Construction Code Violations and Expertise Appraisals

By on January 3, 2025   /   appraisal business, appraisal how to, climate risk, humor, Mortgage interest rates, time adjustments   /   Leave a comment
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Newz: Appraiser Humor, Mortgage Rate Changes, New GSE Time Analysis

January 3, 2025

What’s in This Newsletter (In Order, Scroll Down)

  • LIA – Code Violations and Expertise
  • Mortgage Rate History Since 1971 What about 2025?
  • Hurricane-Proof $600K Dome Home on Florida’s Space Coast
  • Lyle Radke of Fannie Mae with George Dell, SRA, MAI, ASA, CRE to discuss upcoming changes by the GSEs on Time Analysis
  • Backers of most U.S. mortgages (GSEs) have done little about climate risks
  • Top Ten Reasons Why It Is Great to be an Appraiser – Humor
  • Mortgage applications decreased 21.9 percent from two weeks earlier

Click here to subscribe to our FREE weekly appraiser email newsletter and get the latest appraisal news!

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Mortgage Rate History Since 1971 What about 2025?

Excerpts: For many homebuyers, the last few years have felt like a perfect storm of challenges—soaring home prices and climbing mortgage rates colliding to limit affordability. It’s left many wondering if 2025 will finally calm the waters. Will rates dip low enough to bring some relief, or is another wave of increases on the horizon? While there’s no magic compass to navigate these market shifts, a look back at mortgage rate history can offer clues—and maybe even some hope for those waiting to make their move.

Despite the Federal Reserve’s 25-basis-point rate cut in November, mortgage rates have remained in the high 6% range, offering limited relief to borrowers. However, optimism persists in the market as many believe rates could continue to ease in the months ahead, potentially sparking renewed interest among buyers and homeowners.

While the history of mortgage rates provides valuable context, it’s important to recognize that average mortgage rates are just a benchmark. Borrowers with healthy credit profiles and strong finances often get mortgage rates well below the industry norm.

Current rates are more than double their all-time low of 2.65% (reached in January 2021). But if we take a step back and look at the history of mortgage rates, they’re still close to the historic average since 1971 of 7.73%

To read more and see the graphs and many links to more info, Click Here

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10 Appraisal Myths

By on November 29, 2024   /   AI, appraisal, appraisal business, Appraisal fees, appraisal management company, Economic analysis, future, Highest and Best Use, liability, retirement, ROVs   /   Leave a comment
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Newz: 10 Appraisal Myths, AMCs – Appraiser Ripoffs –  AMC Junk Fees

November 29, 2024

What’s in This Newsletter (In Order, Scroll Down)

  • LIA – Intended Use and User
  • Don’t Fall for These 10 Real Estate Appraisal Myths
  • Extraordinary 4-Story Megamansion With Rooftop Putting Green and 2 Pools Lists for $78 Million
  • Now What? On a New Trump Administration
  • Outrage Over Connect by ValueLink’s New Monthly “Junk Fee”
  • Mortgage applications increased 6.3 percent from one week earlier

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10 Real Estate Appraisal Myths

By Tom Horne

Excerpts: In this week’s post, I dispel some common appraisal myths that have been around for years.

10 Appraisal Myths

Myth #1: All real estate appraisers are the same

Myth #2: Appraisals are the same as the Zillow Zestimate

Myth #3: The appraisal always comes in at the contract price

Myth #4: The appraiser is working for the buyer

Myth #5: Cost always equals value

Myth #6: Comps must be within one mile of the subject property

Myth #7: Agents and appraisers cannot talk

Myth #8: Appraisals and home inspections are the same

Myth #9: Assessed value will equal market value

Myth #10: The “new” appraisal methods are better than the old

To read more, Click Here

My comments: I’m sure you have heard some, or all, of these questions. I have heard them. Read the full post to see the answers you can use.

This blog post is written for newer real estate agents, but a good reminder of what many other people think. For example, when I say I am a real estate appraiser, many people ask if I have any listings. They think I am an agent and don’t know what appraisers do. Unfortunately, that is the main reason appraisers have difficulty when trying to communicate appraisal issues. Few listened to appraisers speaking out about fraud before the 2008 crash. What did we residential lender appraisers get to “fix” the problem? AMCs.

I don’t know why the appraisal associations have never done much to let people know about what appraisers do.

Read more!! →

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Appraisal Cost Approach and Highest and Best Use

By on November 16, 2024   /   AI, appraisal, appraisal how to, cost approach, Economic analysis, forecast, future, Highest and Best Use, liability, USPAP, zillow   /   Leave a comment
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Newz: Now What For Appraisers After Election? Generative AI and adjustments?

