The Coolest Empty Buildings in America
They’re weird, amazing, and available.
Excerpt:
If you’ve got a few million bucks to play with, you’ll find that the country is littered with remarkable empty structures in various states of disrepair, just waiting for enterprising new owners with big dreams and deep pockets. Here are five of our current faves.
Here are a few:
Miami Marine Stadium: Miami, Florida
“Superman Building”: Providence, Rhode Island
Michigan Central Station: Detroit, Michigan
www.citylab.com/design/2016/10/the-coolest-empty-buildings-in-america/499049/
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Fannie’s Property Inspection Waiver (no appraisal) effective 12/10/16 for all lenders
Notice dated 10/24/16. I suspected that this was where Fannie was going with UAD and CU. Refis only.. for now. $75 to waive the appraisal requirement. Fannie has been testing it for awhile with some lenders. You may see this referred to as “Day 1 Certainty”, the name Fannie has chosen.
Link to the 2 page fact sheet: https://www.fanniemae.com/content/fact_sheet/property-inspection-waiver-fact-sheet.pdf
Thanks to Dave Towne for this very interesting news!
My comment: I will have an article on this topic for my November newsletter, out November 1, including relevant details and what this means for you. Very interesting.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? POST YOUR COMMENTS AT www.appraisaltodayblog.com !!
How I appraised a property with a non-permitted garage conversion
By Ryan Lundquist, Sacramento CA
Excerpt:
Garage Conversion Formula: It would be nice if there was a one-size-fits-all value adjustment we could apply to any conversion, but that’s not how it works because conversions vary tremendously in size and quality – not to mention some neighborhoods accept them and others really don’t.
Golden Data: In this case the conversion was nicely done and was even on a crawl space like the rest of the house. I searched the neighborhood for garage conversions over the past few years and literally found none. But I did have one very lucky bit of data since the subject sold four years ago on MLS as an arms-length sale. This means I was able to look back in time and find how the subject fit into the context of neighborhood prices.
Check out the video and the interesting comments at:
My comment: Very interesting analysis. I have worked in many cities near where I live. Typically there is no premium for a garage conversion, permitted or not, as buyers want a garage for cars or (mostly) all their stuff. Sometimes sellers offer to deconvert back to a garage, but no one every wants this. Rarely, there is a permitted conversion. However, there is one 2-block street where the 1 bedroom homes almost all have the 1 car garage converted to a second bedroom. Their prices are similar to a 2 bedroom home. Going from 1 to 2 bedrooms is a premium in every market where I have appraised. In another nearby city, in a small tract, almost all the homes are 2 bedrooms with a 1 car garage converted to a third bedroom. Why? It is popular with large families and they are affordable. In most newer cities, permits are important. In older cities, like mine, there is so much unpermitted work done in the past and today, that the building department has given up on enforcement, unless it is a health and safety issue or a large addition.
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In the paid Appraisal Today
Coming in the November 2016 issue,
available November 1, 2016
– Fannie’s Property Inspection Waiver (no appraisal) available December 10, 2016. What does it mean for you? Is it the beginning of The End?
– How appraisers get into trouble using email, social media, online postings, face-to-face conversations, etc. Is there any communication that is private?
– Want to do appraisals for lenders but not for AMCs? Private money lending – no UAD or CE, computer “reviewers”, or being treated like you know nothing!!
– State Appraisal Boards: Appraiser Discipline and E&O Insurance
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Appraisal Turn Times Rise, but TRID is Innocent
Stramor’s Appraisal Process and Turn Times Survey, released as part of the company’s Insights report for October 2016, found that appraisal fees and turn times have indeed increased over the last year-but not because of TRID.
The survey, which featured responses from 56 unique lenders during a one-month period from August 16 to September 16, 2016, found that appraisal turn times in the post-TRID originating world had increased substantially-by 5.74 days for purchase loans and by 6.28 days for refinance loans. Those numbers calculated to increases of 79 percent and 81 percent, respectively, from pre-TRID turn times.
Many of the lenders surveyed did not attribute the increases to TRID, however. According to STRATMOR, many of the survey respondents cited a sharp increase in origination volumes from Q2 to Q3 as well as a lack of qualified appraisers.
Check out the full article , an interesting graph and a link to the Stratmore report:
http://www.themreport.com/daily-dose/10-20-2016/appraisal-turn-times-rise-trid-innocent
My comment: The AQB is seriously considering dropping the 4 year degree requirement. Will that make any difference? Not really, when lenders will not allow trainees to sign on their own until certified. This has never happened before in the entire history of mortgage lending. Of course, it means more work for appraisers when the market goes down, as it always does… Supply and demand.
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HOW TO USE THE NUMBERS BELOW. Appraisals are ordered after the loan application. These numbers tell you the future for the next few weeks. For more information on how they are compiled, go to https://www.mba.org
Note: I publish a graph of this data every month in my printed newsletter, Appraisal Today. For more information or get a FREE sample issue go to www.appraisaltoday.com/products or send an email to info@appraisaltoday.com . Or call 800-839-0227, MTW 8AM to noon, Pacific time.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 26, 2016)
Mortgage applications decreased 4.1 percent from one week earlier
, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending October 21, 2016. The prior week’s results included an adjustment for the Columbus Day holiday.
The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 4.1 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 7 percent compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index decreased 2 percent from the previous week to its lowest level since June 2016. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 7 percent from one week earlier to its lowest level since January 2016. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 3 percent compared with the previous week and was 9 percent higher than the same week one year ago.
The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 62.7 percent of total applications from 61.5 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 4.2 percent of total applications.
The FHA share of total applications decreased to 11.1 percent from 11.3 percent the week prior. The VA share of total applications decreased to 12.2 percent from 12.8 percent the week prior. The USDA share of total applications remained unchanged at 0.7 percent from the week prior.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,000 or less) decreased to 3.71 percent from 3.73 percent, with points increasing to 0.37 from 0.36 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than $417,000) decreased to 3.71 percent from 3.72 percent, with points increasing to 0.35 from 0.29 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate remained unchanged from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA increased to 3.56 percent from 3.54 percent, with points decreasing to 0.28 from 0.30 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 3.01 percent from 3.03 percent, with points increasing to 0.28 from 0.27 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs decreased to 2.93 percent from 2.97 percent, with points decreasing to 0.32 from 0.41 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.
The survey covers over 75 percent of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications, and has been conducted weekly since 1990. Respondents include mortgage bankers, commercial banks and thrifts. Base period and value for all indexes is March 16, 1990=100.
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