A National MLS Database?Excerpt: Instead of considering the consolidation of the governance and management structures of the MLS, thereby providing coast-to-coast cooperation among brokers, we should instead focus on MLS data and technology infrastructure, and support the movement toward a national database system.
This would create a vast information network available to application developers who, until now, couldn’t offer tools to agents and brokers without expensive and time-consuming customization for every individual MLS.
NOTE: THIS WAS PUBLISHED IN 1-18. THEY KEEPT TRYING IN 2020!! My comment: The author is vice president of Business Development for Realtors Property Resource® (RPR®), created by NAR. More info at www.narrpr.com . Very interesting and worth reading. Poor real estate data has been a problem forever. Non-standardized MLS data is a nightmare for appraisers. This database would be accessible to appraisers, CU, and AVMs I assume. Of course, we all know how accurate MLS data is…
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 blog post with many topics, click Read More Below!! NOTE: Please scroll down to read the other topics in this long blog post on bath tubs, new appraisal forms,, mortgage origination stats, etc. |
Are you paying unseen add-on fees for your appraisal?By Ken Harney, nationally syndicated real estate writer
Excerpt: Are you getting fleeced on appraisal charges when you buy a house or refinance? Could you be paying as much as double what the appraiser is receiving for actually doing the work, with the excess going to an undisclosed third party?
Many appraisers say yes. And they’re eager to let consumers know that when the appraisal charge is $500 or $800 or $1,000, they’re frequently being paid just a fraction of that. The rest is going to an “appraisal management” company…
Read the full article here and add your comments:
My comment: Finally, someone is writing about the AMC Consumer Ripoff!! I have been saying since 2008 that the best way to “fight” AMCs is to let consumers know they are getting ripped off!! Appraisers complain about how AMCs treat appraisers and low fees, but don’t seem to focus on consumers, who are paying much more.
————————————————————————–
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
……………………………..
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!! →
America’s First Medal at the Nazi Olympics Was For…Town Planning
Excerpt: Yes, from 1928 until 1948, town planning was an actual Olympic sport.
Town planning fell under an “architectural design” category at the Olympic art competition. The field that year was dominated by German entries. Yet the first U.S. medal of the Olympics went to Lay, a New York architect, for his ambitious blueprint to modernize Marine Park in Brooklyn.
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/americas-first-medal-at-the-nazi-olympics-was-fortown-planning
My comment: I love these Obscure Olympic Facts ;>
—————————————
Photo blurring gone waay overboard!!
Excerpt: At issue was the ubiquitous “client requirement” involving digital masking of people from images. While lenders and AMCs wave the Fair Housing penalty flag in order to assure compliance; there is NO such law. Never has been.
Lenders need to re-examine the reason for all of these pointless and invasive interior shots. They add nothing meaningful to the file. Nobody is laying out mortgages for Beanie Baby collections and bad drapes. So why are appraisers wasting megapixels on decorating images?
AMCs are on notice to cease demanding and insisting that appraisers do digital staging. That is clearly in violation of Illinois law.
Click here to read the full article plus the comments, of course…
http://appraisersblogs.com/digital-staging-amc-fair-housing-myth
My comment: Blurring interior pictures on walls, personal objects, etc. seems very excessive. Don’t know about rooms with strange devices and chains hanging from walls and ceilings, etc ;> Maybe appraisers will only be able to appraise vacant homes with nothing in them without getting requests for blurring. This applies only to AMCs doing business in Illinois, but maybe the AMCs will quit doing it in other states.
8 Extraordinary Pieces of Architecture Grown From Living Trees
Excerpt:
We usually use trees as building material in the form of struts and planks. But all over the world, people have found ways to create dwellings, bridges, and sculptures out of trees without even cutting them down. Using trees to create living structures is much slower to build (read: grow) than traditional methods, but it creates some truly fantastical natural creations. Take a look at some of the world’s coolest feats of arbortecture.
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/8-extraordinary-pieces-of-architecture-grown-from-living-trees
My comment: All I can say is WoW!! Great photos plus some text info. Just Click On It!!
———————————
Celebrity names not adding to appeal for home buyers?
May. 16, 2016 – 3:00 – Douglas Elliman Broker Chris Leavitt on the challenges celebrities face trying to sell their homes.
Very funny commercial before the short 4 minute video – Fox news.
Another great one from Jonathan Miller. I guess he watches a lot of tv and tweetlings, when not doing lotsa graphs and other stuff ;>
http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/4895807387001/celebrity-names-not-adding-to-appeal-for-home-buyers
Toronto’s Half House
Willy Wonka would love this weird half-a-home
Excerpts:
No, this isn’t a trick of Photoshop. Nor is it the world’s nastiest spite house; rather, this bonafide half-home shares more with its nail house brethren after witnessing a history of blight and zoning changes.