November 15, 2024

What’s in This Newsletter (In Order, Scroll Down)

  • (LIA ad) Intended Use and User
  • 10 Questions on the Cost Approach and Highest and Best Use
  • A Real-Life ‘Yellowstone’: Historic 52,000-AcreArizona Ranch Hits the Market for $42 Million—Complete With a Private Airstrip and Off-Grid Cabin
  • Now What? On a New Trump Administration
  • Can Generative AI solve the adjustment support paradigm
  • How Deep Fakes Have Burrowed Into Home Finance
  • Murder in the flying saucer: inside The Chemosphere in Los Angeles, CA
  • Mortgage applications increased 0.5 percent from one week earlier
  • So Many Appraisal Cost Approach Questions
  • Appraisal Business Tips 
    Humor for Appraisers


    Click here to subscribe to our FREE weekly appraiser email newsletter and get the latest appraisal news!

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10 Questions on the Cost Approach and Highest and Best Use

By Timothy Andersen

Excerpts: It is clear most appraisers do not like to perform the analytics inherent in the Cost Approach. This may be because most appraisers simply do not appreciate its power. Consider these 10 Cost Approach questions.

10 QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER

Take a look at these 10 questions on the Cost approach (and various items related to it). After you are finished, you will still not like to do it. But you may appreciate its analytical and interpretative powers even more.

1. On the 1004 form is the indication that Fannie Mae does not require the Cost Approach to Value. However, where does the form instruct the appraiser not to complete the analytics of the Cost approach? (Spoiler Alert: It does not.)

2.   Instructions on the form state the appraiser is to “…[p]rovide adequate information to the lender/client to replicate the [herein] cost figures and calculations.” However, where does the typical appraiser provide such replicable information?

3. In addition, the reporting form requires the appraiser to “…[s]upport the opinion of site value [with a] summary of comparable land sales or other methods for estimating site value.” Nevertheless, where does the typical appraiser provide such summary information?…

So, it is clear from these Fannie Mae instructions that the appraisal of a SFR includes an analysis and valuation of the subject site separate from the valuation of the site as improved. Does this mean to conclude a site value as if the subject site were vacant and available to be put to its highest and best use? (Spoiler Alert: Yes, it does.)

To read all 10 Q&As, Click Here

My comments: Of course, for custom home construction the Cost Approach is required to determine the feasibility of construction before building the home. I got some good ideas on using the Cost Approach from this article.

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AVM Accuracy?

By on June 28, 2024   /   AI, AMCs, appraisal business, appraisal reviews, Fannie, Freddie, liability   /   Leave a comment
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Bank AVMs Are As Wildly Inaccurate As A Zestimate – But Will Be Regulated As Legitimate Values

By Jonathan Miller

June 24, 2024

Excerpts:

  •    AVMs are incredibly inaccurate and are being misused in property valuation
  •    AVMs don’t consider the condition of a home
  •    The mortgage industry’s push toward automation has reduced valuation accuracy

AVM or Automated Valuation Models have been incorrectly seen as the human-less way to value property. The technology has been drifting into mortgage lending reliance for more than a decade because it has been marketed as having the ease of “pushing a button.”

The Zestimate product by Zillow introduced the consumer to the concept nearly twenty years ago…

The recent ruling to regulate the credibility of AVMs by the OCC and FDIC essentially legitimized the use of AVMs in lending. The driver behind this final rule was to eliminate potential bias in valuations by replacing appraisers with AVMS. Yet the Urban Institute study Revisiting Automated Valuation Model Disparities in Majority-Black Neighborhoods said: But even with data improvement and artificial intelligence, we still find evidence that the percentage magnitude of AVM error is greater in majority-Black neighborhoods. This finding indicates that we cannot reject the role historic discrimination has played in the evaluation of home values.

AVM software is built by humans who have inherent biases. The void in representation by the appraisal industry over the past decade on the AVM issue, to talk about those 200 feral cats living in the house being valued, has enabled AVMs to be legitimized by the federal government.

During my career, I have observed that valuation accuracy has become weaker as technology has expanded in the mortgage process. The wiz-bang concept that the appraisal of a property can be completed at the push of a button is missing the realities of valuation.

To read more, Click Here

My comments: Worth reading. Miller was involved in AVM history and, as usual, has some very interesting stories plus lots of Zillow comments.

