Posts Tagged zillow

Angle Measurements for Appraisers

By Ann O'Rourke on November 15, 2019 / adjustments, appraisal business, bifurcated appraisals, real estate market, square footage, zillow / Leave a comment

Tags: adjustments, appraisal business, bifurcated appraisals, mortgage loan volume, real estate market, zillow

Accurate Measurements with Odd Angles

Excerpt: Imagine a 2,100 square foot, one and a half story house with an attached garage, porch, and deck. You probably imagined the typical bungalow. Now, imagine that house having 48 corners and only 4 of them are 90 degrees. I recently had an experience with just that house. Some architect, thinking they were Frank Lloyd Wright reincarnated, decided to build this house on a high bank cliff overlooking the Puget Sound. Don’t get me wrong, it was a pretty cool design, but I knew right away when I received the order for that appraisal that I was going to need some help.

To read more, click here Lots of reviews of the product, plus other similar products.

My comment: $19.95. An inexpensive product we all need!! They have been around for awhile, but most appraisers did not know about them. I appraise a lot of Victorians. Very useful!!

Covid-19 Residential Appraisers Tips on Staying Safe

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Join the National Appraisers Online Forum

By Ann O'Rourke on November 8, 2019 / Appraisal fees, bifurcated appraisals, Fannie, fees, george dell, Mortgage applications, weird properties, zillow / Leave a comment

Tags: appraisal fees, bifurcated appraisals, Fannie, George Dell, mortgage loan volume, unusual buildings, weird properties, zillow

National Appraisers Forum

By Dave Towne

Excerpt: Appraisers, if you would like to learn from highly qualified peers (other than me! :), post questions, or offer your own comments, consider joining the FREE group, National Appraisers Forum (NAF). Use this link.

This is one of the best appraiser groups as all commentary is respectful. While not everyone always agrees with certain points, the discussions are not demeaning. There is a wealth of info participants share freely on a wide number of topics. The group has several moderators who monitor the posting activity.

One key point, NAF participants are not anonymous. You must use your name (at a bare minimum) when participating, which is required when signing up… Moderators are asking that anyone who wants to join should give their name as licensed, the state they are in, and their license number.

To read more, click here

My comments: This is my favorite appraiser online group! I get many emails from various sources for this newsletter and have been a member of many online communication places. Before the internet was widely available, I hosted live chats on aol and compuserve. Since then I have watched many online places. Unfortunately, just like any other topic, sometimes the groups end up doing lots of “flaming” (attacking another participants, etc.), negative comments, off topic, politics, etc. I quit going to these places.

Of all the groups I have subscribed to, National Appraisers Forum is the best for me. I have been a member since it started, or soon after. No complaining about AMCs, off topic, trolling and flaming, etc. The founder, Steve Smith, and the moderators keep it this way. Regular contributors are “high end” appraisers with many years of experience. Hot topics are often discussed.

There are well-managed appraisal groups on Facebook, but it is too hard for me to follow the threads, so I don’t go there very often. But, it may work for you. Join the National Appraisers Online Forum!

Another major factor is that you must use your real name, so we know who is commenting. Allowing anonymous postings can easily decay into a mess.

I will be updating my article ” How to connect with other appraisers online. What’s the best group for you? ” in a future issue of the paid Appraisal Today discussing other email chat groups, how to find other groups or start your own, Facebook, etc.

Covid-19 Residential Appraisers Tips on Staying Safe

How to communicate with appraisers online

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Zoning in the Appraisal Process

By Ann O'Rourke on August 23, 2019 / appraisal how to, deminimus, Fannie, Mortgage applications, unusual homes, weird properties, zillow / Leave a comment

Tags: appraisal how to, deminimus, Fannie, mortgage loan volume, strange house, weird properties, zillow

Highest and Best Use – Residential Appraisers Need To Understand It!

Excerpt: There are many valuation products out there. CMA’s, BPO’s and AVM’s to name a few. What you will likely not see in those kinds of valuations, is the specific zoning class for the property being valued. Why? Zoning in the Appraisal Process is very important.

With these types of valuations, a highest & best use (HBU) analysis is generally not made. However, if you hire an appraiser to value your home, we will perform this analysis. What is a highest & best use analysis? Why is it important in the development of an opinion of value? How is zoning involved?

To read more and see the fun animated gifs click here

My comments: My Most Frequent Residential Appraisal Rant!! I started at an assessor’s office in 1975. The First, and Most Important, Question was “What is the highest and best use?” In 1986 I started doing residential lender work. The form was just a check box for HBU. If you checked No, it was a big problem for the lender. Many residential appraisers don’t check the zoning, general plan, etc. One good way is to just drive around and see what is happening. For example, lots of small homes being torn down and McMansions being built. Or, lots of houses on a busy street converted to office uses. Or, a small house on a big lot with apartments all around it. A common residential issue is a possible lot split.

