|
| |
[ Email archive - master list ] [ Emails very old ] [ Emails 7-8 99 ] [ Emails 9-10 99 ] [ Emails 11-12 99 ] [ emails 1-00 ] [ Emails 2-00 ] [ Emails 3-00 ] [ Emails- 4-00 ] [ Emails 5-00 ] [ Emails 6-00 ] [ Emails 7-00 ] [ Emails 8-00 ] [ Emails 9-00 ] [ Emails 10-00 ] [ Emails 11-00 ] [ Emails 12-00 ] [ Emails 1-01 ] [ Emails 2-01 ] [ Emails 3-01 ] [ Emails 4-01 ] [ Emails 5-01 ] [ Emails 6-01 ] [ Emails 7-01 ] [ Emails 8-01 ] [ Emails 9-01 ] [ Emails 10-01 ] [ Emails 11-01 ] [ E-mails 12-01 ] [ E-mails 1-02 ] [ E-mails 2-02 ] [ E-mails 3-02 ] [ E-mails 4-02 ] [ E-mails 5-02 ] [ E-mails 6-02 ] [ E-mails 7-02 ] [ E-mails 8-02 ] [ E-mails 9-02 ] [ E-mails 10-02 ] [ E-mails 11-02 ] [ E-mails 12-02 ] [ E-mails 1-03 ] [ E-mails 2-03 ] [ E-mails 3-03 ] [ E-mails 4-03 ] [ E-mails 5-03 ] [ E-mails 6-03 ]
Most
recent emails
Email archives 2-01
To get the very latest news,
sign up for our FREE weekly Appraisal Today e-news.
NOTE: some of the older links
may be out of date! For
older emails go to the links above.
For information on sponsoring
these weekly emails, contact Ann O'Rourke at ann@appraisaltoday.com
or call 800-839-0227.
To find messages, use this site's Search
page. Then use your browser's
search function. Go to Edit, then Find in Page. Some
of them have been edited from the original to correct typos and new information!
I have been sending them since June, 1994.
2/25/01- USPAP stuff/bankers vs. brokers/calendars?
Looking for real estate calendars
Does anyone know of any master calendars for appraisal conferences and real estate conferences of interest to appraisers?
There is one at www.reipa.org but it is very big with lots of different
segments of the real estate market. I found it difficult to use.
I like to attend events that are here in California, but sometimes miss
them because I didn't know about the conference, or forgot to check the
date until after the event was over!
I am thinking specifically about MBA, Realcomm, appraisal association
national conferences, CSSA, and all the other conferences I can't seem to
keep track of ...
*********** THANKS TO OUR SPONSOR ***********
NOW AN ACCURATE FLOOD ZONE DETERMINATION IS AS SIMPLE AS TYPING AN ADDRESS!
Enter the address and FLOOD INSIGHTS does all the work!
No more paper, always current, fast!
The determinations come directly from Transamerica Flood Hazard using the
same database we update daily to serve the nation's
leading lenders! Prices range from $.50 to $1.50 per determination.
National Coverage!
Available online at http://www.floodinsights.com
(Reseller ID TA9750)or on
CD by calling 1-800-932-1018.
********************************************
Historical mortgage rates
Check out mortgage rates from 1971 to current at
http://www.briefing.com/FreeServices/mtgdata/mtg.htm
Plus lots of other
rate graphs.
Thanks to Bob Gorman for posting this link on the AI forum!
----------------
Apps down
The market composite index of mortgage loan applications-a measure of loan purchases and refinances-for the week ending
Feb. 16 decreased 7.5 percent to 578.2 on a seasonally adjusted basis from 625.3 the previous week, according to the Weekly Mortgage Applications
Survey of the Mortgage Bankers Association of America (MBA), which was released today. On an unadjusted basis, the application index decreased 5.8
percent, but was up 102.5 percent compared to the same week a year earlier. The MBA seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased to 274.3 from 277.6
the previous week; the seasonally adjusted Refinance Index decreased to 2346.1 from 2647.7 the previous week. Other seasonally adjusted index
activity included the Conventional Index, which decreased to 768.2 from 828.9 the previous week, and the Government Index, which decreased to 261.1
from 285.6 the previous week.