For pro-AVM information from AV Metrics and to see how they test AVM accuracy, Click Here I have been following them for many years.

Miller used to send out a very long post once a week. I often just scrolled fast through most of it to get to the appraisal section, but I missed a lot that was worth reading. Now, he has divided it into daily posts.

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Appraisal Business Tips 

Humor for Appraisers

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NOTE: Please scroll down to read the other topics in this long blog post on Mortgage appraisal reviews, AI and ChatGPT, freddie and fannie mortgage forecast, unusual homes, mortgage origination stats, etc

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Appraisers: Be Careful with Your Words

By on July 28, 2023   /   bias, Fannie, Fannie Forms, george dell, non-lender appraisals   /   Leave a comment
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Pesky Words. Keeping Appraisers out of Language Purgatory

Appraisers: Be Careful with Your Words!

by Dave Towne

Excerpts: Appraisers, on July 17, 2023, a document from Freddie Mac was circulated to numerous appraisers around the US which identified certain words and other info that can be considered to be ‘BIASED’ in appraisal reports. Here is the Link to the Bulletin.

We need to step back for a moment and carefully analyze and consider why that was done, and what it means to appraisers.

In many ways, appraisers forget the purpose of the appraisal assignment – which is to value real estate. In other words, the physical structures tied to the land.

But too often, elements of personal or neighborhood demographics or other comments seep into the reports. Maybe not consciously or on purpose, but because appraisers are not critically reading what they write and may not realize the implications of how what they write can be interpreted.

To read more, click here

To read the Freddie document, click here

My comments: Well written and worth reading. Thanks to Dave Towne! I have subscribed to his emails for a long time. To join his list, send an email to dtowne@fidalgo.net requesting to join. I wrote about the July 17 Freddie announcement in this newsletter’s June 16, 2023 issue. Guess it finally got out into the appraiser internet world.

Appraisal Business Tips 

Humor for Appraisers

Fannie: Words and Phrases in Appraisals

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NOTE: Please scroll down to read the other topics in this long blog post on non lender appraisals, USPAP and Bias, Fannie changes, unusual homes, mortgage origination

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FHA: Cosmetic vs. MPR Repairs

By on May 26, 2023   /   bad appraisers, bias, FHA, lender appraisals, USPAP   /   Leave a comment
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Cosmetic vs. MPR Repairs: Guidance for FHA Appraisers

By: McKissock

Excerpts: If you are appraising a property that needs some cosmetic repairs but meets FHA minimum property requirements (MPR) in its current condition, you should make the appraisal “as-is.” Here is some guidance on cosmetic repairs vs. MPR repairs.

Topics include:

  • When can an FHA appraisal be completed “as-is” vs. “subject to”?
  • Cosmetic repairs Examples
  • MPR repairs Examples
  • Conditions that require inspection Examples

To read more, click here

My comments: If you do FHA appraisals, read this blog post. Photos and lots of examples. I quit doing FHA appraisals in the mid-1980s because of the inspection requirements compared to conventional appraisals, that did not have the requirement.

Appraisal Business Tips 

Humor for Appraisers

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NOTE: Please scroll down to read the other topics in this long blog post on appraisal “modernization”, bias hearing, bad appraiser, USPAP, unusual homes, mortgage origination stats, etc.

To read more of this long blog post with many topics, click Read More Below!!

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Green Home Appraisals – Ideas for Appraisers

By on May 6, 2022   /   adjustments, ANSI, desktop appraisals, lender appraisals   /   Leave a comment
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5 Tips for Appraising Green Homes

By McKissock

Excerpts:

1. Consider each home on a case-by-case basis

You must independently determine whether there is sufficient information available to develop a reliable opinion of market value for each individual property. That will depend on the extent of the differences between the green home and other types of houses in the neighborhood. It will also depend on the number of such properties that have already been sold in the neighborhood.

5. Compare improvements to those in the neighborhood

Any improvements should conform to the neighborhood in terms of age, type, design, and materials used for their construction. If there is market resistance to a green home property because its improvements are not compatible with the neighborhood or with the requirements of the competitive market because of adequacy of plumbing, heating, or electrical services; design; quality; size; condition; or any other reason directly related to market demand, address the impact to the value and marketability of the subject property.

To read more, click here

My comments: I have “Mediterranean” (mild) weather, without much solar. If you live in an area with high summer and/or low winter temperatures, there are probably more solar installations. Many classes are offered by various appraisal CE providers. Check with education providers, such as McKissock, the Appraisal Institute, and local offerings.

