Top Ten Reasons Why It Is Great to be an Appraiser!

By on January 20, 2023   /   AMCs, appraisal business, forecast, humor, real estate market   /   Leave a comment
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Top Ten Reasons Why It Is Great to be an Appraiser!

10. Dazzle your friends with your knowledge of external obsolescence.

9. The wonderful world of rats, bats, and spiders.

8. Be a part of the profession blamed for the collapse of the savings and loan industry.

7. See places in people’s houses that usually require a search warrant to access.

6. Arouse the suspicion of an entire neighborhood when inspecting comparable sales.

5. Chance to really irritate annoying real estate salespeople.

4. Walk around holding a clipboard just like “Skip” down at the Jiffy Lube.

3. Spend hours writing volumes of supporting documentation to justify the market value of a property you already decided on when you pulled into the driveway.

2. See that some people really do hang those black velveteen pictures of Elvis on their living room walls.

1. Be one of a handful of people who know that USPAP is not a medical term.

Many thanks to reader Joe Ibach, MAI, for this great list! He doesn’t know the source…seems like it is one of those email/send/resends now floating around the Internet!

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VA Required to Encourage Hybrid Appraisals

By on December 30, 2022   /   appraisal business, bad appraisers, forecast, hybrid appraisals, non-lender appraisals, va   /   Leave a comment
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  • VA Required to Encourage Hybrids – Senate Passes HR 7735

    By Dave Towne December 21, 2022

    Excerpts: The U.S. Senate has announced the passage of HR 7735, the Improving Access to the VA Home Loan Benefit Act of 2022.

    Under the terms of HR 7735, sponsored by Sen. Dan Sullivan and Rep. Mike Bost, the VA will be required to:

    • Issue certification requirements for appraisers;
    • Execute minimum property requirements;
    • Review the process for selecting and reviewing comparable sales;
    • Implement quality control processes;
    • Establish the Assisted Appraisal Processing Program; and
    • Establish the use of waivers or other alternatives to existing appraisal processes.

    This is not yet ‘law,’ but likely will be in the not too distant future. Has passed House and Senate. Needs Biden’s signature.

    To read more, click here

    My comments: Read the appraisers’ comments. The law is not surprising. The mortgage industry has been wanting this for a long time. I still recommend VA to appraisers as they are the only mortgage organization that wants to help the borrower instead of making as much money as possible

Where VA loans are soaring. Are you doing VA appraisals?

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Crazy Appraisal Stories! We all have them!!

By on April 22, 2022   /   ANSI, desktop appraisals, forecast, future, humor   /   Leave a comment
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Crazy Appraisal Stories!

Excerpts: Not Just Measuring Homes and Taking Pictures
I went to appraise a home for a movie producer in Brentwood, California. I knocked on the door, and one of the producer’s boyfriends opened the door and invited me in. He was completely naked. He told me that whatever I do, don’t let the cat out. As I went room to room taking photos, I met another naked boyfriend. He also told me not to let the cat out. As I went to the second floor of the house, I met the producer who was also naked. He told me again, “don’t let the cat out.”
I’m approaching the rear patio door to take pics of the rear of the house. Outside I see a beautiful pure-bred Persian cat. I know I didn’t let the cat out but I sure as hell better get it back in the house. I started chasing the cat in the rear yard. Finally, I grabbed it, but not before it ripped my blouse and caused my hands to bleed. Huffing and puffing from the chase, I tossed the cat back into the house and closed the door. A few moments later one of the naked boyfriends came over and said “that’s the neighbor’s cat. Get him out of the house.” I then had to chase the cat again. Finally, I caught the cat and put him out of the house. I was left there panting with a torn blouse and bleeding hands, thinking appraising homes is definitely not just measuring homes, taking pics, and typing up forms.
-Mary Cummins
To read more, click here
My comments: Just For Fun! We’ve all got these stories!

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Three 2022 Residential Appraisal Forecasts

By on January 7, 2022   /   ANSI, appraisal, Fannie, forecast, UAD   /   Leave a comment
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Three 2022 Residential Appraisal Forecasts

The 20 appraisal events that will surface, occur or continue on into 2022
By Tim Andersen, MAI
Excerpt of three of the Events:
6. So far, appraisers have not organized themselves to fight the bogus bias and discrimination charges against them. Despite the need for such pugilistic organization, however, the status quo won’t change.
9. More and more state appraisal and taxing authorities will recognize Fannie Mae’s move to use the ANSI measurement standards by adopting those standards themselves. While this is likely a positive step, it will result in another level of regulation and standards imposed on appraisers.
10. State appraisal boards will continue their migration toward becoming consumer advocacy agencies; thus, their migration away from their original purpose, the credentialing, educating, and disciplining of real estate appraisers.
Warning: some are very controversial!
To read all 20, click here. I posted this on my blog, so you can make comments!

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2022 Residential Appraisal Forecast – 20 Events

By on January 5, 2022   /   forecast   /   5 Comments
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The 20 appraisal events that will surface, occur, or continue on into 2022 By Tim Andersen, MAI

Editor’s note: some of these are controversial! Please leave your comments, and read other appraisers’ comments, below. 

