Time Adjustment Changes for Appraisers

By on April 25, 2025   /   appraisal business, Appraisal Subcomitee, ASC, New URAR, time adjustments   /   Leave a comment
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Newz: Time Adjustments, 2025 ASC Appraiser Data Analysis, Fannie Fraud

April 25, 2025

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

  • LIA ad – Weather Impact
  • I Went Down to the Crossroads – Time Adjustments By Tim Andersen, MAI
  • Occidental Treehouse Named California’s Most Wish-Listed Airbnb
  • Analysis of 2025 ASC Appraisal License Data By Chase Pursley
  • Fannie Mae Fraud and Abuse Exposed By Jeremy Bagott, MAI
  • Appraiser Growth and Profitability: Key Things to Focus On By Isaac Peck, Publisher
  • Mortgage applications decreased 12.7 percent from one week earlier

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I Went Down to the Crossroads

Time Adjustments

By Tim Andersen, MAI

Excerpts: Is real estate appraisal, with the issue of more detailed time adjustments, at another cross roads now? In the past, appraisers simply smoothed changes in sales prices over time by measuring prices as of January 1st, then again as of December 31st. If they went up an average of six percent (6%) annually, then the appraiser made a one-half percent adjustment each month.

This protocol inflates prices at six percent (6%) per year, true. But it does not reflect the fact that for the first three quarters of the year prices may have increased at twelve percent (12%) per year, then in the last quarter went flat with a zero percent (0%) price change.

In this example, consider that a comparable sale going under contract at the beginning of the fourth quarter of the year would merit no time adjustment whatsoever. Nevertheless, the appraiser using the smoothing technique will adjust that sale upward at one-half percent per month over a time span when the market is actually flat. That appraiser is merely filling forms, not appraising. How so?

To read more, Click Here

My comments: Very good article on the “new” time adjustment techniques. Interesting music analysis and how it applies to appraising.

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Occidental Treehouse Named California’s Most Wish-Listed Airbnb

Excerpts: Nestled among towering redwoods in western Sonoma County, the Spectacular Spyglass Treehouse in Occidental has earned the title of California’s most wish-listed Airbnb, part of the vacation rental platform’s roundup of top-trending stays in each U.S. state.

Perched high in the forest canopy, the Spyglass Treehouse — designed and built by Artistree Home — offers guests the rare chance to sleep among the redwoods without sacrificing luxury.

The one-bedroom retreat features a king-size bed, high-speed Wi-Fi, floor-to-ceiling windows with panoramic forest views, a cedar hot tub and an indoor infrared sauna.

To read more, Click Here

My comments: A cabin near the redwoods was one of the first places I lived after moving to San Francisco from Oklahoma in 1968. I became fascinated with redwoods. Very close to my cabin was a small redwood grove. I used to go there and lie down to watch the trees. Later I traveled and saw redwoods that were much larger. I am now living about 5 miles from redwood groves to visit

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Appraisals and Water Frontage

By on June 24, 2022   /   adjustments, desktop appraisals, hybrid appraisals, state appraiser regulators, time adjustments, USPAP   /   Leave a comment
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Appraisals and Water Frontage

Steven W. Vehmeier

Excerpts:

What about an off-site water view?

In a large townhouse-style condominium complex, there were only eight units that had water views. The view was of a section of the Intracoastal Waterway. It was from the second floor only, and over a six-foot high concrete block wall and across an open field. The builder charged more for those units because of the partial view.

My research discovered that the open field had just been purchased by a group that was building a four-level high-and-dry boat storage building. That bit of news made quite a few folks very unhappy and had a distinct impact on the value of those units. The moral of this story is that when you see open land between your subject property and the water, review ownership and the local building and zoning department’s comprehensive land use plan.

Water rights play a major role

With many water fronting properties, the topics of “riparian and/or littoral rights” (and the “prior appropriation doctrine” in the western states) come into play, along with several other issues. Those topics are fodder for other lengthy blog posts all by themselves. Appraisers should familiarize themselves with their state laws regarding water frontage and related rights, as they can vary from state to state.

Among the rights that come with real property ownership is the right to exclude others. When oceans, lakes, bayous, estuaries, rivers, streams, and ponds are involved, this right is a large part of what property purchasers are paying for.

To read more, click here

My comments: Worth reading, especially the last section “Final thoughts on the topic.”

I have lived in my island city for 42 years and had two waterfront homes, with docks, during the first 30 years. Both had many water related issues. One was on a tidal canal and built around 1943. Over time many homes along the waterfront, including mine, had non-permitted structures built over the water. The canal was owned by the state with an unclear easement for building beyond the rear lot line. The property owners asked me to do appraisals on the homes, including the rear structures but did not like my very high fee. It was so complicated the state and the city gave up trying to straighten it out.

The other home, built in 1946, faced a small bay off an outlet to a large part of San Francisco Bay. The large rear part of the lot was owned by the state and the city, which was leased to the homeowner. When the state said they were considering giving public waterfront access along the rear of all the homes unless we paid an annual lease fee, based on the extra lot square footage, we agreed to pay it.

I always wondered what other appraisers thought about these issues. They may not have even recognized or asked about them. Appraisers called very rarely.

I will never forget one of my first house appraisals here. The owner said it had a Bay view but did not mention you had to stand on the toilet to see through the window. After that, I told them the view had to be from a chair that you sat in!

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 Changing real estate market, rate increases, desktop appraisals, USPAP and state boards, unusual homes, mortgage origination stats, etc.

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Location, Location, Location In Appraisals

By on September 3, 2021   /   adjustments, appraisal, appraisal how to, bias, real estate market, time adjustments   /   Leave a comment
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What’s Location Got to Do with It?

By Steven W. Vehmeier

Excerpts: We’ve all heard the old mantra that real estate is all about “location, location, location.” A perfect example of the importance of location in appraising can be found in The Villages in central Florida.

The development called “The Villages” has seventy-eight communities, each called a “village,” ranging in size from 100 to around 1,500 homes in each. In total, there are somewhere around 140,000 residents, and the home prices in these individual villages range from the low one-hundred thousand up to a couple million. In some cases, villages located near and/or adjacent to each other can vary significantly in price….

An appraiser not familiar with The Villages could easily over-or under-value a property by mixing villages. For example, let’s say the subject is a 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 2,000 square foot home with a two-car garage on a typical sized lot. It would not be hard to find hundreds of homes with similar physical characteristics nearby; however, some might be located in the “wrong” village…

Can we apply this “village” concept to other areas? Are there typically many villages or neighborhoods in and around most major cities? Do the same principles apply in comparable selection and resultant values? Of course, they do!

To read more, click here

My comments: Very interesting “case study.” Tim Andersen soon will have two articles on neighborhoods and what USPAP says in Appraisal Today monthly newsletters.

Appraisal Business Tips 

Humor for Appraisers

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 bedrooms, bias, time adjustments, unusual homes, mortgage origination stats, etc.

Read more!! →

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