Tagged: value

A Rebuttal to Real Estate Agent's Article Slamming the Appraisal Industry 46

Slamming the Appraisal Industry

A Rebuttal to Real Estate Agent Slamming the Appraisal Industry… Forbes recently published an opinion article that attacked the appraisal industry and placed all the blame on appraisers for real estate transactions falling through due to a “low” opinion of value. The article was written by a real estate agent out of Arizona. While he raises some good points, he is conflating a lot of issues together. 1) He does point out that there are bad appraisals. We all know that. There are bad appraisers just like there are bad agents who have clients list a property far above any...

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

Difference Between Price, Cost and Value... What It's Worth 5

Price vs Value

The buyer never actually pays what something is worth… Nobody can deny that there are a lot of issues plaguing the appraisal industry at the moment. I want to talk about one issue that I sometimes see: the incorrect usage of extremely important terms. Many real estate professionals use certain terms interchangeably, even when they have significantly different definitions. Appraisers, unfortunately, are not immune in this crime against clarity. Today, I want to get back to basics and look at the actual definitions of three absolutely crucial terms in our industry: price, cost and value. I think you’ll agree these...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News

Let’s just use the Tax Assessments...Tax Values just as Accurate as AVMs? 22

Tax Values Just as Accurate as AVMs?

In a head to head contest between tax values and AVMs for use in mortgage lending, I’ll take tax assessments every time… The battles rage on to decide who will take over the automated valuation process. There are big companies lining up to take over this massive profit arena. And, make no mistake, it’s all about the money. At the end of every discussion about AVMs verses traditional appraisals, it has less to do with faster or cheaper, or better, and sadly little to do with consumer protection. It has to do with who gets the profits that will be...

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

Pressure: My Story... This Is What Value Pressure Looks Like 21

Pressure: My Story

Appraiser pressures aren’t normal everyday life pressures…THIS IS WHAT PRESSURE is like for appraisers. Hit value, get paid. Don’t hit value, get fired or quit. In just 16 years as an appraiser, I’ve seen and heard many things. Some, I just want to forget and some I wish I never heard. Appraiser pressures aren’t normal everyday life pressures, they’re different. Typically, when business is good, it’s for reasons like doing a great job and providing a great service. Or, it could be because one aims to keep the client happy by hitting value, which is not exactly a good thing....

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Trending

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...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Tutorials

Round and Round... 10 Years Later Lender Pressure is Happening Again! 42

Round and Round!

Round and Round, what comes around goes around & 10 years later it’s happening again. I’m a 43-year-old guy and I grew up in the 80’s when music was odd and fun. I had some favorite bands like Def Leppard, Guns N Roses, Bon Jovi (hello I’m from NJ) and Ratt. Yes, Ratt and one of my all-time favorite songs is Round and Round. Here’s the throwback: Ratt – (Official Video) Round And Round Funny, it’s relevant to me today in the valuation, regulatory and real estate appraisal sectors. One specific lyric offers so much insight into the Lender/ Real Estate Appraisal...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Trending

Are Appraisal Management Companies Value-Adding? 29

Are AMCs Value-Adding?

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has released a working paper “Are Appraisal Management Companies Value-Adding? – Stylized Facts from AMC and Non-AMC Appraisals” We have not had a chance to review the report in great detail, however, a quick glance has some very interesting analysis. This is a must read for every appraiser! See the “Are AMCs Value-Adding?” paper here or below. Excerpt: Are Appraisal Management Companies Value-Adding? – Stylized Facts from AMC and Non-AMC Appraisals In this paper, we study whether there are any systematic quality differences between appraisals associated and unassociated with appraisal management companies (AMCs). We find...

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

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...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Tutorials

Flagstar Bank Eliminating Use of AMCs: Direct Vendor Appraisers Wanted 29

Flagstar Bank Eliminating AMCs

Flagstar Bank’s Direct Vendor Appraisers Appraisers, I have just learned from reading a forum that Flagstar Bank is doing away with the AMCs they use, and bringing appraisal ordering back in-house. However, you must agree to this: PLEASE NOTE: We only pay via ACH (automatic deposit twice a month on the 1st and 15th) so your bank information is also mandatory. There are no other payment methods available at this time so if you prefer not to use automatic deposit we unfortunately cannot add you to the panel. Also effective July 24th, 2017 there will be a click fee charge...

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

Is There a Fourth Approach to Real Estate Value? 17

Is There a Fourth Approach to Real Estate Value?

I want to talk to you about the fourth approach to value… …and specifically an occasion on which it truly saved my bacon. Now, I know a lot of you real estate appraisers out there probably started chuckling as soon as you read the words ‘fourth approach to value.’ If you did, I get it, believe me! I used to be the same way. Over time, however, I’ve grown to see how it can often be a vital part of the valuation process. Let’s have a quick recap for anyone who’s either forgotten the fourth approach, or never learned it...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News

xml sitemap
blank