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    <title>AmcAppraisalsinc.com - thoughts from Central Florida</title>
    <link>http://activerain.com/blogs/richardferris</link>
    <description>AmcAppraisalsinc.com is Richard Ferris.  I am a Florida state certified real estate appraiser serving clients in Lake county, Orange county, Osceola county, Polk county, Seminole county, and parts of Volusia county.  My blog concerns local market activities, general thoughts on my real estate world, and technology tips to be more productive as a paperless office.</description>
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      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/1262569/10-ways-to-get-a-better-appraisal</guid>
      <title>10 Ways to Get a Better Appraisal</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This is a great discussion of what is occuring right now between Appraisers and Realtors.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Appraisers - we need to report the market and be competent in our area.&lt;br /&gt;Realtors - you need to ask how far away your appraiser is coming from.&amp;nbsp; Remember this term and look it up:&amp;nbsp; &lt;strong&gt;Geographic Competency&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://activerain.com/blogsview/1246904/10-ways-to-get-a-better-appraisal&quot; rel=&quot;bookmark&quot;&gt;10 Ways to Get a Better Appraisal&lt;/a&gt; - read the comments there too!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div id=&quot;reblogging_tag&quot;&gt;Via &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://activerain.com/blogsview/1246904/10-ways-to-get-a-better-appraisal&quot;&gt;Frank &amp; Sharon Alters, CDPE-Short Sales Jacksonville-Orange Park-Fleming Island (Watson Realty -)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;:&lt;br/&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;10 Ways to Get a Better Appraisal&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/9/6/4/0/6/ar125400318160469.JPG&quot; height=&quot;266&quot; alt=&quot;10 Ways to Get a Better Appraisal&quot; style=&quot;border: 3px solid black; margin: 5px; float: left;&quot; width=&quot;400&quot; /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Appraisals are an important part of the process in purchasing or selling a home.&lt;/strong&gt; More than ever, the appraiser has the power to determine whether or not a sale goes to the closing table.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;As if it were not difficult enough to value some homes in today's real estate environment where often there are no comparable sales in the last year or more, the government swoops in to 'correct' the abuses in the appraisal system, and the consequences of HVCC are that appraisers are traveling a long distance sometimes and are doing more work for less pay. Even if an appraiser has local knowledge, they may or may not do a thorough investigation of the comparable properties and they may choose to use Comparable Sales that are not ideal.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;It is imperative that a real estate agent meet the appraiser when one of their listings has sold. This is not to try to influence the appraiser in any illegal way, but to give them the best information, so that the appraiser can value the property accurately. An added bonus is the information you will learn from the appraiser if you ask questions.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;10 Ways to Get a Better Appraisal&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;1. Meet the appraiser at the house. Take the lockbox off the door after you get a contract so an appointment will have to be made.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;2. Give the Appraiser as many Comparable Sales as you have for the subject property. If it's a property where there are few or no comparable sales, go out in a radius search until you find some. Go back as far as a year or even more if it's a special type property (waterfront, for example). Realize that the appraiser may deduct value if the sale is further than 3 months out.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;3. Call the agents for the Comparable sales to get as much information as possible for the appraiser. The house that sold down the street that needed a new roof - they need to know that, but it's probably not in the MLS information.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;4. Give a complete list of every upgrade and improvement that has been performed during the seller's ownership. Be sure to include maintenance items as well as cosmetic upgrades. There is a category for &quot;condition&quot; on appraisals and although it won't match dollar for dollar, it will be mentioned.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;5. Be sure to note when flooring is &quot;hardwood&quot; instead of &quot;wood&quot; or &quot;laminate.&quot; Be specific about other surfaces (granite vs. corian) and improvements. A glazed 42&quot; raised panel cabinet with full coverage costs most than Level 1 42&quot; cabinets.&amp;nbsp; Thermador appliances are more valuable than GE Profile, for instance, and an appraiser's quick trip through the house may not take in such details.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;10 Ways to Get a Better Appraisal&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/7/1/1/7/3/ar125400329637117.JPG&quot; height=&quot;233&quot; alt=&quot;10 Ways to Get a Better Appraisal&quot; style=&quot;border: 3px solid black; margin: 5px;&quot; width=&quot;350&quot; /&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;10 Ways to Get a Better Appraisal&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/7/5/9/0/5/ar125400337450957.JPG&quot; height=&quot;233&quot; alt=&quot;10 Ways to Get a Better Appraisal&quot; style=&quot;border: 3px solid black; margin: 5px;&quot; width=&quot;350&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;6. Give them a copy of your Marketing materials, including the beautiful photos you have of the interior, exterior and grounds.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;7. Be sure to note anything about the lot - the Preserve not only on the side but across the street, for instance. Note the size of our lot vs. any comparable sales (if it's to your advantage).&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;8. Local appraisers probably know the Community amenities, but it never hurts to also give a list of those as well.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;9. If there are communities nearby that are not really good comparables, a map with some notes about the lack of amenities, production starter homes vs. your community with custom homes on estate lots, etc., can be very helpful to someone from out of the area.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;10. Be gracious, not pushy. Even if the appraiser is from 100 miles away, respect and helpfulness will go much further than a condescending, &quot;You drove all the way from there?&quot; attitude.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;If you make the effort to be sure the appraiser is well educated about your listing, you have a much better chance of the house appraising and the sale going through. Appraisers' work hasn't lessened but many times their fees have been cut in half or more. Anything we can do to help is in the Sellers', Buyers', ours, and the community's best interest.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Happy Selling!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Original Photography, All Rights Reserved. &lt;strong&gt;*10 Ways to Get a Better Appraisal*&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class='agent_signature'&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make it a GREAT day!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;p&gt;&lt;img id=&quot;r4q45&quot; title=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; src=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/appraisal_news_for_real_e/images/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; width=&quot;100&quot; height=&quot;113&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AUTHOR: Richard D Ferris&lt;/strong&gt; - &lt;a title=&quot;AmcAppraisalsinc.com -  Home&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AmcAppraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;Phone 877-789-5249 or email me: &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&quot;&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Richard D. Ferris&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AMCAppraisalsinc.com&lt;br /&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(877) 789-5249&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;One # Does It All - Voice/Fax&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Residential Appraisals in Lake, Orange, Osceola, Polk, and Seminole Counties.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Also servicing Deltona, Deland, and Orange City in Volusia County.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Florida&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; State&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Certified&amp;nbsp;Residential Appraiser&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;#RD4088&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;FHA Certified : &lt;strong&gt;Associate Member Appraisal Institute&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
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      <dc:creator>Richard D Ferris Florida State Certified (FHA) Appraiser (AmcAppraisalsinc.com)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Wed, 30 Sep 2009 08:57:00 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/1262569/10-ways-to-get-a-better-appraisal</link>
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      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/1212862/consumer-confidence-up-market-declines-down</guid>
      <title>Consumer Confidence UP - Market Declines DOWN</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;A &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/article.cfm?id=222300&quot; title=&quot;Consumer confidence on the rise&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;recent article from the Florida Realtor's Association&lt;/a&gt;, noted that Florida's consumer confidence was on the rise.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;It is interesting that at the same time in the market, I am noting trends as of the 3rd quarter 2009, showing recovery of price/sf and in many cases - increase over the prior quarters:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Declines Diminishing&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/1/5/6/ar125137448765176.png&quot; height=&quot;522&quot; alt=&quot;Declines Diminishing&quot; width=&quot;599&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;You can see from the above market analysis - the overall 2009 market still has an average decline of 1.52% per month.&amp;nbsp; However, the 3rd quarter is showing promise!&amp;nbsp; And this is a trend I am seeing in nearly all of my appraisals over the month of August.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Additionally, the affordability of homes appears to be very healthy right now for buyers.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Avergage price/sf in the qurrent quarter is still at or below that of 2004!&amp;nbsp; So it looks like a good time to be a buyer!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;10 Year History&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/3/0/8/6/8/ar125137462486803.png&quot; height=&quot;480&quot; alt=&quot;10 Year History&quot; width=&quot;800&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Time will tell if the trends in the market truly bounce back.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; You can see in the 2nd and 3rd quarter above - the market shows some signs of stability among the average price/sf.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; However, the trend is still going down for both list price and sold price.