CHANGE YOUR TEMPLATES!! SET UP NEW SUBDIRECTORIES IF YOU FILE ON YOUR COMPUTER!!
Popular (and sometimes strange) real estate listings
Take a break and check out these listings!!
The 4 Most Interesting Home Listings of 2016 – Fun Video
Video is 2 minutes and 40 seconds long and very entertaining!!
Can’t describe it. You just gotta see it!!
……….
2016’s top 10 most popular (and sometime strange) homes for sale
Here are 3 of them
No. 1 is the country’s biggest fixer-upper – over 60,000 sq.ft. in Texas. Price: Listed for $3.6 million
5. The cave dwelling, Undisclosed address, Festus, Missouri. Price: Listed for $314,900
10. The ‘Amityville Horror’ house, 108 Ocean Ave, Amityville, New York. Price: Listed for $850,000, entered into contract in November
http://www.housingwire.com/articles/38783-here-are-2016s-top-10-most-popular-homes-for-sale
To keep up on what is happening in appraisal businesses, mortgage lending, USPAP, etc. , Plus humor and strange homes, sign up for my FREE weekly appraisal email newsletter, sent since June 1994. Go to Home on the right side of the menu at the top of this page or go to www.appraisaltoday.com
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Direct lender – average turn times by state in business days, a very wide range:
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ALABAMA
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10
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MINNESOTA
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9
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ARKANSAS
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0
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MISSOURI
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17
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ARIZONA
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16
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MISSISSIPPI
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10
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CALIFORNIA
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10
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NORTH CAROLINA
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14
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COLORADO
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24
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NEW HAMPSHIRE
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20
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CONNETICUT
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9
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NEW JERSEY
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11
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DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
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4
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NEW MEXICO
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20
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FLORIDA
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8
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NEVADA
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2
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GEORGIA
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9
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NEW YORK
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16
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IDAHO
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10
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OHIO
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17
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ILLINOIS
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10
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OREGON
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31
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INDIANA
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14
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PENNSYLVANIA
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11
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KANSAS
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14
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RHODE ISLAND
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15
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KENTUCKY
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13
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SOUTH CAROLINA
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12
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LOUISIANA
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7
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TENNESSEE
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14
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MASSACHUSETTS
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12
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TEXAS
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12
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MARYLAND
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13
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VIRGINIA
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8
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MAINE
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28
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WASHINGTON
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19
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MICHIGAN
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13
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WISCONSIN
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12
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Beautiful airports and Victorians under $200,000
Unique and Beautiful Airports Around the World
Architecture that redefines what it means to travel in style.
All I can say is WoW!! Take a break for a few minutes and look at these photos…
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/photos-of-the-worlds-most-unique-and-beautiful-airports
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Affordable homes from all over the country (Hint: No fixers)
Just scroll down the pages.
7 Victorians under $200,000 (No tiny homes)
http://www.realtor.com/news/trends/victorian-homes-under-200k/
8 homes under $100,000 (Hint: no fixers)
http://www.realtor.com/news/trends/black-friday-bargain-homes-under-100k/
My comment: Wow!! Those Victorians in my city would be way over $1,000,000 on lots under 5,000 sq.ft. !!!
Sadly, The Appraisal Institute is now working against its local chapters by Jonathan Miller, posted 12/9/16
Read more!! →
Beautiful and unusual places
What are the most popular links in these newsletters? Weird properties, very expensive homes, etc. Plus Appraiser goes to jail (not many of these today), Freddie and Fannie no-appraisal loans. LIA’s Claudia Says ads are also very popular. Sorry, USPAP, ASB, AQB, ASC etc. are not very popular but I put them in just to let you know what is happening, even if you don’t care much ;> Here are two:
10 of the Most Beautiful Libraries on Earth
Take a break and a look at these beautiful and unusual libraries!!
From all over the world, including the Chicago Public Library
Excerpt:
Chicago Public Library, by SOM
Chicago’s new Chinatown library branch has no sharp edges. The pebble-shaped building is wrapped in glass and marked by solar-shading fins that are meant to reduce heat and glare. The library’s curvy, three-sided shape is built around feng shui principles and designed to align with the avenues outside the building. Inside, the two-story structure is centered around a light-filled atrium.