Mortgage forecast – loans predicted to drop 30% in 2014

Appraisers' forecast for biz in 2014

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What are Pass through Bedrooms for Appraisals

By on April 16, 2021   /   adjustments, appraisal business, appraisal how to, forecast, Mortgage applications, mortgage loan volume   /   Leave a comment
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Pass-through Bedrooms

Excerpts: This may not be a major problem if the house has sufficient bedrooms to match what is typical and expected in the neighborhood. It can have a negative impact on the marketability of the home if this arrangement reduces the number of usable bedrooms from what is typical.
The floor plan layout of a home can have an impact on its market value: The impact on value is determined from market data and how buyers perceive it. Did the home sell for less because it has a different floor plan than what is typical and expected?
The cost to fix can vary: Depending on the current floor plan configuration and the location of the bedroom in relation to other rooms the cost can vary widely and this should be taken into consideration when comparing it to the value added by fixing the problem.
Written for home owners with a good discussion of cost to cure vs. value added.
To read more, click here
For more analysis by Ryan Lundquist (from 2016) of what I often see, click here The image above is from Ryan’s article.
My comments: I have had many discussions with real estate agents and home owners about this issue. The number of bedrooms in a house can be a significant factor in many markets. In my market most homes were built prior to 1940 and have modifications, such as additions, over time. The pass through bedrooms can seldom be fixed. I usually call them “dens”.

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Top Reasons Why It Is Great to be an Appraiser!

By on December 4, 2020   /   FHA, forecast, humor, Mortgage applications, weird homes   /   Leave a comment
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Appraiser Humor

Top Ten Reasons Why It Is Great to be an Appraiser!

10. Dazzle your friends with your knowledge of external obsolescence.

9. The wonderful world of rats, bats, and spiders.

7. See places in people’s houses that usually require a search warrant to access.

We all need some humor!! These made me laugh ;>

To see 7 more reasons, click here

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Covid-19 Residential Appraisers Tips on Staying Safe

For Covid Updates, go to my Covid Science blog at covidscienceblog.com

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What’s the appraisal definition for suburban?

By on July 10, 2020   /   adjustments, appraisal business, Appraisal Foundation, Coronavirus, Fannie, forecast, george dell, Mortgage applications, real estate market, USPAP, weird properties   /   Leave a comment
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Excerpts: The U.S. hasn’t had a formal definition for what constitutes a suburb. A new data analysis comes closer to defining America’s most popular neighborhood type. (Suburban appraisal definition is tricky.) What’s the appraisal definition for suburban?

The United States is a land of suburbs, with just one problem: No one’s quite clear what a “suburb” is.

It’s a question of semantics with real-world implications, as government programs, political campaigns and developers try to spend money in the “suburbs,” where a majority of Americans say they live despite the category having no formal definition.

For some people, it’s obvious: A suburb is a smaller city on the periphery of a larger city. Or it’s a sprawling neighborhood filled with vast swathes of single-family homes. Still other more dated conceptions of suburbia in the popular mind involve the people who live there: allegedly white, middle class and socially homogenous.

Now a new team of researchers believe they’ve cracked the code…

To read more, click here

My comments: Of course, if you do residential lender appraisals this is a Very Big Issue due to lender “requirements” such as no rural properties. Lots and lots of online discussion about this for a long time. Post this topic on your favorite Internet chat site or email list… and wait for the wide variety of opinions!!

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My Favorite Definitions

(This has been floating around for many years…)

Rural  Suburban  Urban

  • If you stand naked on the front porch and the neighbors can’t see you… it’s rural.
  • If you stand naked on the front porch and the neighbors call the cops on you… it’s suburban.
  • If you stand naked on the front porch and the neighbors ignore you… it’s urban.

There are other variations, of course, that are not suitable for this newsletter ;>

Crazy Appraiser Stories!!(Opens in a new browser tab)

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Appraisal vs Zillow vs AVM which is best

By on July 26, 2019   /   adjustments, AVMS, deminimus, FHA, forecast, future, Mortgage applications, real estate market, weird properties, zillow   /   Leave a comment
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Appraiser vs. AVM vs. Zestimate… Ten Properties

Excerpt: On a regular basis, my opinion of value of a property I am appraising, is frighteningly similar to an AVM’s value. While that is the case, as you will see in this article, that is not always the case. You might be wondering what an AVM is? AVM stands for Automated Valuation Model. It is a computer program that uses mathematical modeling to derive a value based upon the data it is provided.
In this article I differentiate the typical AVM from Zillow’s Zestimate because Zillow claims to be more accurate than other AVM’s, due to the technology they use. Zillow’s Zestimate is an AVM.
To read more, click here
My comment: Try this on appraisals you have recently done and see the accuracy in your market. Read the article comments and leave your comment.

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Suburb not well defined for appraisals

By on June 14, 2019   /   appraisal regulations, Fannie, FHA, forecast, lender appraisals, mortgage loan volume, real estate market, weird properties   /   Leave a comment
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How Should We Define the Suburbs?

Excerpt: The problem (lack of a definition) stems from the fact that U.S. statistical agencies (the Census Bureau and Office of Management and Budget) do not provide a systematic definition for suburbs. They offer classifications for metropolitan areas and micropolitan areas, a classification of urban and rural areas, and a category of principal cities, but nothing of the sort for suburbs. But, suburb not well defined for appraisals.

Very interesting with a good table To read more, click here

My comment: Appraisers have to identify on forms if a property is urban/suburban/rural. Also percent built up. Rural can affect loans sometimes. I have never seen any clear definitions. Now I know why!

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