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Another highlight though - is that Days on Market also appears to be leveling out now - somewhere around 90-180 days here in Central Florida!&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; So buyers are getting active again!&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; And of course, the volume of sales in 2009 has FAR surpassed that of 2008!&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Which means people are actually BUYING again!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Now, if only Florida could get that unemployment rate UNDER 10%....we'd be seeing even more health in today's market!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Well SunShine State......here's to better days ahead at least!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class='agent_signature'&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make it a GREAT day!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;p&gt;&lt;img id=&quot;r4q45&quot; title=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; src=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/appraisal_news_for_real_e/images/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; width=&quot;100&quot; height=&quot;113&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AUTHOR: Richard D Ferris&lt;/strong&gt; - &lt;a title=&quot;AmcAppraisalsinc.com -  Home&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AmcAppraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;Phone 877-789-5249 or email me: &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&quot;&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Richard D. Ferris&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AMCAppraisalsinc.com&lt;br /&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(877) 789-5249&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;One # Does It All - Voice/Fax&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Residential Appraisals in Lake, Orange, Osceola, Polk, and Seminole Counties.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Also servicing Deltona, Deland, and Orange City in Volusia County.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Florida&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; State&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Certified&amp;nbsp;Residential Appraiser&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;#RD4088&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;FHA Certified : &lt;strong&gt;Associate Member Appraisal Institute&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
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      <dc:creator>Richard D Ferris Florida State Certified (FHA) Appraiser (AmcAppraisalsinc.com)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Thu, 27 Aug 2009 07:08:58 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/1212862/consumer-confidence-up-market-declines-down</link>
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      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/1201970/active-rain-automates-signature-</guid>
      <title>Active Rain Automates Signature!</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;FINALLY!&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Thanks to Jeremy Blanton (ActiveRain Corp.) who posted &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.up0.net/c.html?rtr=on&amp;amp;s=eage,a1nv,ate,fog3,3eeu,ezns,kcbh&quot; title=&quot;http://www.up0.net/c.html?rtr=on&amp;amp;s=eage,a1nv,ate,fog3,3eeu,ezns,kcbh&quot;&gt;&lt;strong title=&quot;http://www.up0.net/c.html?rtr=on&amp;amp;s=eage,a1nv,ate,fog3,3eeu,ezns,kcbh&quot;&gt;ActiveRain Announces Automatic Signatures on Your Blog&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;- I finally have a wish come true!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I often had to copy and paste my &quot;signature&quot; from an old blog post to the current one - as trying to keep the formatting the same by retyping it was just not feasible!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;But now - thanks for the continued growth of the Active Rain community - my day just got easier!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Active Rain - you just saved me .004 seconds of my day...which I can now devote to new blog posts!&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Check out Jeremy's blog post (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.up0.net/c.html?rtr=on&amp;amp;s=eage,a1nv,ate,fog3,3eeu,ezns,kcbh&quot; title=&quot;http://www.up0.net/c.html?rtr=on&amp;amp;s=eage,a1nv,ate,fog3,3eeu,ezns,kcbh&quot;&gt;&lt;strong title=&quot;http://www.up0.net/c.html?rtr=on&amp;amp;s=eage,a1nv,ate,fog3,3eeu,ezns,kcbh&quot;&gt;ActiveRain Announces Automatic Signatures on Your Blog&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/a&gt;) to see how to accomplish this for yourself!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Ready? ....... Signature follows automatically........ &amp;lt;sounds of GLEE from AmcAppraisalsinc.com&amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class='agent_signature'&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make it a GREAT day!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;p&gt;&lt;img id=&quot;r4q45&quot; title=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; src=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/appraisal_news_for_real_e/images/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; width=&quot;100&quot; height=&quot;113&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AUTHOR: Richard D Ferris&lt;/strong&gt; - &lt;a title=&quot;AmcAppraisalsinc.com -  Home&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AmcAppraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;Phone 877-789-5249 or email me: &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&quot;&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Richard D. Ferris&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AMCAppraisalsinc.com&lt;br /&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(877) 789-5249&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;One # Does It All - Voice/Fax&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Residential Appraisals in Lake, Orange, Osceola, Polk, and Seminole Counties.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Also servicing Deltona, Deland, and Orange City in Volusia County.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Florida&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; State&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Certified&amp;nbsp;Residential Appraiser&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;#RD4088&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;FHA Certified : &lt;strong&gt;Associate Member Appraisal Institute&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
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      <dc:creator>Richard D Ferris Florida State Certified (FHA) Appraiser (AmcAppraisalsinc.com)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Wed, 19 Aug 2009 12:59:15 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/1201970/active-rain-automates-signature-</link>
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      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/1093021/small-moments-matter</guid>
      <title>Small moments matter</title>
      <description>&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;find a turtle in your life today&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/1/7/8/6/ar124352915468716.JPG&quot; height=&quot;300&quot; alt=&quot;find a turtle in your life today&quot; width=&quot;400&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;Sometimes..... all it takes is finding a turtle in your front lawn to make you happy!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;We all go through ups and downs, high moments and low moments.&amp;nbsp; We often celebrate the great victories as we over come our challenges and obstacles.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;But remember, sometimes it is just the small moments in life which really matter most.&amp;nbsp; I don't remember my last great victory in business....but I'll remember how happy my daughter was when right before a rain storm, she found a turtle making its way across our lawn to the lake behind the house!&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; This is a 'little moment' which certainly lifts my spirit even more than winning a challenge in business!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Celebrate your small moments today!&amp;nbsp; And feel free to share them with me - so I can rejoice with you and smile with you as well!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;One can always make more money&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;.....&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;we can't always get the time back for moments such as these&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make it a GREAT day in every moment.....&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class='agent_signature'&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make it a GREAT day!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;p&gt;&lt;img id=&quot;r4q45&quot; title=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; src=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/appraisal_news_for_real_e/images/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; width=&quot;100&quot; height=&quot;113&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AUTHOR: Richard D Ferris&lt;/strong&gt; - &lt;a title=&quot;AmcAppraisalsinc.com -  Home&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AmcAppraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;Phone 877-789-5249 or email me: &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&quot;&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td id=&quot;a-4t4&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot;&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Richard D. Ferris&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AMCAppraisalsinc.com&lt;br /&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(877) 789-5249&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;One # Does It All - Voice/Fax&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Residential Appraisals in Lake, Orange, Osceola, Polk, and Seminole Counties.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Also servicing Deltona, Deland, and Orange City in Volusia County.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Florida&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; State&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Certified&amp;nbsp;Residential Appraiser&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;#RD4088&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;FHA Certified : &lt;strong&gt;Associate Member Appraisal Institute&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
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&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Richard D Ferris Florida State Certified (FHA) Appraiser (AmcAppraisalsinc.com)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Thu, 28 May 2009 11:51:59 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/1093021/small-moments-matter</link>
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      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/1064061/what-will-you-do-in-the-new-hvcc-world-</guid>
