Scatter graph can help you “visualize” the trend of sale prices over a time period… Appraisers, I’ve been including ‘comparable’ price trend graphs in my reports (using Excel) since 2008. The graphs are based on a chart of MLS sales in the subject’s neighborhood, and can be from 1 to 5 years prior to the report Effective Date – based on housing density and number of sales. (I work in urban, suburban and rural areas.) A Scatter Graph can help you “visualize” the trend of sale prices over a time period. It can also show questionable outlier sales that you...

Lender Contributions FNMA Policy Adding Fuel to the Confusion... 6

Concession Reporting Confusion

…how are these "lender contributions" identified… Appraisers are ‘required’ to report comparable sales or financing concessions that benefit a borrower in the GSE form appraisal report, on the second line in the comparison grid (as a negative adjustment). Secondly, for subject properties, appraisers are ‘required’ to report any concession benefiting the borrower on page 1 of the report form. Subject concession amount is NOT entered on the Comparable grid. Well now, FNMA has issued a modification to their Selling Guide (which takes effect as of 4/03/18) – SEL–2018-03 – (I have added type face enhancements): Lender Contributions With this update we are...

Conservative Appraisers Blamed By Economist 5

So-Called Economist Slams Appraisers

Is the cost-benefit of conservative appraisers worth it? Appraisers, Mr. Adam Ozimek, who is described as a ‘senior economist’ at Moody’s Analytics (from a search I did) penned this gawd-awful piece: Appraisers May Be Holding Back the Housing Market, And That Might Be Okay. This piece appeared in Forbes.com on July 5 – the focus of which is to nearly blame ‘conservative’ appraisers for “holding back the market,” … but maybe it’s OK, he says. Where do they find these people, anyway? I love it when so-called authority figures start off with speculations, not backed with any facts, and fill the...

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...

xml sitemap