7-6-17 Newz: Tech Trends in 1776 .Arms-length transactions .Zillow vs. McMansions

By on July 6, 2017   /   appraisal, Strange homes, unusual homes   /   Leave a comment
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8 Hottest Tech Trends in 1776

Just For Fun!! Take a break from writing up those darn reports. Is there any appraiser who likes writing reports. Not me ;>

Excerpt: At that time, the “best” technology available was the printing press and the “best” social network required the use of “word of mouth” in Public Houses… But while all this was going on, there were a bunch of entrepreneurs and a few startups that changed the world.
  1. Underwater warfare
  2. Telling accurate time
  3. Underwater exploration
  4. Indoor plumbing
  5. Kitchen stove
  6. Electricity
  7. Mechanical motion
  8. Multitasking
My comment: check out this great article!! It is only 2 days after July 4, so I decided to include this very interesting article by Shelly Palmer one of my favorite tech writers!

Arm’s-Length Transactions, Market Value and Related Parties, Part 2 By Richard Heyn, SRA

Excerpt: So while a non-arm’s length transaction may be a red flag that can point to an above or below market value transaction, the bottom line is that ALTs may or may not take place at market value.
Another area of misconception among appraisers regarding ALTs involves the application of the term “related parties.” Unfortunately, the term “related parties” is not defined in any authoritative appraisal-related literature that I am aware. The term is, however, defined in accounting standards and by the Internal Revenue Service, most notably in the IRS guidelines for exchanges of like-kind properties.

My comment: the excerpt above is from part 2, above is the link for part 1. I have read several long threads online about this topic. Lots of confusion. Rich’s articles are Most Excellent. Read These Articles!

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6-28-17 Newz// Octagon house craze, Reproducibility Crisis, AMC Technology Efficient?

By on June 29, 2017   /   AMCs, appraisal, appraisal management company, Mortgage applications, Strange homes, unusual homes   /   Leave a comment
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Octagon House Craze in the 1800s

Excerpt: 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.

Top cities where the number of million dollar homes is skyrocketing

Excerpt: 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.
  1. Denver CO
  2. Santa Rosa CA
  3. Boulder CO
  4. Truckee CA
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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5-4-17 Newz .Appraiser Sues Coester. Regression Depression .Google Docs Phishing Scam

By on May 4, 2017   /   AMCs, mortgage loan volume   /   Leave a comment
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Appraiser sues Coester – email hacking

 Source: Appraiserville by Jonathan Miller

With links to court documents
 
Mark Skapinetz v. CoesterVMS.com Inc. and Brian Coester
Excerpt: Do you like to read John Grisham books? I have a story that is much better. It is about a residential fee appraiser in Georgia who filed suit against what the appraisal industry sees as the most notorious AMCs out there and its owner. The appraiser provides compelling tangible evidence with his claim that his email was hacked by the AMC.
… The complaint reads better than “The Firm.”
http://www.millersamuel.com/note/april-28-2017  Scroll down to appraiserville 
 
Dustin Harris Interview with the appraiser:http://appraisersblogs.com/mark-skapinetz-free-appraisers 
More analysis, opinions, and links to documents plus comments
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Regression Depression

Why is it so easy? Why is it so hard?

By George Dell, MAI, SRA, ASA

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4-6-17 Newz .VA Appraisers Congress Hearing .Appraiser and Timeshare Scam .Fourth Approach

By on April 6, 2017   /   appraisal, Mortgage applications, mortgage loan volume, Uncategorized, va   /   Leave a comment
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Assessing VA Approved Appraisers and How to Improve the Program for the 21st Century – House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity April 4, 2017

Link to video of hearing: https://youtu.be/uoVmYOq4HQY  (scroll forward past the logo)
Witnesses included:
– NAR 2016 Real Property Valuation Committee Chair
– Vice President, Appraisal Institute
– Chief Revenue Officer, Clear Capital

My comment: I have always been surprised that so few appraisers are interested in doing VA appraisals. Guess they like working for AMCs with hassles and low fees. Every week, at the bottom of every free email newsletter, I include the MBA origination stats, including VA, which is similar in volume to FHA. This week FHA and VA are very similar – around 11% of originations.

I wrote an article about the plusses and minuses of VA appraising in my Paid Appraisal Today newsletter, available to paid subscribers (see below). What I really like about VA is that you are helping veterans, not a lender trying to make a deal however they can. I noticed that a Representative O’Rourke was one of the first speakers in the video ;>
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Federal Court Permanently Bars California Man From Preparing Property Appraisals

Appraiser prepared thousands of appraisals in conjunction with timeshare donation scheme

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3-16-17 Newz: Appraiser indicted, Public records sqft, 3-D printed house

By on March 16, 2017   /   Mortgage applications, mortgage loan volume, state appraiser regulators, Strange homes, unusual home, unusual homes, weird homes   /   1 Comment
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3D Map Shows America’s Most Expensive Housing Markets

Excerpt: Which U.S. housing market is the most expensive?
 It seems like the question should have a single, straightforward answer. But with varying definitions of what constitutes a housing market and with different ways of measuring home value, the question is not so clear cut.
Using data from Zillow, this 3D map shows the cost of housing by U.S. county. The height of each area represents the average price per square foot of its homes.
My comment: Fascinating graphic. Lots of counties well under $100 per sq.ft. My urban county: $477. Other CA rural counties under $150. Warning: Can Be Addictive ;> I love Microcosm graphics!!
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Top 10 Affordable Small Towns Where You’d Actually Want to Live, 2017 Edition
Excerpt: But does this (small towns) mean you have to trade excitement for enervation? As the city-dwelling comedian Lenny Bruce once said, “I hate small towns, because once you’ve seen the cannon in the park, that’s it.” So we focused on life beyond the cannons-small towns offering up rich cultures and a surprising amount of fun side diversions.