      <title>What will you do in the new HVCC world?</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I recently received an email post on the &lt;a href=&quot;http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/Total2000UsersGroup/&quot; title=&quot;Wintotal User Group&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Wintotal User Forum&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;from Adam Calvery.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/strong&gt;Adam is&amp;nbsp;a VP&amp;nbsp;product manager with &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alamode.com&quot; title=&quot;Alamode appraisal software&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Alamode&lt;/a&gt; - and allowed me to republish&amp;nbsp;his email below.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; This is some great information to consider when thinking that we have now somehow lost income in&amp;nbsp;a&amp;nbsp;new appraisal world, likely to&amp;nbsp;be dominated by Appraisal Management Companies!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;=======================================================================&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;As a software vendor, I'm not involved in running an appraisal business daily, but I understand what appraisers deal with.&amp;nbsp; As someone who's been with a la mode for nearly a decade, and being the outgoing type, I've been lucky enough to create numerous relationships with our customers that go beyond the standard &quot;vendor-client&quot; status.&amp;nbsp; The result being I get exposed to thoughts and concerns of appraisers that go much deeper than the surface.&amp;nbsp; And at the end of the day, I'm a marketer concerned with how, what, why, where and when the products and services Dave made me responsible for are positioned and sold in the marketplace.&amp;nbsp; My work life revolves around staying in tune with my customers and their industry, plus staying in tune with the marketing profession just like you stay in tune with the appraisal profession.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;My point in mentioning all that is to say I understand your job and your challenges.&amp;nbsp; And I understand the challenges you face in producing, marketing and selling your own services in the face of an industry undergoing massive changes.&amp;nbsp; So, having said all that, here's why I disagree that you guys have lost income you can't replace.&amp;nbsp; And by no means am I downplaying the impact of the HVCC (if in doubt, just take a peek at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.appraisalpress.com/&quot; title=&quot;http://www.appraisalpress.com/&quot;&gt;www.AppraisalPress.com&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;to see what we think of it).&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;It's been my experience that, in general, appraisers aren't comfortable with marketing (that shouldn't be a news flash to any of you), appraisers give up on marketing too quickly (that might be a news flash), and that appraisers as a whole are virtually ignoring the non-lender part of the market (that probably is a news flash).&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;You offer a professional service and there are clients who have a demand for what you supply.&amp;nbsp; Change is the only constant, so given new AMC roles, new Fed &quot;guidelines&quot;, the HVCC, etc, the smart move then is to proactively try to find other markets where you can sell your services so you're not solely reliant on, specifically, lender work.&amp;nbsp; Again, in my experience, the reason that appraisers aren't comfortable with marketing is natural - it's not your primary job and you've never had to do it before like you need to do it now.&amp;nbsp; So the first step is to learn about it so that you are comfortable with it.&amp;nbsp; Like most things, learning the fundamentals isn't necessarily difficult.&amp;nbsp; It's the execution that gets tricky.&amp;nbsp; Go to Barnes &amp;amp; Noble and find some books on it.&amp;nbsp; Join &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.marketingsherpa.com/&quot; title=&quot;http://www.marketingsherpa.com/&quot;&gt;www.MarketingSherpa.com&lt;/a&gt;to see what the pros are finding to be successful in website, e-mail, print, social media and brand marketing.&amp;nbsp; That site is&amp;nbsp;a reference for big and small companies alike, both B2B and B2C.&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Next, don't give up on your marketing plans and goals.&amp;nbsp; Realize that it takes time and effort to generate results off your marketing.&amp;nbsp; And by time, I don't mean a month and two attempts.&amp;nbsp; I mean it has to be ongoing, and it takes lots of time, over time.&amp;nbsp; Statistically, research shows that it takes seven exposures to your marketing before the average person even remembers you and/or takes action, regardless of industry.&amp;nbsp; Sometimes it takes a lot more than that.&amp;nbsp; There are people using ACI we've been after for years.&amp;nbsp; :)&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;But you can't give up, and you have to do it constantly.&amp;nbsp; It's not a secondary thing to appraising.&amp;nbsp; It's every bit as important, if not more so.&amp;nbsp; Especially now.&amp;nbsp; I could go on for hours on this topic alone.&amp;nbsp; Learn about marketing and don't ever give up on it.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;You've got to go after non-lenders not because of the HVCC, fee cuts, or the rest of it.&amp;nbsp; It's a RIPE market segment.&amp;nbsp; RIPE RIPE. IMO, it's a waste to not spend significant amounts of time trying to diversify your client base to include non-lenders.&amp;nbsp; It takes time to develop those relationships, but it's never too late to start.&amp;nbsp; I know loads of appraisers who've attempted this, but gave up after just a few months or a few attempts with XSellerate.&amp;nbsp; Over the years, appraisers have become accustomed to creating a new contact or client, and almost instantly (i.e. a few months) seeing orders start to come their way as a result.&amp;nbsp; In any other industry a vendor (you) making a relationship that bears fruit in two months is virtually unheard of.&amp;nbsp; Many of you guys have worked in other industries before, and you know exactly what I mean.&amp;nbsp; But non-lender clients don't typically develop that fast, and so it's easy to give up much too soon.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I also hear a lot of our customers say essentially, &quot;bah, there's not enough non-lender work to be worth the effort.&quot;&amp;nbsp; Bull.&amp;nbsp; Yes, I said it and I'd say it face-to-face.&amp;nbsp; Divorce and Estate attorneys, for example, have virtually no idea how to find an appraiser for doing expert witness work and dread the process of finding one because they're on the hook to their client if the one they find is a dud.&amp;nbsp; Case in point:&amp;nbsp; they have a book they refer to when looking for expert witnesses.&amp;nbsp; A guy I know told me recently that when he was in his lawyer's office, he flipped through it and there were two (2) appraisers in it.&amp;nbsp; (Yes, I'm trying to get info on that book.)&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;How about homeowners?&amp;nbsp; There are roughly 200,000 lender-client type contacts in the USA (less now).&amp;nbsp; There are what, 18,000,000 homeowners?&amp;nbsp; I personally know an appraiser that has printed up branded door hangers that say in essence &quot;Our local market has seen home values change greatly over the last several years.&amp;nbsp; Do you know what your home, probably your largest investment, is worth now?&amp;nbsp; I know this market and I can help you find out.&quot;&amp;nbsp; At every house he appraises he walks up and down the entire block, both sides, and leaves those door hangers.&amp;nbsp; After a while, he started to get enough hits that losing some traditional clients due to the HVCC didn't matter nearly as much as if he'd not done that.&amp;nbsp; And he's not alone in this new tactic.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;How about &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.aandeappraisals.com/&quot; title=&quot;Ron Stalzer&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Ron Stalzer&lt;/a&gt;?&amp;nbsp; He's on this forum.&amp;nbsp; He's taken our advice with his XSite and XSites Desktop, and as I understand it he's seen a huge jump in the leads he's capturing online and converting into paying customers.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Lists are important too, especially for outgoing marketing like e-mails, postcards, face to face visits, etc.&amp;nbsp; You can buy and rent lists from list vendors like &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.infousa.com/&quot; title=&quot;http://www.infousa.com/&quot;&gt;www.InfoUSA.com&lt;/a&gt;, or from professional organizations.&amp;nbsp; We get a lot of information about appraisers from the ASC list that's publically available.&amp;nbsp; Many industries have similar possibilities.&amp;nbsp; But good lists are the key to good returns.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;In my opinion, love it or lump it, you absolutely can replace income lost because of the HVCC, provided you treat the marketing of your business as seriously as you treat your job as an appraiser.&amp;nbsp; And I absolutely understand that it's tough to make that switch.&amp;nbsp; Many of you know Matt Krodel that's been here for years.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;He uses the analogy of&amp;nbsp;a gym membership.&amp;nbsp; You can get a membership and admit you need to work out, but you're not going to get any results if you never&amp;nbsp;actually do it and change your habits.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Whether you change your processes to be able to profitably work with AMCs or not, there is zero harm you can do by trying to acquire non-lender clients.&amp;nbsp; All you're doing is diversifying your client base so that you're not dependent on one or two major ones.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I apologize for the length here, but this is a subject very near and dear to me.&amp;nbsp; Both personally and professionally, everybody here at the Intergalactic HQ in OKC, plus our Quantum Fighter Wing in SLC, wants you to succeed.&amp;nbsp; We've been banging the &quot;marketing drum&quot; for years now, put out XSites and XSellerate years ago to help you with marketing, released XSites Desktop last year to help with the same, continue to hold classes (new schedule coming this month), and have been banging about it in AppraisalPress.&amp;nbsp; But it takes time and multiple exposures to get people to remember and take action.&amp;nbsp; :)&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;And with that, I will relinquish the soapbox.&amp;nbsp; If you read this far, you're a trooper.&amp;nbsp; :)&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: right;&quot;&gt;Adam Calvery&lt;br /&gt;a la mode, inc.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.agentmarketinginsider.com/images/member_photos/photo_9.jpg&quot; id=&quot;9&quot; alt=&quot;Adam Calvery&quot; width=&quot;100&quot; /&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: right;&quot;&gt;Adam Calvery, VP, Appraiser Products&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;=======================================================================&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Let's hope we can all find a place in the new HVCC world!&amp;nbsp; Good luck to all you appraisers out there!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class='agent_signature'&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make it a GREAT day!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr id=&quot;a-4t2&quot;&gt;
