A Spoon Full of Sugar (when dealing with annoying borrowers, AMCs, neighbors, etc.)Excerpt: Remember when you were a kid? No, not a goat. You know, a young human. Remember your parents giving you that thick, pink, nasty tasting medicine, called an antibiotic? While we hated the taste, we needed the medicine. And, after a few days, we began to feel better.
When it comes to appraisals, the information they provide can help to protect us from making a bad financial decision. However, there are times when the results of an appraisal may leave a bad taste in the mouths of those reading the report.
Covid-19 Residential Appraisers Tips on Staying Safe For Covid Updates, go to my Covid Science blog at covidscienceblog.com Click here to subscribe to our FREE weekly appraiser email newsletter and get the latest appraisal news!! To read more of this long 10-4-18 blog post with many topics, click Read More Below!!
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NOTE: Please scroll down to read the other topics in this long blog post on pyramic home, comp sharing, proving adjustments, neighbors, mortgage origination stats, etc.
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Malibu Pyramid House in 3-D and Drone ViewJust For Fun!!27553 Pacific Coast Hwy, Malibu, CA
Price: $5,695,000
Why it’s here: Here’s your prime directive: Live in the futuristic home as seen on season 3 of “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” Designed by Ellis David Gelman, the well-maintained and playful space features “four eclectic bedrooms,” an ocean-view terrace, and lavender and rose gardens spread over 2 acres.
See it in 3-D, Drone view, and lotsa photos here!!
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Is a la mode’s Smart Exchange Really a Smart Idea?Excerpt: Alamode recently launched Smart Exchange to its users. The idea is appraisers can see what others have stated as property characteristics and transfer that information directly into your report. The system is based on mutual sharing, so if you participate, you will share all your comparable data with everyone else that is using Smart Exchange and you can see their data.
Lots more info plus appraiser comments at:
My comment: I have never used a la mode software, but do follow the Yahoo Group WinTOTAL. Lots of discussion there also. Of course, I am suspicious because Corelogic owns a la mode.
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Poll Reveals Most Annoying Neighbors In AmericaExcerpt: Without question, noise is the leading offense. Loud music is the top culprit in that category, and no city has the volume turned up higher than Houston. People also cite loud kids, pets and TVs as top ten issues, but drowning those out are the loud voices of our fellow adults. Loud talking and shouting is the second most annoying thing that neighbors do!
Worth reading for (sorta) fun:
My comment: General Grumpiness is Number 8 = My next door neighbor. She is over 90 and complains all the time. Looks out of her kitchen window directly at my place. She is still driving, gardening, etc. and will live forever… Has lived there since soon after it was built in 1956…
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Is It Possible to “Prove” an Adjustment?Excerpt: We read articles and advertisements on how to prove an adjustment. Is this possible?
How wonderful it would be. To prove an adjustment, just push a button and bam! Out comes the correct answer. How could we have we missed this?
Of course, if such a simplistic and exact answer was possible – anyone could push that button. An AVM run, a BPO agent, an “evaluator”, or anyone else. Who needs all that USPAP competence and integrity stuff? Even a lender-appointed hybridized “field inspector” could just push the button.
https://georgedell.com/is-it-possible-to-prove-an-adjustment
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Home Feature Buyers Had to Have … but Regretted GettingExcerpt: Ever pined to buy something that, once you finally got your hands on it, wasn’t all it was cracked up to be? This disappointing reality check can hit big time during the home-buying process. Oh, the rosy glasses we wear when house hunting!
So watch out: If you’ve dreamed of having a home with a big yard, that excitement might wear off after you see how long it takes to mow. Or, if you pined to live in a historic house, you may eat those words when you’re deluged with costly repairs
Here they are:
See the fotos and commentary at:
My comment: No statistical analysis, just opinions, like the “old days” and sorta like appraiser adjustments maybe ;>
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The Homes Where Families Go Off the GridExcerpt: Heather and Phillip Steyn’s 35-acre mountain ranch, deep within Colorado’s Roosevelt National Forest, is 5 miles from the nearest electric utility pole. Yet their gourmet kitchen is loaded with built-in appliances, there’s a hot tub on the deck and the hand-distressed Brazilian oak floors are warmed by a radiant heating system-all powered by solar and wind energy.
The Steyns, veterinarians who raise sheep and keep horses on their ranch, never planned to live off-grid. “We fell in love with the property and where it was located-we didn’t do it to be green, we did it out of necessity,” Dr. Steyn, 47, said of her home. “It was cost-prohibitive to put the house on the grid.”
My comment: One of my brothers lived in a semi-rural area in Northern California where it was very expensive to hook up to electrical services in some areas. He was an electrician and regularly helped his neighbors to set up solar installations.
What’s holding solar back? Batteries that can hold a charge for a long time. Whomever solves the battery problem will significantly change what we do.
A few days ago power went out in my city very early in the morning, before dawn. I found my big flashlight and candles, but immediately thought about my cell phone charge. I worry about the Big One, a major earthquake. During the last moderate earthquake in 1989, cell phone texts were the only way to communicate. I am buying a solar and a manual windup charger for my cell phone this week.
In the 60s I lived in a cabin high in the Santa Cruz mountains. We were regularly out of electricity for a week, while the city folks were getting theirs fixed. We also had a large water tank when the electric water pump went out. Heat was from a wood stove. I live in a city now and worry about no electricity, running water, heating, etc.
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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 7AM to noon, Pacific time.
SORRY, NO MBA DATA BY MY DEADLINE!
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