Refinancing activity represented 57.7 percent of total applications,
decreasing from 61.3 percent the previous week.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed rate mortgages was
7.09 percent, increasing from 6.90 the previous week, with points
decreasing to 1.26 from 1.35 the previous week (including the origination
fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans.
I will have stats from 1980 to 2000, plus 2001 projections in the March
issue of Appraisal Today. Stats include total volume, number of loans, and
average loan amount. Quite interesting!!
---------------------
Mortgage bankers vs. brokers
Confused about the difference between a mortgage banker and a mortgage
broker? Check out http://realtytimes.com/rtnews/rtcpages/20010215_lenders.htm
.
FYI, the difference between the two can be pretty "gray."
--------------------
Exposure draft - USPAP 2001 changes
An exposure draft of the ASB's proposed changes to USPAP 2001, dated
February 21, is at (PDF file)
https://www.appraisalfoundation.org/ASBexposuredraft2-21-01.pdf
Issues addressed include USPAP segmentation, Supplemental Standards,
Jurisdictional Exception, consumer confidentiality (in relation to new
lender regulations), and Standard 6 - mass assessment.
------------------------
USPAP Q&As - reviewing and Std. 1
Question #1:
I was told that, because SR 2-5 was eliminated from the USPAP in 2001, a
supervisor or employer who signs a report is no longer as responsible as
the individual preparing the appraisal and that using a conditional label
next to the signature of the supervisor or employer exempts that individual
from adherence to USPAP. Is this true?
Question #2
I am performing a review of a real property appraisal and my client has
asked me to give my opinion of value, even if I agree with the value in the
appraisal. Does my concurrence constitute an appraisal opinion? If so,
what do I need to do to comply with USPAP?
Question #3
A client has asked me to perform a review appraisal on a restricted use
appraisal report. Can I do this and comply with USPAP?
To read the answers, go to https://www.appraisalfoundation.org/2001-2qa.htm
The March issue of Appraisal Today will include a copy of these Q&As,
primarily because of Question 2. FYI, the answer is "Yes, it is an
appraisal." Also, reviewer liability has been increasing due to recent
court cases.
Ann O'Rourke, MBA, SRPA, SRA, quit doing res reviews 2 years ago
Appraiser and Publisher of Appraisal Today newsletter
2015 Clement Ave.
Alameda, CA 94501
mailto:ann@appraisaltoday.com
phone: 800-839-0227//fax: 800-839-0014
http://www.appraisaltoday.com for appraisal news, info, and a few jokes!
2/18/01 - Link-O-Mania/Fiddlers/Computers ‘n Me
Fiddlers and Mice
For a humourous classifications of help desk callers, check out
"Beware the 10 most dangerous species of help desk callers" by
Jeff Dray. Here's the first 3 on the list:
1. "The Expert": Userus expertia
2. "The Fiddler": Userus manipulata The motto of "The Fiddler" is: "I
wonder what happens if...."
3. "The Mouse": Userus rodentia "For this species of caller, the big gray
box is a source of blind terror."
Don't miss #7, "The Paranoid User"
Thanks to Brian Davis, SRA, for posting this great link on the WinTotal
email discussion group! To read the details, plus the other 7 on the list,
plus an online discussion of the article, go to
http://www.techrepublic.com/article.jhtml?id=r00320010208dra02.htm
******* THANKS TO OUR SPONSOR ***********
NOW AN ACCURATE FLOOD ZONE DETERMINATION IS AS SIMPLE AS TYPING AN ADDRESS!
Enter the address and FLOOD INSIGHTS does all the work!
No more paper, always current, fast! The determinations come directly from
the Transamerica FLOODMAP(SM) database. The same database we update daily
to serve the nation's leading lenders! National Coverage!
Available online at http://www.floodinsights.com
AOL Users: <a href=http://www.floodinsights.com> Click Here</a>
***************************************
Computers ‘n Me
Time to ‘fess up.' Although I write about tech topics, I'm not reaally a
techie, just an advanced user. My two office computers are over 2 years old and run Windows 95. I bought my first Palm Pilot a few months ago. I don't
even have a CD Read/Write. I want the latest tech hardware but am just too darn cheap!!
So where do I find out about computer stuff? For over 10 years I have been a member of REAMUG - Real Estate Analysts Microcomputer Users Group,
founded over 20 years ago in the San Francisco Bay Area.