&lt;td id=&quot;a-4t3&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot;&gt;&lt;a id=&quot;r4q44&quot; title=&quot;Me&quot; href=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img id=&quot;r4q45&quot; title=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; src=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/appraisal_news_for_real_e/images/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; width=&quot;100&quot; height=&quot;113&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AUTHOR: Richard D Ferris&lt;/strong&gt; - &lt;a title=&quot;AmcAppraisalsinc.com -  Home&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AmcAppraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;Phone 877-789-5249 or email me: &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&quot;&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td id=&quot;a-4t4&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot;&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Richard D. Ferris&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AMCAppraisalsinc.com&lt;br /&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(877) 789-5249&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;One # Does It All - Voice/Fax&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Residential Appraisals in Lake, Orange, Osceola, Polk, and Seminole Counties.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Also servicing Deltona, Deland, and Orange City in Volusia County.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Florida&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; State&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Certified&amp;nbsp;Residential Appraiser&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;#RD4088&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;FHA Certified : &lt;strong&gt;Associate Member Appraisal Institute&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
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&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Richard D Ferris Florida State Certified (FHA) Appraiser (AmcAppraisalsinc.com)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Tue, 05 May 2009 17:29:02 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/1064061/what-will-you-do-in-the-new-hvcc-world-</link>
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    <item>
      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/1048574/mobility-1-handed-inspections</guid>
      <title>Mobility - 1 Handed Inspections</title>
      <description>&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;They say we should work SMARTER, not HARDER!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Inspection tools&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/4/8/5/1/ar124058630515848.JPG&quot; height=&quot;141&quot; alt=&quot;Inspection tools&quot; width=&quot;200&quot; style=&quot;float: right;&quot; /&gt;These days the work is getting harder with the advent of the 1004MC, HVCC, AMCs, and a host of other terms and lingo - but the good news is, volume is up and the work is getting steady!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I was talking to an appraiser friend locally, who is still using paper for everything.&amp;nbsp; I was encouraging her to embrace mobile technology to simplify the workflow.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I have gotten my inspection into the digital age &lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;and even down to holding it all with 1 hand!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;AT&amp;amp;T Tilt, Disto, and Casio camera&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/9/2/9/0/7/ar124058474370929.JPG&quot; height=&quot;375&quot; alt=&quot;Inspection Tools&quot; width=&quot;336&quot; style=&quot;float: left;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I have been &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alamode.com/products/appraiser/wintotal/wt_paperless.aspx&quot; title=&quot;Paperless information&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;100% paperless&lt;/a&gt;now since 2003.&amp;nbsp; I have a full 5+ years now of appraisal files which are totally digital, with supporting documents and workfiles contained within the reports themselves!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;My current tools are the AT&amp;amp;T Tilt whicih uses Windows Mobile 6 as the operating system.&amp;nbsp; I run &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alamode.com/products/appraiser/pockettotal/default.aspx&quot; title=&quot;Alamode Pocket Total&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Pocket Total from alamode&lt;/a&gt; and use a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.distagage.com/distod2.html&quot; title=&quot;Disto information&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Disto laser measuring tool&lt;/a&gt; now instead of the tape or wheel.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;My Tilt takes decent photos (as a back up) but it doesn't have a flash. So for interior photos, a standard digital camera is useful!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;This set up cost me $500 +/- for the phone, $250 +/- for the Disto, and $220 +/- for the camera.&amp;nbsp; I already owned Pocket Total as part of my Alamode package.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;So my total outlay of funds was around $970.&amp;nbsp; This has likely saved me at least an hour a day - or 30 hours a month.&amp;nbsp; &lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;Even at $20/hour - that is $600 a month&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;in time alone and this paid for itself in 2 months.&amp;nbsp; Not to mention that having my phone, personal information manager, Internet, email AND inspection forms all in one device is pretty darn slick!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;My next consideration is the iPhone -&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.alamode.com/Labs/projects/iTOTAL/images/iTOTAL_QL.jpg&quot; height=&quot;459&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; width=&quot;569&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Alamode is developing an &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alamode.com/labs/projects/itotal/default.aspx&quot; title=&quot;alamode labs - iPhone&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;application for the iPhone&lt;/a&gt;- and that has me pretty excited!&amp;nbsp; I can finally have my iTunes library with me when I measure homes!!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Seriously - the main point is to get you thinking of ways to shave off a few minutes a day from your current workflow.&amp;nbsp; If you can save even 10 minutes a day with technology - you will have gained hours and days of your life back......which you will likely FILL with new work!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class='agent_signature'&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make it a GREAT day!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr id=&quot;a-4t2&quot;&gt;
&lt;td id=&quot;a-4t3&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot;&gt;&lt;a id=&quot;r4q44&quot; title=&quot;Me&quot; href=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img id=&quot;r4q45&quot; title=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; src=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/appraisal_news_for_real_e/images/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; width=&quot;100&quot; height=&quot;113&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AUTHOR: Richard D Ferris&lt;/strong&gt; - &lt;a title=&quot;AmcAppraisalsinc.com -  Home&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AmcAppraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;Phone 877-789-5249 or email me: &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&quot;&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td id=&quot;a-4t4&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot;&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Richard D. Ferris&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AMCAppraisalsinc.com&lt;br /&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(877) 789-5249&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;One # Does It All - Voice/Fax&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Residential Appraisals in Lake, Orange, Osceola, Polk, and Seminole Counties.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Also servicing Deltona, Deland, and Orange City in Volusia County.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Florida&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; State&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Certified&amp;nbsp;Residential Appraiser&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;#RD4088&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;FHA Certified : &lt;strong&gt;Associate Member Appraisal Institute&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Richard D Ferris Florida State Certified (FHA) Appraiser (AmcAppraisalsinc.com)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Fri, 24 Apr 2009 10:17:26 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/1048574/mobility-1-handed-inspections</link>
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      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/1038195/appraisers-adjusting-for-declining-market-conditions-is-it-true-</guid>
      <title>Appraisers Adjusting for Declining Market Conditions. Is it true?</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I saw an Active Rain blog roll, and clicked on the title of this since it is what I do every day - make time adjustments in the market.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;When I opened the blog - I was surprised.....&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;THIS IS MY APPRAISAL&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; they are talking about!!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://activerain.com/tutas&quot; title=&quot;Bryant Tutas&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Bryant Tutas&lt;/a&gt; has certainly stirred up some great conversation over the validity of making adjustments.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Is it an ART or a SCIENCE ?&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Well - it is math!&amp;nbsp; But why don't all appraisers measure the market like this?&amp;nbsp; &lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;Poor training, ignorance, laziness&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;?&amp;nbsp; Yes - that likely described myself about 5 years ago!&amp;nbsp; But I now consider myself a &quot;Repentant Form Filler&quot; - and I work diligently in every report to make up for a bad former appraiser life!&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Read on and please leave your own comments about this topic!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;div id=&quot;reblogging_tag&quot;&gt;Via &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://activerain.com/blogsview/1037613/Appraisers-Adjusting-for-Declining-Market-Conditions-Is-it-true&quot;&gt;Bryant Tutas-Tutas Towne Realty, Inc&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;:&lt;br/&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/9/6/0/1/1/ar12399234811069.JPG&quot; height=&quot;295&quot; alt=&quot;Poinciana regression chart&quot; width=&quot;600&quot; style=&quot;vertical-align: middle;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Hi folks.&lt;/strong&gt; I wrote a post over two years ago titled&lt;strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://activerain.com/blogsview/15045/Let-the-games-begin&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;&amp;ldquo;Let the Games Begin&amp;rdquo;&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/strong&gt; In this post I was pointing out that Poinciana was beginning to be a declining market and that Appraisers were making downward adjustments for this. It created quite the stir. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;For whatever reason&lt;/strong&gt; there were many who commented that felt this was not happening and would never happen. Well&amp;hellip;..it was and it is.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I reviewed an appraisal today &lt;/strong&gt;where the appraiser made a downward adjustment of $150 PER DAY on the recent sales.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/5/7/0/7/9/ar123992338497075.JPG&quot; height=&quot;38&quot; alt=&quot;Downward adjustment&quot; width=&quot;600&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Just to give you an idea of how this works.&lt;/strong&gt; One of the sold comparables that was used closed in November. The adjustment was -$20,000!! The same house had a pool and it was adjusted -$8,000.