Tagged: site

Stop Senate Bill 2155 in the Senate, Fake Claim of an Appraisers Shortage 49

Stop S.2155 in the Senate

Call to action to oppose Senate Bill 2155, also opposed by an overwhelming majority of Americans… Appraisers, We are placing an immediate nationwide call to action to oppose Senate Bill 2155 currently in the United States Senate. Senate Bill 2155 has a provision, (sec 103) which allows a bank to waive an appraisal in rural communities. This will be detrimental for homeowners and communities in rural areas. A loss of income will also occur for appraisers who cover rural counties. To see the text of S.2155, click here. The Independent Community Bank Association has been hard at work promoting this bill....

Professionals With No Appraisal Experience Cornering The Hybrid Market 6

New Hybrid Desktop Hucksters

What could lure these successful 'professionals' from their chosen careers? Fellow appraisers, I just received an advertisement for a company that wants to pay ‘me’ $50.00 an hour to do desktop appraisals. Actually, probably not me, because they prefer a degree. Now, my routine hourly rate for complex appraisal assignments is $150 ($500 for EW and something variable in between for pretty much everything else). So they are asking me to take a cut of 2/3… assuming I could meet their degree requirement “preference”. It got me thinking. I cannot always command my hourly rate for 8 hours a day,...

Rounding of Adjustments Because We Are Just Not That Good 16

Adjustment Question

Rounding of adjustments is perfectly acceptable. Would someone kindly, and logically, explain to me why the ‘Site’ is adjusted precisely at $0.20 per square foot, down to the nearest dollar, but all other adjustments are rounded to $50? Are ‘we’ appraisers really that good, where we can divine buyer motivations or values (i.e., adjustments) as accurately as that?  In other words: “Well, I believe it’s worth exactly that much.” Usually I see this kind of adjustment practice to the nearest dollar when applied to the Gross Living Area and below grade areas, which is also screwy (IMHO).  This is the...

Subject Inspection for Hybrid Appraisals & USPAP Compliance 62

USPAP Compliance & Hybrid Appraisals

WHO does the SUBJECT INSPECTION? Appraisers, Some appraisers have questioned the name ‘Hybrid Appraisal’ because the requesting client WON’T USE THAT NAME for the product. When they call or email you, they’ll say something like “We have a really fast appraisal for you to do that you can do on your desktop without leaving your office.”, or “Can you do an exterior appraisal for us?” or they might identify it by the ‘name’ that client uses for the product. The FIRST question you need to ask is simple: WHO does the SUBJECT INSPECTION? If they say ‘someone else does that’…...

Site Size Correction Notices From AMC Amateurs 12

Site Size Correction Notices

AMC’s who demand you change site size in reports are amateurs… Appraisers, Yesterday, an appraiser ‘pen pal’ sent me the query below, asking what I would do. My response follows. I admit to having a very low tolerance level for stupidity and demands from others who don’t possess all the facts, and most often are not appraisers. The query: “Over the past year with more AMCs going to automated checker software, I have been getting “correction notices” about the site size I reported, almost for every report. So, I changed how I did it so it would stop coming back, but...

HUD Tag # on Manufactured Homes Missing? Solution for Appraisers 22

Missing HUD Tag # on Manufactured Homes

Sometimes NO HUD Tag number can be found… Appraisers, Regarding Manufactured Homes (MFH), sometimes NO HUD Tag number can be found on, or in, the MFH. However, this number is required to be entered on the 1004C appraisal form. Loans for MFH’s cannot be processed without these numbers. The HUD Tag is the metal plate(s) attached to the rear of each section. Numbers are usually sequential, with three letters as the prefix. Inside the home, someplace, should be a paper ‘Data Plate’ with the home serial number, HUD Tag #’s, and other data. But often the Data Plate cannot be found, and...

The Site Value… A Walk in the Park or USPAP Nightmare? 12

The Site Value… A Walk in the Park or USPAP Nightmare?

Recognized methods to determine the site value… We have all been there, the subject is located in an established neighborhood, no vacant land sales in many years and the lender has requested the site value. USPAP Standard 1-1 states “be aware of, understand and correctly employ those recognized methods and techniques that are necessary to produce a credible appraisal.” The other key standard to keep in mind is Standard 2-2a (viii) – “Summarize the information analyzed, the appraisal methods and techniques employed, and the reasoning that supports the analysis, opinions and conclusions: exclusion of the sales comparison approach, cost approach...

Modernizing Appraisals: It seems we're stuck in 1989. 46

Modernizing Appraisals & Being Stuck in 1989

Modernizing Appraisals: It seems we’re stuck in 1989… On November 16, 2016, the Housing and Insurance Subcommitte held a hearing on “Modernizing Appraisals: A Regulatory Review and the Future of the Industry.” Subcommittee discussed modernizing appraisals to benefit American consumers. The hearing focused on necessary changes to the appraisal industry. Subcommittee Chairman Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO) explained: “Appraisals are one of the cornerstones of the home-buying process. Issues that impact appraisers also impact nearly every American buying or selling a home, in rural and urban areas; in high- and low-income neighborhoods. Yet when it comes to the regulatory regime surrounding appraisals,...

GLA Adjustment & Pizza Slices – They Do correlate! 22

GLA Adjustments & Pizza Slices – They Do Correlate!

Determining the GLA Adjustment in Appraisal Reports I promised in a previous post I’d send out my method for determining the GLA adjustment in appraisal reports. Goodness! Appraisers actually found that statement buried in the prior post, and have ‘rung my chimes’ requesting this info! OK, but first, the pizza analogy. I often tell clients and other appraisers that appraising (residential) real estate is far more complex than grabbing a store-bought pre-boxed pizza (that has exactly the same ingredients from box to box no matter which store you shop in) at a grocery and then applying 425 degrees of love...

Appraiser’s Response to LRES Order Blast 80

Appraiser’s Response to LRES Order Blast

LRES Standard Interior Appraisal Request? Your special requirements and micromanagement of the appraisal process dictate that I charge a fee commensurate with the additional, but typically unnecessary work needed to produce credible results. You are the potential client (agent), so that that is your prerogative and it would be my pleasure to accommodate you as long as appropriate compensation is provided. Respectfully, there is little about your appraisal request that is “standard”. Please explain briefly what you consider to be a ‘standard interior appraisal’. That definition does not appear in The Appraisal Institute’s Dictionary of Real Estate Appraisal. To be...

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