Don’t forget the General (Or Specific) Plan. It tells you what the city wants today and in the future for land use, which is not discussed in this article.

I have appraised a lot of older commercial properties for lenders, which often had a HBU different than the current use. I discussed it in my appraisals.

When there is a big difference in value between two appraisals, it is often due to a difference in opinion of HBU. Don’t get into trouble. Be sure to think about HBU!! If you’re not sure, contact an experienced appraiser, particularly one who does a lot of non-lender work and/or commercial appraisals.

In the Feb. 2017 issue there is an excellent article written for residential appraisers by Denis Desaix, “Residential Highest and Best Use Analysis: more than Just a “Check box” available to paid subscribers. See below.

Covid-19 Residential Appraisers Tips on Staying Safe

Appraisal Process Challenges

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Measuring Bi-level homes square footage

By Ann O'Rourke on August 16, 2019 / adjustments, appraisal business, AVMS, evaluations, square footage, zillow / Leave a comment

Tags: adjustments, appraisal business, appraisal fees, mortgage loan volume, real estate market, zillow

GLA Issues When Appraising Split & Bi-Levels… Where The Ground Meets the Wall

Excerpt: When it comes to appraising split-level and bi-level dwellings, trying to calculate the gross living area (GLA) can be tricky. If you’re trying to figure out what the gross living area of one of these types of homes is, there are some important things to consider. For example, where the ground meets the exterior wall of a particular level. Measuring Bi-level homes square footage is tricky.

In real estate, the line at which the ground intersects with the foundation of a home, is called a grade or grade line. Did you know that where the ground meets the exterior wall of a level, can have a direct impact on value? How so? Let’s get down to the nitty gritty of it, shall we?…

To read more, click here

My comment: Very comprehensive, well written, article. Don’t miss the fun “split” video at the end. Hint: be sure to watch until 1 minute mark.Note: I publish a graph of this data every month in my paid monthly newsletter, Appraisal Today. For more information or get a FREE sample issue go to https://www.appraisaltoday.com/products.htm or send an email to info@appraisaltoday.com . Or call 800-839-0227, MTW 7AM to noon, Pacific time.

Covid-19 Residential Appraisers Tips on Staying Safe

Why Don’t Real Estate Agents Measure Houses? Humor

What is Included in Appraisal Square Footage?

Tax records and Square Footage in Appraisals

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Appraisal vs Zillow vs AVM which is best

By Ann O'Rourke on July 26, 2019 / adjustments, AVMS, deminimus, FHA, forecast, future, Mortgage applications, real estate market, weird properties, zillow / Leave a comment

Tags: adjustments, deminimus, FHA, weird properties, zillow

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.

Covid-19 Residential Appraisers Tips on Staying Safe

Automated Valuation Models for Appraisals

Zillow (in) accuracy

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Zillow uses home photos for “appraisals”

By Ann O'Rourke on July 8, 2019 / appraisal how to, appraisal waivers, appraiser shortage, real estate market, state appraiser regulators, weird properties, zillow / Leave a comment

Tags: appraisal how to, appraisal waivers, mortgage loan volume, real estate market, weird properties, zillow

Zillow – the past and the future

Zillow’s new photo algorithm

Zillow’s New algorithm uses photos of your home to check quality and curb appeal plus a look back at when Zillow started, and info on their ibuyer service

Excerpt: “We’ve taught the Zestimate to discern quality by training convolutional neural networks with millions of photos of homes on Zillow, and asking them to learn the visual cues that signal a home feature’s quality,” Stan Humphries, Zillow’s chief analytics officer & chief economist, said in a Medium post announcing the new algorithm. “For instance, if a kitchen has granite countertops, the Zestimate now knows — based on the granite countertop’s pixels in the home photo — that the home is likely going to sell for a little more.”

To read more, click here

My comment: I am trying not to think about this…… Maybe North Dakota can try using Zillow on their rural properties….

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Zillow – tales from when it started plus ibuyer

Excerpt: Every night for five months before the launch of Zillow’s website in February 2006, employees gathered their Dell desktops on Ping-Pong tables, connected them to harness their combined processing power, and strung together extension cords to get them all running. To avoid overloading the circuits, they unplugged the office refrigerator and banned Christmas lights. Then, while most of them slept, this jury-rigged supercomputer analyzed a decade of property records and American housing market data in order to spit out price estimates for 43 million homes.