The lone row home at 54 1/2 Saint Patrick Street dates back to Toronto’s slums in the late 19th century. Built somewhere between 1890 and 1893, this bay-and-gable relic from a bygone era once was a one of six identical, structurally intertwined homes on what was then known as Dummer Street
This begs the question: how does half a building cleave away so cleanly only to leave the rest of it standing?
Read more at: Be sure to click on photo full screen to see it better
http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/toronto-s-half-house
More photos and info at: Click here Link was too long to post…
AQB wants comments on possible changes to college degree, practicum, alternative experience, etc.
Comments deadline March 31, 2016
College degree – alternative for licensed upgrade to certified
My comments: I keep hearing from appraisers that college graduates have lots of high paying opportunities. But, these types of jobs are only for engineering, computer science, etc. jobs. Some with business degrees from highly rated schools can get “Wall Street” jobs. Not for the vast majority of graduates with degrees in English, psychology, etc. I don’t know how realistic it is to offer a route from Licensed to Certified with no 4 year degree required since few lender clients will accept licensed appraisers and their numbers have dropped significantly.
Practicum – alternative experience up to 50%
My comment: I studied science in college and spent many afternoons in labs. When I graduated I was ready to go to work and needed no training. This is a significant problem for appraisers.
The only appraisal class I ever had with practical experience was a junior college appraisal class taught by a real estate agent. We all appraised his home using Fannie forms. A practicum was offered awhile ago by the AQB but was too difficult to set up and none were ever offered. Hopefully, these new requirements will be easier and, more important, include hands-on appraisal experience.
Click here to read the full document
My comments: Lender appraising has been a boom and bust business since Fannie and Freddie started securitizing loans in the 1960s, requiring armies of new appraisers during the booms with most laid off during the busts. Everyone seems to forget this. The current licensing system does not consider it.
Of course, the biggest problem today is lenders not allowing trainees to sign on their own. Lenders can solve this problem now. The draft recognizes this problem. But, AMCs (low fees and Scope Creep) are the most significant reason for the “brain drain” of experienced residential appraisers leaving the profession since 2008. Retiring baby boomers is another factor.
Who is worried about an appraiser shortage? The Appraisal Foundation’s income will go down. AMCs will have fewer appraisers to broadcast cheap fees. Finding appraisers in rural areas will be more difficult, but this has always been a problem. Lenders are hoping maybe they can use AMCs or “alternative products” because of the shortage. Of course, not much of this applies to commercial appraising, only to residential AMC work.
Issued June, 2015
Excerpt:
Section VI(C) of the Criteria states:
An applicant shall not be eligible for a real property appraiser credential if, during at least the five(5) year period preceding the date of the application for licensing or certification, the applicant has been convicted of, or plead guilty or nolocontender to a crime that would call into question the applicant’s fitness for licensure.
It is impractical, and likely impossible, to compile a list of every specific circumstance where an applicant must be denied a credential. Section VI(C) is intended to provide states with the ability to deny a credential based on “public trust.” States have latitude to determine, based on their own guidelines, whether or not an applicant falls into this category and should be denied a credential.
My comment: California required background checks on all applicants when licensing first started around 20 years ago. There was a lot of discussion on what disqualified you. I didn’t hear about many license denials for experienced appraisers. I suspect this is because appraisers don’t do much criminal activity (except a few being involved in mortgage fraud). But, some had felonies in the past. For example, a felony for sale of marijuana in the 1960s – many years before the 1990s. For states which have never done background checks it is easier today. They can ask the other states what they did regarding background checks. Every state is different. Check with your state if it will be implementing background checks for the first time.
Link to Q&As
https://appraisalfoundation.sharefile.com/download.aspx?id=s246eb776d104935a#
Exposure Draft, Guide Note 9
https://appraisalfoundation.sharefile.com/download.aspx?id=s79a4e964ae3446db Issued January 17, 2015
“One of the changes adopted by the AQB requires that individuals who become Supervisory Appraisers or Trainee Appraisers after January 1, 2015, complete a course that, at a minimum, complies with the specifications for course content established by the AQB. The course must be completed by the Trainee Appraiser prior to obtaining a Trainee Appraiser credential, and completed by the Supervisory Appraiser prior to supervising a Trainee
Appraiser.”
Written comments requested by January 11, 2013.
If this is an issue for you, be sure to speak out!! The AQB reads all comments.
Link: https://appraisalfoundation.sharefile.com/d/s8623b44b00f462db
Issued on November 29, 2012.