REAMUG meets twice a year and I get 10 hours of California appraisers CE each time. Members also receive the REAMUG Journal, published 6 times per
year and written by Mary Dum, long time appraisal computer guru.
The next REAMUG meeting is in San Diego March 9 & 10. Topics include Palm applications, one-appraiser commercial firms, AI commercial database, and
lots of tech tips. Warning: the meetings can be expensive when you find out about that hardware you "must have" now!
For information on REAMUG, including a meeting registration form and agenda, go to
http://www.appraisaltoday.com/reamug.htm . Or send email to mailto:mdum@rocketmail.com
===============================
Some interesting appraisal articles at http://www.shenehon.com/news.htm ,
such as High profile commercial properties and the effect of adjacent
commercial uses on residential properties. Also, check out their web site - some good content!
A Thanks to Primo Web Guru Michael Cartwright for this great link (plus lots and lots of other links)!
===============================
Apartment info in various states. Free 10 day trial and the subscription cost is $100 per user per quarter. Per the home page, "allows commercial
real estate brokers and acquisition professionals to view and compare information about apartment complexes across the country. Learn how your
subject fits within it's submarket in only 3 mouse clicks."
Looks like it may be useful for appraisers. I haven't used it yet. Thanks to Bob Gorman, MAI for posting this link!
http://www.apartmentcomps.com/
===============================
Link-O-mania
More good links this week...
Read PC Magazine's Review of the Top 100 Web Sites
http://cgi.zdnet.com/slink?81630:4425591
Never lose data to a virus! Use a simple 5-point protection plan
http://cgi.zdnet.com/slink?/adeskb/adt0216/2686807:749925
"When the Anna virus hit on Tuesday, even Microsoft employees were getting hit. But they could have avoided the worry. And you can, too."
How to search the 'invisible web'
http://cgi.zdnet.com/slink?/adeskb/adt0208/2683349:749925
"The truth really is out there -- but your current search engine may not be able to find it. Why? Because it lives in an online database and not a
Web page."
Thinking about using online tax forms? Be sure to read PC Magazine's Review
of Online Tax Preparation Services first!!
http://cgi.zdnet.com/slink?80113:4425591
===========================================
AppraisalTech 2001
I will be having The First National Appraisal Technology Conference August 23-24 in South San Francisco. 12 hours of CE credit approved in California.
I will be submitting to the other states and appraisal associations.
Regular pricing is $195 for one day and $295 for 2 days. I have a Special $50 off Price for the 2 days though April 30 - only $245!!
Sessions include:
- Commercial appraisal and technology - where will we be in five years?
- Residential appraisal and technology - where will we be in five years?
- Internet resources for appraisers - how to find what you need
- New ways to use residential appraisal software - online forms, Palm
Pilot, ??
- Appraisals on the Internet - ordering, tracking, and delivery
- Commercial appraisal data - who has the best?
- New hardware for appraisers - handhelds, GPS, wireless, ???
- How to get appraisal business from the Internet
For more info, go to http://www.appraisaltoday.com/conference.htm
2/11/01 EDI/AQB/avocados
New HUD appraiser page
HUD has a new appraiser page where it is easy to find what you need at
http://www.hud.gov/groups/appraisers.cfm
Thanks to Barry Shea for posting this Excellent Link!
*************** Thanks to our Sponsor!! ****************
ONLY 1 Internet appraiser directory:
GUARANTEES you results with a money back offer.
Offers you a completely FREE website.
Is accessed from the EZDESK.COM mortgage portal website.
Uses SEARCHWIZARD technology.
Click Here: http://www.Feeappraiser.com
Feeappraiser.com is one of the mortgage industry's best known directories
to locate residential and commercial appraisal companies with over 11,000
listings nationwide.
For a comparison of Feeappraiser.com to several other directories:
http://www.Feeappraiser.com/comparison.htm
********************************
O'Rourke the EDI-er
Hmmm... last week I said I had never electronically transmitted a report
because none of my clients wanted one.
Within a few days after sending that email, one of my oldest and best
clients (a local bank that doesn't require a "comp check" or "minimum
value") emailed me four res appraisal requests and said they would prefer
that I email them my appraisal reports!!
Guess I'll have to get it together - get Adobe Acrobat working with forms
software, scanner hooked up in my office, etc.