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2-23-17 Newz// Transportation failures, Polluted Cities, Appraisers Age

By on February 23, 2017   /   appraisal business, lender appraisals, Mortgage applications, mortgage loan volume, new appraisers, Strange homes, trainees, Trumpish speculations, unusual home, unusual homes, weird homes, weird properties   /   Leave a comment
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With Trump changes in the news, guess I need to put something in this email newsletter ;>

Big Banks Could Get Back in the Mortgage Market in a Big Way
Excerpt: For the past six years, there has been a quiet revolution in the mortgage market: Big banks like JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) and Citibank (NYSE: C) have moved out and nonbank lenders such as Quicken, loanDepot and Caliber Home Loans have moved in – in a big way.
The revolution went largely unchallenged, but that may be about to change if the Trump administration removes regulations on the big banks and stops sending bad loans back to the banks for repayment. Deregulation would open the door for big banks to move back in.
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The Least Polluted U.S. Cities (and the Dirtiest)
Least polluted
1-Naples FL
2-Salem OR
10 – Salinas CA
Most polluted
1-Philadelphia PA
2-Los Angeles CA
10- Milwaukee WI
My comment: Worth reading. Very interesting results and a well written article!!
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5 Spectacular Transportation Failures

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2-16-17 Newz .Land surveys in 1784 .Common appraisal errors

By on February 16, 2017   /   appraisal, Mortgage applications, mortgage loan volume, Strange homes, unusual home, unusual homes, weird homes, weird properties   /   Leave a comment
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 Land Surveys in 1784 – Alexander Hamilton vs. Thomas Jefferson

Metes and bounds vs. Meridians

Excerpts:
In 1784, Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton squared off over the best way to divvy up newly American territory.
The two factions also had different ideas about how to divide the land. Jefferson and his allies wanted to use an innovative system of land division, which would use meridians and other abstract geographical reference points to measure out uniform parcels of land. Hamilton and his allies thought that would take too long. As long as settlers had been grabbing up land in America, they’d operated according to a principle of free settlement-essentially, first-come, first-serve. Hamilton wanted to divide up the land using the more traditional “metes and bounds” system, in which landmarks and other features of a piece of land are used to describe its borders.
The Public Land Survey System was created because, in the 1780s, the new United States of America needed money. The Revolutionary War had left the federal government with debts, and its leaders planned to raise funds by selling off land where American colonists had yet to settle.
My comment: Fascinating!! We all study how our country is divided geographically in our basic appraisal classes. George Washington was also a land surveyor. Surveyors were the predecessors to appraisers. RICS (Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors), the largest international appraisal association was founded in London in 1868.
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Common Appraisal Errors – Part 1
by Joshua Walitt, SRA, MNAA
Excerpts on adjustments: You don’t need to write a book. In fact, most adjustments can be summarized relatively succinctly. Consider the following when summarizing your adjustments:
* What specifically is the difference between the subject and the comp? This is normally apparent for garages and GLA, but may not be as easily discerned for condition or quality. In other words, regarding quality-related components, what specific characteristics make the comp different from the subject?

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2-9-17 Newz// Dodd Frank repeal?, Secret Places, CU ratings manipulation

By on February 9, 2017   /   adjustments, Collateral Underwriter, Mortgage applications, mortgage loan volume, Strange homes, Trumpish speculations, unusual home, unusual homes, weird properties   /   Leave a comment
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11 Secret Spaces Hiding in Famous Places

Thousands of people pass through these destinations each day unaware there’s a hidden gem tucked inside.
Here are a few:
– Secret Apartments in the New York Public Library
– Secret Compartment in Leonardo da Vinci Statue – Italy
– Vanderbilt Tennis Club at Grand Central Terminal – New York
– Gustave Eiffel’s Secret Apartment – Paris
My comment: Just for Fun. Fascinating!! Good fotos and info. New York seems to have a lot of secret places…
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FREE ASC/Appraisal Foundation Webinar from Network of State Appraisal Organizations
On January 18th, NSAO sponsored a webinar with Jim Parks with the Appraisal Subcommittee and David Bunton with The Appraisal Foundation. The webinar received glowing reviews by those who attended and is available to those who missed it. The NSAO looks forward to other webinars in the future. These webinars are only possible because of your membership with VaCAP and other State organizations.

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10-27-16 Newz//Red lining maps, Fannie-no appraisals needed, Garage conversions

By on October 27, 2016   /   appraisal business, Collateral Underwriter, Fannie, Mortgage applications, mortgage loan volume, UAD   /   Leave a comment
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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 !!

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