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;So what do you think about that? &lt;/strong&gt;$8,000 for not having a pool and a whooping $20,000 for being a 5 month old sale. &lt;strong&gt;Have you seen this in your market yet?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;****The chart and data in this post was provided by &lt;a href=&quot;http://activerain.com/blogs/richardferris&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Richard D Ferris&amp;nbsp; &lt;/a&gt;Florida State Certified (FHA) Appraiser&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;../../blogs/tutas/tags/short%20sale&quot;&gt;CENTRAL&amp;nbsp;FLORIDA REAL ESTATE SHORT SALE INFORMATION&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://sellingpoincianaproperties.com/&quot;&gt;POINCIANA FLORIDA REAL ESTATE MARKET REPORTS&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?key=pak7GYGNo0Glx81W4RE_3WQ&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;hl=en&quot;&gt;MAKE AN OFFER ON ANY&amp;nbsp; FLORIDA PROPERTY LISTINGS HERE&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;MORE INFO FROM BROKER BRYANT... THE SOURCE FOR&amp;nbsp;CENTRAL FLORIDA&amp;nbsp;REAL ESTATE&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Copyright &amp;copy; 2009 &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.brokerbryant.com/&quot;&gt;http://www.brokerbryant.com/&lt;/a&gt; | All Rights Reserved&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: justify;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class='agent_signature'&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make it a GREAT day!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;td id=&quot;a-4t3&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot;&gt;&lt;a id=&quot;r4q44&quot; title=&quot;Me&quot; href=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img id=&quot;r4q45&quot; title=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; src=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/appraisal_news_for_real_e/images/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; width=&quot;100&quot; height=&quot;113&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AUTHOR: Richard D Ferris&lt;/strong&gt; - &lt;a title=&quot;AmcAppraisalsinc.com -  Home&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AmcAppraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;Phone 877-789-5249 or email me: &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&quot;&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
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&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Richard D. Ferris&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AMCAppraisalsinc.com&lt;br /&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(877) 789-5249&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;One # Does It All - Voice/Fax&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Residential Appraisals in Lake, Orange, Osceola, Polk, and Seminole Counties.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Also servicing Deltona, Deland, and Orange City in Volusia County.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Florida&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; State&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Certified&amp;nbsp;Residential Appraiser&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;#RD4088&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;FHA Certified : &lt;strong&gt;Associate Member Appraisal Institute&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Richard D Ferris Florida State Certified (FHA) Appraiser (AmcAppraisalsinc.com)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Fri, 17 Apr 2009 07:50:30 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/1038195/appraisers-adjusting-for-declining-market-conditions-is-it-true-</link>
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    <item>
      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/949337/wildfire-burns-in-clermont-florida</guid>
      <title>Wildfire burns in Clermont Florida</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;I am keeping an eye on the &lt;a href=&quot;http://cms.firehouse.com/content/article/article.jsp?id=62820&amp;amp;sectionId=4HYPERLINKhttp://cms.firehouse.com/content/article/article.jsp?id=62820&amp;amp;sectionId=4&quot;&gt;wildfire still burning near SR 50 and CR 561 in Clermont today. &lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;My home and office (in my home) is loctaed just a few miles south of this wild fire. I took a drive along CR 561 this morning while the road was still open, and captured some recent pictures of the burned over area. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;embed pluginspage=&quot;http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer&quot; src=&quot;http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf&quot; type=&quot;application/x-shockwave-flash&quot; flashvars=&quot;host=picasaweb.google.com&amp;amp;RGB=0x000000&amp;amp;feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Famcappraisalsinc%2Falbumid%2F5306089686319855745%3Fkind%3Dphoto%26alt%3Drss&quot; height=&quot;400&quot; width=&quot;600&quot;&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I am truly grateful for the firefighters and forestry division for all their hard work over the last couple of days! So far, no homes have been destroyed or damaged - although some surrounding lands are charred. It all grows back eventually - but it certainly makes one grateful for the blessing of a safe home and famlily.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I extend my heartfelt thanks to our public servants for their hard work keeping homes and families like mine safe!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make it a SAFE day...&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
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&lt;td id=&quot;a-4t3&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot; title=&quot;Me&quot; id=&quot;r4q44&quot;&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; src=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/appraisal_news_for_real_e/images/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot; id=&quot;r4q45&quot; height=&quot;113&quot; alt=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; width=&quot;100&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AUTHOR: Richard D Ferris&lt;/strong&gt; - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; title=&quot;AmcAppraisalsinc.com -  Home&quot;&gt;AmcAppraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;br /&gt;Phone 877-789-5249 or email me: &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&quot;&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt; &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
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&lt;p&gt; &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Richard D. Ferris&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; title=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AMCAppraisalsinc.com&lt;br /&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(877) 789-5249&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;One # Does It All - Voice/Fax &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Residential Appraisals in Lake, Orange, Osceola, Polk, and Seminole Counties.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Also servicing Deltona, Deland, and Orange City in Volusia County. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Florida&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; State&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Certified Residential Appraiser&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;#RD4088&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;FHA Certified : &lt;strong&gt;Associate Member Appraisal Institute&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class='agent_signature'&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make it a GREAT day!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;td id=&quot;a-4t3&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot;&gt;&lt;a id=&quot;r4q44&quot; title=&quot;Me&quot; href=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img id=&quot;r4q45&quot; title=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; src=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/appraisal_news_for_real_e/images/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; width=&quot;100&quot; height=&quot;113&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AUTHOR: Richard D Ferris&lt;/strong&gt; - &lt;a title=&quot;AmcAppraisalsinc.com -  Home&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AmcAppraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;Phone 877-789-5249 or email me: &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&quot;&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
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&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Richard D. Ferris&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AMCAppraisalsinc.com&lt;br /&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(877) 789-5249&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;One # Does It All - Voice/Fax&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Residential Appraisals in Lake, Orange, Osceola, Polk, and Seminole Counties.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Also servicing Deltona, Deland, and Orange City in Volusia County.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Florida&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; State&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Certified&amp;nbsp;Residential Appraiser&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;#RD4088&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;FHA Certified : &lt;strong&gt;Associate Member Appraisal Institute&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
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&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Richard D Ferris Florida State Certified (FHA) Appraiser (AmcAppraisalsinc.com)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Mon, 23 Feb 2009 15:14:56 -0600</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/949337/wildfire-burns-in-clermont-florida</link>
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      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/936980/having-a-name-like-amcappraisalsinc-com-might-just-come-in-handy</guid>