What are Pass through Bedrooms for Appraisals

Appraisal Business Tips 

Humor for Appraisers

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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 desktops, nonbanks, alternative financing, unusual homes, mortgage origination stats, etc.

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Neighborhood Boundaries for Appraisals

By on January 28, 2022   /   adjustments, ANSI, appraisal classes, appraisal how to, bias   /   Leave a comment
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Gentrification, neighborhood boundaries, and bias

By Ryan Lundquist 

Excerpts: Photo used with permission (thanks, Vicky).

Sometimes, crossing the street can make all the difference for value. In short, if we don’t understand where a neighborhood starts and ends, we might choose the wrong comps.

Q&A #3 How do we know neighborhood boundaries?

Okay, this is a big question, and it could easily be a dissertation. For starters, let’s consider what Fannie Mae says about neighborhoods:

Fannie Mae: “The appraiser should provide an outline of the neighborhood boundaries, which should be clearly delineated using ‘North,’ ‘South’, ‘East,’ and ‘West’. These boundaries may include but are not limited to streets, legally recognized neighborhood boundaries, waterways, or other natural boundaries that define the separation of one neighborhood from another. Appraisers should not reference a map or other addendum as the only example of the neighborhood boundaries.”

Other thoughts (mine): I think sometimes we focus only on major streets, but let’s also consider school boundaries and even how neighborhood associations or city websites define areas. But also, where would residents themselves draw the lines? And where would buyers be hunting for a home before shopping somewhere else? All these things could be clues.

To read more and see lots of maps and graphs, click here

My comments: Excellent analysis of specific neighborhood boundaries with maps and graphs, of course. Worth reading. The Jan. and Feb issues of the monthly Appraisal Today has this article: Does my neighborhood really need to be analyzed? Parts I II By Tim Andersen, MAI. The best neighborhood explanations I have ever read!!

Appraisal Business Tips 

Humor for Appraisers

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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 unusual homes, ANSI, bias, smells, mortgage origination stats, etc.

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Should Appraisers Pay to Be on AMC List

By on August 28, 2020   /   adjustments, AMCs, appraisal business, appraisal management company, cost approach, COVID, Fannie, fauci, new appraisers   /   Leave a comment
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By Dustin Harris

Excerpt: Should appraisers pay to be on an AMC’s approved appraiser list? Is this one way to get new clients? If an AMC solicited you, would you check it out?

Now, I work for some AMCs that, frankly, you might not choose to work for. That’s fine. It’s a choice we all make. Understand that most of the areas I work are rural, so AMCs are generally willing to pay more because of this. Some AMC are very demanding. Yet, when I meet those demands, I get a lot of well-paying jobs from them.

To read more, plus lots of appraiser comments, and listen to the podcast, click here

My comment: A never-ending very controversial topic ever since AMCs took over residential lender appraisals after the mortgage crash around 2008!

Which Appraisal Clients are used the most?(Opens in a new browser tab)

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What to Do When Your Appraisal Is Under Review

By on August 14, 2020   /   appraisal business, Coronavirus, cost approach, COVID, liability, state appraiser regulators, unusual homes   /   Leave a comment
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Excerpts: Residential appraisers will often — if not just about always — have their work reviewed by another appraiser. Usually, this is a routine procedure that the original appraiser barely notices. Sometimes, the review appraiser will come back with requests for extra information, or doubts, that the original appraiser might find annoying. To be sure, the reviewer’s questions might sometimes seem nit-picky, and answering them can distract from other work. However, the issues the reviewer raises almost always turn out to be legitimate. What to Do When Your Appraisal Is Under Review

We asked review appraiser Doug Nakashima (Glenview, Illinois) for advice on how to make reviews as painless as possible if you’re the one being reviewed.

Topics:

  • Remember that reviewers are on your side
  • Look out for these common points of contention
  • Avoid future revision requests

To read more, click here

My comments: Sorry, no comments section for ranting, etc. ;>

If you’re doing AMC work, the tough appraisals tend to go to reviewers. The first “reviews” are from underwriters, clerks, computer software, etc.

I don’t know of any other profession where almost all reports are reviewed by clients. Personally, I think it has resulted in appraisers being overly critical of other appraisers’ work, state boards sometimes being too aggressive, etc. Worse, some appraisers try to send in reports with as as few “problems” as possible, to minimize call backs and doing whatever it takes.

Review appraiser liability(Opens in a new browser tab)

Appraisal Process Challenges(Opens in a new browser tab) Read more!! →

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