No links for more info, but you can google the names.
https://www.wired.com/2016/09/settle-10-beautiful-libraries-earth
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Carmel, Indiana, America’s King of Roundabouts
Posted in: FHA, Freddie, Mortgage applications, mortgage loan volume, unusual home, unusual homes, weird homes, weird propertiesAre Granny Flats Undervalued?
by Kathy Price-Robinson, The Appraisers Research Foundation
Excerpt:
Whether you call them granny flats, in-law units, or something else, residential accessory dwelling units (ADUs) on residential properties excite municipal planners, homeowners, and others for social and environmental reasons. They are “green” by nature because of their small size and can provide great benefits to the owner.
But they can also perplex appraisers and other real estate professionals because of erroneous perceptions and various institutional policies that complicate lending on properties featuring ADUs.
To help clarify the estimation of value of residential properties with accessory units, researchers Martin J. Brown and Taylor Watkins conducted a study to test an income-based approach to valuation of properties with ADUs.
http://www.workingre.com/granny-flats-undervalued/
My comment: I appraise these types of units often in my city. Typically they are not legal. I consider them similar to detached bonus rooms, offices, guest quarters. If legal, the income approach would work to determine the added value of the ADU. Of course, income from airbnb, etc. vs. “regular” rentals is another big issue. The article does not address non-legal ADUs, the vast majority of them. FYI, The Appraisers Research Foundation has been around for a long time and regularly publishes (and gives grants for) research papers. For more info, go to http://www.appraiserresearch.org/ To see their other research, click on Research Results in the top menu bar.
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Poll: On average, how long does it take you to complete a 1004 interior inspection appraisal report, including inspection and drive time?
Posted in: appraisal, Fannie, forecast, Freddoe, lender appraisals, Mortgage applications, mortgage loan volume, unusual homesPoll: On average, how long does it take you to complete a 1004 interior inspection appraisal report, including inspection and drive time? www.appraisalport.com survey. This week’s poll is C/R fees in your area. Maybe future pools did will ask about typical AMC fees or how long it took pre-HVCC.

My comments: For many appraisers, driving time is long. Two years ago I started working almost exclusively in my small town. Driving time is very low. However, I very seldom appraise tract homes. My appraisal reports are very similar to pre-HVCC. I average about 5 hours per appraisal.
Posted in: appraisal=====================================
Thanksgiving – What are you giving thanks for?
What am I thankful for this year? Good health. I always say that the richest person in the world would give everything they owned for good health. My health is better today than it was 20 years ago, in my 50s. I lost 40 pounds, workout every day, and walk with a friend. One of my brothers died in June at the age of 65 (liver failure due to hepatitis C). There will be an empty plate at the Thanksgiving dinner table. I am grateful every day that I am alive.
Modernizing Appraisals: A Regulatory Review and the Future of the Industry
I watched this very interesting live 2-hour session Wednesday, November 16, 2016 – Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance (Committee on Financial Services) Hearing.
I usually check email, etc. when listening to something like this. Not this time. I tried doing one email and lost a few comments. I feverishly scribbled 16 pages of notes.
Here are a few tidbits:
- Very large room with speakers (and some other people in the back) and the Congress members on the other side. Empty seats in the middle.
- The Usual Representation: Appraisal Institute, ASC, AF, NAHB, a group helping people with foreclosures, and Joan Trice. Each with their own agenda except for Joan Trice, the author of the (in) famous appraisal regulatory graphic that I put in last week’s newsletter.
- The Big Issue – appraiser shortage affecting consumers – takes longer to close – FHA switch to certified, low fees, long training, lenders not allowing trainees to sign, etc.
- Lots of anti-AVM comments from congress persons mostly Federal vs. state regulations. Too many appraiser regulators.
- Each group had an agenda from its organization, of course, except Joan Trice.
- Big shortage of appraisers in rural areas. Congress person said there were no appraisers available in his county with a population of 25,000 to 35,000.
- No mention of Trump’s plan to dump Dodd-Frank. Way too uncertain and controversial, I guess. No questions from the other people in the room.
I will write up my full report and analysis in the December issue of Appraisal Today, including a few humorous quips, which are buried in my notes somewhere. The Big Gorilla, Fannie Mae and its CU, was not speaking to answer the AVM and data questions
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Would You Cook in One of These Wacky Kitchens?
Take a break and check out these weird kitchens, including links for more info. FYI, the Flintstone house was listed but never sold and is not on Airbnb. Spend a night there!!
http://blog.rismedia.com/2016/would-you-cook-in-one-of-these-wacky-kitchens
Posted in: appraiser shortage, Freddie, weird homes, zillow