      <title>Having a name like &quot;AmcAppraisalsinc.com&quot; might just come in handy</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;There are some new regulations coming down the pike on May 1st - namely the HVCC, or &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.appraisalpress.com/news/hvcc&quot; title=&quot;HVCC&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Home Valuation Code of Conduct.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/a&gt; The history of the code can be found by &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.appraisalpress.com/news/hvcc&quot; title=&quot;HVCC&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;clicking HERE&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; I won't bore you will all the details - but rather sum it up for those not in the know:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Upon implementation of the HVCC, lenders will now have to have a &quot;firewall&quot; between the ordering parties of an appraisal and an appraisal office (or person).&amp;nbsp; No more direct ordering from the loan officer or mortgage broker, etc.&amp;nbsp; There are some loopholes in the code and it is a &lt;a href=&quot;http://activerain.com/blogsview/595925/Can-I-quote-you-on-that-AMC-HVCC-take-heed&quot; title=&quot;AMC Discussion&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;major topic of discussion around appraiser circles&lt;/a&gt; - as we wonder what will become of our industry in the coming year.&lt;a href=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/appraisal_news_for_real_e/2009/01/amcs-are-not-appraisers-tavma-comments-on-ais-amc-regulation-proposals.html&quot; title=&quot;AMC Artice Appraisal Scoop&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Amcs On Notice&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/9/4/4/5/ar123482114254496.jpg&quot; height=&quot;277&quot; alt=&quot;Amcs On Notice&quot; width=&quot;400&quot; style=&quot;float: right;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;On a lighter note - I received a call from a woman looking to place an order with &quot;&lt;strong&gt;Amc Appraisals&lt;/strong&gt;&quot;.&amp;nbsp; I said, &quot;Sure - I can help you.&amp;nbsp; Would you like to fax an order, or place it over &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com&quot; title=&quot;Amc Appraisals&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;my web site&lt;/a&gt;&quot;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;She began to question me about who I was, and was she ordering this from the right company.&amp;nbsp; Long story short, she was a mortgage broker from Virginia, needing to order an appraisal in Florida.&amp;nbsp; When she Googles &quot;AMC&quot; and Appraisals&quot; and &quot;Florida&quot;&amp;nbsp;- my site came up #1.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.google.com/search?gbv=2&amp;amp;num=100&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;newwindow=1&amp;amp;safe=off&amp;amp;q=AMC+appraisal+florida&quot; title=&quot;Amc Google Search&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Go ahead, try it out&lt;/a&gt;!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;No, she didn't HAVE to order it from my company, she needed an &quot;amc&quot; or &quot;Appraisal Management Company&quot; who serviced Florida.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; I wasn't about to clue here in- I could use the extra order these days!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;In the end, she did some more digging and found out it wasn't MY company she needed to order through - but rather one of the approved AMCs for Flagstar!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I realized though, that naming my appraisal company after my three daughters (Amorandah, Manessa, and Cannah), just might produce me more business in the end!&amp;nbsp; I am NOT an appraisal management company either...just a one person appraisal firm, working from my home, wanting to provide professional, credible appraisal reports.&amp;nbsp; But it has got me thinking........&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I had a good laugh about it - and realized, perhaps sometimes, unintentional actions (like naming my appraisal practice after my kids) can have a good outcome after all!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make it a productive day&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
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&lt;td id=&quot;a-4t3&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot; title=&quot;Me&quot; id=&quot;r4q44&quot;&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; src=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/appraisal_news_for_real_e/images/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot; id=&quot;r4q45&quot; height=&quot;113&quot; alt=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; width=&quot;100&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AUTHOR: Richard D Ferris&lt;/strong&gt; - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; title=&quot;AmcAppraisalsinc.com -  Home&quot;&gt;AmcAppraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;Phone 877-789-5249 or email me: &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&quot;&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Richard D. Ferris&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; title=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AMCAppraisalsinc.com&lt;br /&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(877) 789-5249&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;One # Does It All - Voice/Fax&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Residential Appraisals in Lake, Orange, Osceola, Polk, and Seminole Counties.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Also servicing Deltona, Deland, and Orange City in Volusia County.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Florida&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; State&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Certified&amp;nbsp;Residential Appraiser&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;#RD4088&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;FHA Certified : &lt;strong&gt;Associate Member Appraisal Institute&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class='agent_signature'&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make it a GREAT day!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;p&gt;&lt;img id=&quot;r4q45&quot; title=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; src=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/appraisal_news_for_real_e/images/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; width=&quot;100&quot; height=&quot;113&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AUTHOR: Richard D Ferris&lt;/strong&gt; - &lt;a title=&quot;AmcAppraisalsinc.com -  Home&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AmcAppraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;Phone 877-789-5249 or email me: &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&quot;&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;td id=&quot;a-4t4&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot;&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Richard D. Ferris&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AMCAppraisalsinc.com&lt;br /&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(877) 789-5249&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;One # Does It All - Voice/Fax&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Residential Appraisals in Lake, Orange, Osceola, Polk, and Seminole Counties.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Also servicing Deltona, Deland, and Orange City in Volusia County.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Florida&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; State&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Certified&amp;nbsp;Residential Appraiser&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;#RD4088&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;FHA Certified : &lt;strong&gt;Associate Member Appraisal Institute&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Richard D Ferris Florida State Certified (FHA) Appraiser (AmcAppraisalsinc.com)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Mon, 16 Feb 2009 16:00:09 -0600</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/936980/having-a-name-like-amcappraisalsinc-com-might-just-come-in-handy</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/909436/growing-u-for-free</guid>
      <title>Growing &quot;U&quot; for FREE</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;These are certainly tougher times for everyone in real estate.&amp;nbsp; Competition is fierce for those who have remained in our profession.&amp;nbsp; In my field of residential appraisal, there are over 100 appraisers in my county alone, according the state of Florida's online records.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;There is talk about cutting fees, lenders using management companies, and markets in California where appraisers are competing for $100 full appraisals.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;These are certainly tough times.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I am a family man, father of three daughters.&amp;nbsp; I have been an appraiser for 15 years now and I plan to remain in this business.&amp;nbsp; I have had to lower fees in my areas to compete with the overwhelming number of competitors, all scratching for whatever business they can find.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I believe that in the coming year, the professionals who will not just survive - &lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;but thrive in this industry&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; - will be those who embrace &lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;personal growth and education&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Gone are the days of filling in some forms, plotting 3 comparable sales, and using boiler plate text comments.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; These days, lenders expect appraisers to be doing what we were supposed to be doing all along....measuring the market, detailing supply and demand, calculating rates of decline, and considering not just 3 comparable sales - but pendings, listings, impact of REO sales, etc.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I have found that many appraisers who came into this business during the BOOM years really don't know what to do with this new environment.&amp;nbsp; Some have exited the industry since easy fees are no longer available.&amp;nbsp; The ones who have stayed are struggling to grasp new technology and valuation methods to accomodate the ever growing demand of more detail, now being required by lenders.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Some of us now have time for new education - but few resources to throw at education providers.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Enter &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.apple.com/itunes/overview/&quot; title=&quot;iTunes&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;iTunes U&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;I-TunesU&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/7/9/8/5/2/ar123340666525897.png&quot; height=&quot;306&quot; alt=&quot;I-TunesU&quot; width=&quot;403&quot; style=&quot;FLOAT: right;&quot; /&gt;&amp;nbsp;!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Did you know you can download ITunes for FREE?&amp;nbsp; Ok....then have you explored the wealth of FREE information on ITunes?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;It isn't just for downloading the latest Daughtry album or even catching up on those missed episodes of LOST.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.apple.com/itunes/whatson/itunesu.html&quot; title=&quot;iTunesU&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;iTunes U&lt;/a&gt; has a whole section of business classes from universities such as Yale, Rose State College, Missouri State University, Stanford University and even local community colleges.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;There are FREE video classes on topics such as business management, marketing, advanced mathematics, and topics directly relating to our industry:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Finance, Macroeconomics, and advanced Quantitative Methods (statistics!)&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;And the best part of these classes?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Macroeconomics for free&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/4/9/7/0/8/ar123340710980794.png&quot; height=&quot;522&quot; alt=&quot;Macroeconomics for free&quot; width=&quot;751&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Yes that is right.....FREE.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;What will set you apart in your industry?&amp;nbsp; Is it just your experiences?&amp;nbsp; Customer service? The degrees you may or may not already have?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I believe what really sets a professional apart from the pack is a quest for personal growth and development.&amp;nbsp; We should never be satisfied to know what we know.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; We should always be discovering ways to improve our businesses....and often - that means improving ourselves.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;So don't procrastinate changing YOU this year.&amp;nbsp; Embrace new topics even if they are not business related.&amp;nbsp; Take a course on philosophy, literature, or social sciences.&amp;nbsp; They are all there on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.apple.com/itunes/whatson/itunesu.html&quot; title=&quot;iTunesU&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;iTunes U&lt;/a&gt; for free!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make it a productive day&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&lt;table border=&quot;0&quot; id=&quot;nd9m&quot; width=&quot;583&quot;&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr id=&quot;a-4t2&quot;&gt;