To read more, click here

My comment: Published in Forbes. Well written and researched. I liked Zillow’s history plus a good analysis of their ibuyer service – the new wave of purchasing homes and selling them later.

Covid-19 Residential Appraisers Tips on Staying Safe

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Residential Appraisal Errors

By Ann O'Rourke on May 3, 2019 / AMCs, appraisal management company, Mortgage applications, real estate market, weird properties, zillow / Leave a comment

Tags: AMC, appraisal management company, real estate market, state appraiser regulators, weird properties, zillow

25 Common Errors in Appraisal Reports

A compilation of the most common errors and deficiencies found in appraisal reports by reviewers, regulators, and appraisal boards. Residential Appraisal Errors

Here are a few:

– Not providing enough analysis for the intended user or reader to understand the report properly.

– Inconsistencies between the description of the subject property in the improvements section and the photographs, sketch, sales comparison grid, and other areas in the report.

– Inappropriate use of boilerplate commentary in the appraisal report to describe the neighborhood or to explain the reconciliation of the sales comparison approach.

– Failure to summarize the analysis and rational that supports the Highest and Best Use opinion.

– Not complying with the most current USPAP.

Read the full list here:

https://www.mckissock.com/blog/appraisal/25-common-errors-appraisal-reports

My comments: Reminders are always good. For unknown reasons, I don’t see much CE or writing on these problems. These apply to all appraisals because we are licensed, not just lender appraisals.

It was soooo nice in the “old days” before licensing ;> Two Rules: Tell the truth and disclose what is bad. No USPAP changing every two years, overzealous appraisal boards, renewal fees, etc.. Of course, the reason we have licensing is the lender mess in 1989, resulting in FIRREA, regarding bad commercial property development loans by S&Ls

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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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https://www.marketplace.org/2019/02/11/economy/what-know-you-check-your-zestimate

Zestimate Obsession and an Appraisal

By Ann O'Rourke on February 21, 2019 / real estate market, Strange homes, weird properties, zillow / Leave a comment

Tags: mortgage loan volume, strange house, unusal homes, unusual buildings, weird properties, zillow

Obsessively Checking Zestimates

Excerpts: If you own a home, or want to own one, chances are you’ve spent some time with one of the many apps that estimate home values. As real estate prices have risen in recent years, watching one’s equity grow – at least on paper – has become something of a national pastime. Some would call it an obsession.

“I check my Zestimate way more than my 401(k),” said Bradley Reed, a homeowner in Cleveland, referring to Zillow’s proprietary tool.

“On a slow week, I might check it every other day,” said Krista Burns in Doylestown, Ohio.

Listen or read the story and twitter comments, see some fotos, etc. Add your comment at the bottom.

My comment: Zesimates are free, but often not accurate. They work well in newer conforming subdivisions, but not well with older homes.

I listen to the marketplace podcast almost every day, listened to this one last week, and really liked it. Fortunately, with this link you can read the transcript or listen to it plus read some twitter comments. I know that real estate agents have lots of problems with it. I wonder how many appraisers look at Zestimates? You may be surprised!! Some even include it in their appraisal reports and explain why their value is different.

So, just how accurate is the Zillow “Zestimate” anyway?(Opens in a new browser tab)

Zillow CEO sold his home for 60 percent of the Zestimate(Opens in a new browser tab)

post

Covid-19 Residential Appraisers Tips on Staying Safe

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

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https://clevelandappraisalblog.com/2018/10/04/do-tandem-bedrooms-and-garages-impact-value/

Do tandem bedrooms count as bedrooms in appraisals?

By Ann O'Rourke on October 11, 2018 / adjustments, appraisal how to, data, mortgage loan volume, state appraiser regulators, unusual home, zillow / Leave a comment

Tags: adjustments, appraisal how to, Fannie, mortgage loan volume, real estate market, state appraiser regulators, strange house, unusal homes, zillow

Do Tandem Bedrooms and Garages Impact Value?

Excerpt: There is less privacy in the one bedroom because it must be walked through to get to the other bedroom. This is considered to be functional obsolescence.

This type of situation is most often found in older homes. I have seen this type of situation many times on the second floors of many bungalow or cape cod style dwellings I have appraised. Although, it can exist in any style home.

My comment: I see tandem rooms a lot and sometimes tandem garages. I think I have finally convinced the local agents not to call them bedrooms. Of course, some insist on using Assessor data, which has not been updated since 1979, when Prop 13 passed and re-assessments stopped unless there was a sale or new construction.

ADD LINKS FOR HUMOR AND BIZ TIPS

Covid-19 Residential Appraisers Tips on Staying Safe

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

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