------------------------
Loan apps up and up
The market composite index of mortgage loan applications - a measure of
loan purchases and refinances - for the week ending Feb. 2 increased 18.8 percent to 649.1 on a seasonally adjusted basis from
546.6 the previous week, according to the Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey of the Mortgage Bankers Association of America (MBA), which was
released Feb. 7. On an unadjusted basis, the application index increased
22.4 percent, and was up nearly 97 percent compared to the same week a year earlier.
----------------------
February newsletter - palms and avocados
Here's the table of contents for the February Appraisal Today newsletter.
So how is it different than these emails? Articles 1 to 4 pages long that
cover a topic, the "news behind the news" beyond press releases. For
example, here I just provide a link. If you don't have time to go to the
original material, read it, and interview a few key people, my newsletter
at $99 per year is a bargain!
- Is There a Palm In Your Hand? By Mary Dum Page 1, 3 pages all about Palms
- Drivers and BIOS, Oh My! Page 4, 1 page tech info
- A few good links Page 5 - the best of these emails plus a few more
- 10 Rural Appraisal Rules by Bruce Motts Page 6 - 1 page Humor!
- An Appraiser's Poem by JoAnn Glantz - more humor!
- A new rural hazard by Allison Shackleford - yet more humor!!
- Avocado marketing and appraisers by Doug Smith Page 8 - 1 page marketing tips
- Biz tip - Are you Web "savvy"? - short tip
News stories (I don't know why all these appraisers were in the news at the same time!!)
- Appraisers' pressure protests pick up
- Six appraisers involved in Minneapolis scam
- World's most expensive office markets
- Six appraisers involved in Minneapolis scam
- Two appraisers on trial in Baltimore
- Baltimore appraiser sentenced to 33 months in federal prison
- Whitewater appraiser pardoned
- Fake appraisers used in New York scam
- Minnesota appraiser's appeal denied
- MBA to let mortgage brokers join Page 12
- Biz tip - Are you Web "savvy"?
A graph of the changes in residential mortgage volume between 1990 and
today. Quite interesting!!
If you don't already subscribe .... To get all the news, not just the
headlines and links, subscribe to my monthly "paper" and PDF Appraisal
Today newsletter for $99 per year ($149 for 2 years), call 800-839-0227 or fax 800-839-0014 (credit card orders) or send your check (made out to RECR)
to 2015 Clement Ave., Alameda, CA.
To order a FREE sample issue or get more information, go to
http://www.appraisaltoday.com/sample.htm or call 800-839-0227 or fax
800-839-0014 .
For an order form, go to http://www.appraisaltoday.com/orderfrm.htm .
--------------------------------------------
An Appraiser at the AQB meeting
I finally attended my first AQB meeting last Friday. So why was I there? It
was in San Francisco, only 10 miles from my office.
I hadn't expected much except the usual semi-boring meetings that I usually attend, but was pleasantly surprised. Seems like there were panels giving
testimony to the AQB - federal regulators, state regulators, users, appraisal associations, and college profs.
The topics included college degrees, continuing ed testing, and harder
licensing exams. Almost everyone who testified was in favor of harder exams but were split on college degrees and CE testing (except a very few, or
none, wanted testing on all CE such as short seminars).
Here are a few tidbits from the panelists (people doing the testifying):
- The Massachusetts Board of Real Estate Appraisers (appraisal association) was founded in 1934, around the time of the Society and American Institute.
- College degree requirement - Bachelors or Masters in Appraisal from a
college prof and Nuclear Surgeon (combo nuclear engineer and brain surgeon) from a well known (and notorious for humor) fee appraiser. FYI I am in
favor of a PhD in mathematics as a minimum requirement (we all need to know more about statistics).
- Retaking the exam every 5 years for currently licensed appraisers
- A graph showing how competence peaked at 10 years of experience and then declined rapidly (that one woke up everybody in the room). The graph was
from a study of non-appraiser professionals. I am getting it mailed to me as the presenter didn't have any copies.
- Plus lots and lots of very interesting comments.
The full details will be in the monthly Appraisal Today, of course ;> after
I digest my 14 pages of notes.
For info on the AQB go to https://www.appraisalfoundation.org/aqb.htm
. I
couldn't find the meeting agenda and speakers on the web site.
|