&lt;td id=&quot;a-4t3&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot; title=&quot;Me&quot; id=&quot;r4q44&quot;&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; src=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/appraisal_news_for_real_e/images/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot; id=&quot;r4q45&quot; height=&quot;113&quot; alt=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; width=&quot;100&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AUTHOR: Richard D Ferris&lt;/strong&gt; - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; title=&quot;AmcAppraisalsinc.com -  Home&quot;&gt;AmcAppraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;Phone 877-789-5249 or email me: &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&quot;&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td id=&quot;a-4t4&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot;&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Richard D. Ferris&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; title=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AMCAppraisalsinc.com&lt;br /&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(877) 789-5249&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;One # Does It All - Voice/Fax&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Residential Appraisals in Lake, Orange, Osceola, Polk, and Seminole Counties.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Also servicing Deltona, Deland, and Orange City in Volusia County.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Florida&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; State&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Certified&amp;nbsp;Residential Appraiser&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;#RD4088&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;FHA Certified : &lt;strong&gt;Associate Member Appraisal Institute&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class='agent_signature'&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make it a GREAT day!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;table id=&quot;nd9m&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; width=&quot;583&quot;&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr id=&quot;a-4t2&quot;&gt;
&lt;td id=&quot;a-4t3&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot;&gt;&lt;a id=&quot;r4q44&quot; title=&quot;Me&quot; href=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img id=&quot;r4q45&quot; title=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; src=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/appraisal_news_for_real_e/images/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; width=&quot;100&quot; height=&quot;113&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AUTHOR: Richard D Ferris&lt;/strong&gt; - &lt;a title=&quot;AmcAppraisalsinc.com -  Home&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AmcAppraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;Phone 877-789-5249 or email me: &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&quot;&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td id=&quot;a-4t4&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot;&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Richard D. Ferris&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AMCAppraisalsinc.com&lt;br /&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(877) 789-5249&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;One # Does It All - Voice/Fax&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Residential Appraisals in Lake, Orange, Osceola, Polk, and Seminole Counties.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Also servicing Deltona, Deland, and Orange City in Volusia County.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Florida&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; State&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Certified&amp;nbsp;Residential Appraiser&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;#RD4088&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;FHA Certified : &lt;strong&gt;Associate Member Appraisal Institute&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Richard D Ferris Florida State Certified (FHA) Appraiser (AmcAppraisalsinc.com)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Sat, 31 Jan 2009 07:15:27 -0600</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/909436/growing-u-for-free</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/903289/make-your-keywords-meaningful-and-stop-gaming-active-rain</guid>
      <title>Make your keywords meaningful - and stop gaming Active Rain</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;I just read a really &lt;a href=&quot;http://activerain.com/blogsview/902143/Understanding-Keywords-Can-Help-You-Maximize-Your-Web-Traffic&quot; title=&quot;Loreena Yeo's Blog&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;great blog post&lt;/a&gt; by &lt;strong&gt;Loreena Yeo , Broker|Realtor(R) of Frisco Texas Real Estate &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;She made some great points about using keywords to drive traffic to your site or blog.&amp;nbsp; Her blog truly contributes to the wealth of information one can find on Active Rain!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;May I make one caution though?&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Make the keywords MEANINGFUL at the same time.&amp;nbsp; I ran across another blog here on Active Rain which has nothing but keywords repeated over and over again.&amp;nbsp; Every few days, this member will submit 5 new blog posts.&amp;nbsp; The member lists areas of appraisal coverage over and over (and over!) again with links back to their web site.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The text is something like:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;padding-left: 30px;&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Winter Garden Florida Appraisers, Winter Garden Florida Appraisals, Winter Garden Florida Home Appraiser, Winter Garden Florida property appraiser, Winter Garden Appraisals, Winter Garden Appraiser, Winter Garden Appraisal, Winter Garden Appraisers, Florida Appraisers, Winter Garden Florida Appraisals, Winter Garden Florida Home Appraiser, Winter Garden Florida property appraiser&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;or&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;padding-left: 30px;&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Clermont Appraisal, Clermont&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Appraisals, Clermont&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Appraisers, Clermont&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Appraiser, Clermont&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Florida Appraisers, Clermont&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Florida Appraisals, Clermont&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Florida Home Appraiser, Clermont&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Florida property appraiser, Clermont&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Florida residential appraisal, Clermont&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;home appraisals, Clermont&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;appraisals&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I mean....&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;where is the meaningful content for our community&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/span&gt;?&amp;nbsp; Members like this just rip off this community by exploiting Google's SEO for their own promotion.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I will advertise my own &quot;signature&quot; in every one of my blog posts, as I am here to promote my business.&amp;nbsp; BUT - let's do this with something meaningful and contributory to this great community!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;If you run across posts which are nothing but pages and pages of key word placements....please have the guts to flag them to the Active Rain community.&amp;nbsp; Leave a comment for the member to encourage them to not just copy and paste pointless text - but rather to embrace the spirit of this great community and offer something truly helpful to others.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The greatest business people I have met are ones which spend more time giving than taking.&amp;nbsp; They never have to worry about having enough business - as the cream always rises to the top.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;May we all strive to be sweet cream rather than sour milk!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make it a productive day&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&lt;table border=&quot;0&quot; id=&quot;nd9m&quot; width=&quot;583&quot;&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr id=&quot;a-4t2&quot;&gt;
&lt;td id=&quot;a-4t3&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot; title=&quot;Me&quot; id=&quot;r4q44&quot;&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; src=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/appraisal_news_for_real_e/images/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot; id=&quot;r4q45&quot; height=&quot;113&quot; alt=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; width=&quot;100&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AUTHOR: Richard D Ferris&lt;/strong&gt; - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; title=&quot;AmcAppraisalsinc.com -  Home&quot;&gt;AmcAppraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;Phone 877-789-5249 or email me: &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&quot;&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td id=&quot;a-4t4&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot;&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Richard D. Ferris&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; title=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AMCAppraisalsinc.com&lt;br /&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(877) 789-5249&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;One # Does It All - Voice/Fax&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Residential Appraisals in Lake, Orange, Osceola, Polk, and Seminole Counties.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Also servicing Deltona, Deland, and Orange City in Volusia County.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Florida&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; State&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Certified&amp;nbsp;Residential Appraiser&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;#RD4088&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;FHA Certified : &lt;strong&gt;Associate Member Appraisal Institute&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class='agent_signature'&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make it a GREAT day!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;table id=&quot;nd9m&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; width=&quot;583&quot;&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr id=&quot;a-4t2&quot;&gt;
