Octagon House Craze in the 1800sExcerpt: If you were a forward-thinking individualist in 1800s America, building an eight-sided abode was a great way to show it. The octagon house was a cutting-edge design at the time, believed to be a more efficient use of space, energy, and cost than the conventional square.
… Thousands of these geometric oddities were built by the time the trend hit its peak in the 1860s.
My comment: Wow!! I have never appraised an octagon house, but have seen a few from the outside. Have measured octagon turrets on Victorians. |
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Top cities where the number of million dollar homes is skyrocketingExcerpt: In large swaths of the country, a cool million has mostly come to represent the new standard for good, upper-middle-class housing. “In more markets than ever before, the million-dollar mark is the new benchmark for that green lawn and white picket fence,” says Javier Vivas, manager of the realtor.com® economic research team.
Click here get the full list and read the comments on the cities – very interesting!!
My comment: In my small city in the San Francisco Bay Area, with a median price of around $850,000, many properties are listed just under $1,000,000 and sell over list. Starter homes are $750,000 to $800,000 (2 bedroom/1 bath, built before 1940, maybe updated kitchen and bath, 1000 sq.ft.) No, we did not get on the list. Already have too many over $1,000,000.. I am soo glad I bought my house in 1985 for $135,000!! |
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10 most expensive U.S homes for saleJust for Fun… unless you appraise very expensive homes ;>
Excerpt:
Links, info, more homes and fotos at:
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In the July issue of the paid Appraisal Today Newsletter, available July 3.– Fannie and Freddie – what do they really say about risk scores, 1004mc, forms redesign, data discrepancies, etc.?
– Housing values in Colorado are going up in smoke by Tony Pistilli – Vacation time for appraisers. Just Do It!! by Doug Smith. Tips on topics such as “steath vacations”, returning from vacation, handling business while on vacation, and other topics.
– Working on the regulatory side: the Future of the Residential Appraiser (Part Deux) by Barry Bates. Very interesting and humorous comments analysis from the appraiser state regulatory side (by a long time lender appraiser manager). Plus some fun images. To read the articles, plus 2+ years of previous issues, subscribe to the paid Appraisal Today.
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Is there a “reproducibility crisis” crisis in appraising?By George Dell, MAI, SRA
Excerpts: We hear of a “reproducibility crisis.” What is it? Who cares? How does it affect me? And finally – Do we reproduce properly in the appraisal process?… It is not part of the scientific method. It is not part of the “appraisal process.” It is not required in our valuation standards. So what is this “crisis” and who is causing this terrible thing? It appears that reproducibility is not a part of the scientific process – but is a measure of the reliability of the process itself! Interesting.
Click here to read the full blog post and leave a comment!!
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AMC technology is not about efficiency of the appraisal processby “John J. Appraiser, Certified Real Estate Appraiser – author requested to remain anonymous”
Excerpt: If new technologies are more efficient, then why are so many appraisers complaining about blasting orders via text message, AMC software, and automated reviews by computers? Why is there some much negativity around AVM’s? Why is there an active lawsuit against Zillow for their Zestimate?
Click here to read the full blog post and the comments from readers.
http://appraisersblogs.com/AMC-technology-negates-appraisal-process |
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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 www.mbaa.org
Note: I publish a graph of this data every month in my paid monthly newsletter, Appraisal Today. For more information or get a FREE sample issue go to https://www.appraisaltoday.com/products.htm or send an email to info@appraisaltoday.com . Or call 800-839-0227, MTW 8AM to noon, Pacific time.
Mortgage applications decreased 6.2 percent from one week earlierWASHINGTON, D.C. (June 28, 2017) – Mortgage applications decreased 6.2 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending June 23, 2017.
The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 6.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 7 percent compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index decreased 9 percent from the previous week. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 4 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 5 percent compared with the previous week and was 8 percent higher than the same week one year ago. The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 45.6 percent of total applications from 46.6 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 7.0 percent of total applications. The FHA share of total applications increased to 10.3 percent from 10.1 percent the week prior. The VA share of total applications decreased to 10.3 percent from 10.4 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 ($424,100 or less) remained unchanged at 4.13 percent, with points decreasing to 0.32 from 0.34 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans. The effective rate remained unchanged from last week. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than $424,100) increased to 4.09 percent from 4.08 percent, with points decreasing to 0.20 from 0.30 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA decreased to 4.02 percent from 4.04 percent, with points increasing to 0.41 from 0.35 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate remained unchanged from last week. The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 3.39 percent from 3.40 percent, with points decreasing to 0.33 from 0.38 (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 increased to 3.31 percent from 3.26 percent, with points increasing to 0.25 from 0.22 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate increased 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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