&lt;td id=&quot;a-4t3&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot;&gt;&lt;a id=&quot;r4q44&quot; title=&quot;Me&quot; href=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img id=&quot;r4q45&quot; title=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; src=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/appraisal_news_for_real_e/images/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; width=&quot;100&quot; height=&quot;113&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AUTHOR: Richard D Ferris&lt;/strong&gt; - &lt;a title=&quot;AmcAppraisalsinc.com -  Home&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AmcAppraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;Phone 877-789-5249 or email me: &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&quot;&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td id=&quot;a-4t4&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot;&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Richard D. Ferris&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AMCAppraisalsinc.com&lt;br /&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(877) 789-5249&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;One # Does It All - Voice/Fax&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Residential Appraisals in Lake, Orange, Osceola, Polk, and Seminole Counties.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Also servicing Deltona, Deland, and Orange City in Volusia County.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Florida&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; State&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Certified&amp;nbsp;Residential Appraiser&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;#RD4088&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;FHA Certified : &lt;strong&gt;Associate Member Appraisal Institute&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Richard D Ferris Florida State Certified (FHA) Appraiser (AmcAppraisalsinc.com)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Tue, 27 Jan 2009 17:34:17 -0600</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/903289/make-your-keywords-meaningful-and-stop-gaming-active-rain</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/889626/i-am-happy-today</guid>
      <title>I am happy today</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;Today I am happy for &lt;img title=&quot;Happy today&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/6/4/7/9/ar123240823997466.png&quot; height=&quot;525&quot; alt=&quot;Happy today&quot; width=&quot;399&quot; style=&quot;float: right;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;many reasons.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;2008 was a hard year - &lt;strong&gt;but I am still in the profession I love.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;I have new work coming in more regularly and with greater volume&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Our nation is getting ready to change leadership - and change is good.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Most of all my wife and children are healthy and happy and with me.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;And lastly - I am happy I moved to Florida. Although I am not a native - I am loving it more than I ever did New York.&amp;nbsp; Blue skies, still green grass even in winter, and awesome sunsets.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;And most of all:&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Yes....if I were in Rome, NY today (my home town)....it would be 19 degrees and I would be happy for all things BUT the temperature!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;gt;&amp;gt;&amp;gt;&amp;gt;&amp;gt;&amp;gt;&amp;gt;&amp;gt;&amp;gt;&amp;gt;&amp;gt;&amp;gt;&amp;gt;&amp;gt;&amp;gt;&amp;gt;&amp;gt;&amp;gt;&amp;gt;&amp;gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Ahh yes...life IS good!&amp;nbsp; There are ALWAYS things to be thankful for in our lives!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;May the rest of 2009 be a discovery of the many blessings you have in your life....&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;and a positive outlook on the days to come!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make it a productive day&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&lt;table border=&quot;0&quot; id=&quot;nd9m&quot; width=&quot;583&quot;&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr id=&quot;a-4t2&quot;&gt;
&lt;td id=&quot;a-4t3&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot; title=&quot;Me&quot; id=&quot;r4q44&quot;&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; src=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/appraisal_news_for_real_e/images/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot; id=&quot;r4q45&quot; height=&quot;113&quot; alt=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; width=&quot;100&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AUTHOR: Richard D Ferris&lt;/strong&gt; - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; title=&quot;AmcAppraisalsinc.com -  Home&quot;&gt;AmcAppraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;Phone 877-789-5249 or email me: &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&quot;&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td id=&quot;a-4t4&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot;&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Richard D. Ferris&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; title=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AMCAppraisalsinc.com&lt;br /&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(877) 789-5249&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;One # Does It All - Voice/Fax&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Residential Appraisals in Lake, Orange, Osceola, Polk, and Seminole Counties.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Also servicing Deltona, Deland, and Orange City in Volusia County.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Florida&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; State&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Certified&amp;nbsp;Residential Appraiser&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;#RD4088&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;FHA Certified : &lt;strong&gt;Associate Member Appraisal Institute&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class='agent_signature'&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make it a GREAT day!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;table id=&quot;nd9m&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; width=&quot;583&quot;&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr id=&quot;a-4t2&quot;&gt;
&lt;td id=&quot;a-4t3&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot;&gt;&lt;a id=&quot;r4q44&quot; title=&quot;Me&quot; href=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img id=&quot;r4q45&quot; title=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; src=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/appraisal_news_for_real_e/images/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; width=&quot;100&quot; height=&quot;113&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AUTHOR: Richard D Ferris&lt;/strong&gt; - &lt;a title=&quot;AmcAppraisalsinc.com -  Home&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AmcAppraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;Phone 877-789-5249 or email me: &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&quot;&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td id=&quot;a-4t4&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot;&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Richard D. Ferris&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AMCAppraisalsinc.com&lt;br /&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(877) 789-5249&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;One # Does It All - Voice/Fax&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Residential Appraisals in Lake, Orange, Osceola, Polk, and Seminole Counties.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Also servicing Deltona, Deland, and Orange City in Volusia County.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Florida&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; State&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Certified&amp;nbsp;Residential Appraiser&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;#RD4088&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;FHA Certified : &lt;strong&gt;Associate Member Appraisal Institute&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Richard D Ferris Florida State Certified (FHA) Appraiser (AmcAppraisalsinc.com)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Mon, 19 Jan 2009 17:42:50 -0600</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/889626/i-am-happy-today</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/881244/i-finally-made-google-s-top-10-thanks-to-active-rain</guid>
      <title>I finally made Google's Top 10...thanks to Active Rain</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;I have been tweaking my website lately and trying to hit that ever elusive top spot in the Google search engines.&amp;nbsp; I have been focusing on key words consumers/clients might use to locate an appraiser.&amp;nbsp; I was checking my ranking's today and I see that due to linking to my Active Rain blog from my homepage...I am now in the top 10&amp;nbsp;for many of my key word phrases!&amp;nbsp; &lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;And quite often, it is my Active Rain profile which is most highlighted!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Google Top 10&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/9/7/3/0/5/ar123194820650379.png&quot; height=&quot;628&quot; alt=&quot;Google Top 10&quot; width=&quot;434&quot; style=&quot;float: right; border: black 1px solid;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;For anyone who uses &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alamode.com/products/appraiser/xsites/stories.aspx&quot; title=&quot;Alamode Xsites&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Alamode's XSites&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt; for their web hosting - may I recommend their new &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alamode.com/labs/projects/XSD/default.aspx&quot; title=&quot;XSites Desktop&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;XSites Desktop&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt; application!&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; This little application which can sit in your system tray, not only allows for chat and collaboration from your website - but also has a monitor of your rankings within the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.xsitesnetwork.com/&quot; title=&quot;XSites Network&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;XSites Network&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The &quot;Energizer&quot; as it is called, keeps track of where your site ranks against all the others on the network, and offers suggestions&amp;nbsp;to boost your rankings.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;When this first came out, it was almost as fun as the point system in Active Rain!&amp;nbsp; As you work through updates to your homepage, keywords, etc - the score rises.&amp;nbsp; Add in some friendly competition with other appraisers, and I was REALLY paying attention now!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;But the good news is that this has also impacted my rankings in search engines such as Google as well.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;By continuing to make changes to my homepage, keywords, and content - I am working hard to get into the top 5 for my overall search rankings.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;So I may not be #1 yet....but I am working on it!&amp;nbsp; And I realize, the more I post thoughtful, meaningful content on both my Active Rain blog as well as my website - the better chance I have of consumers and clients finding my services when they are looking for appraisal services in&amp;nbsp;central Florida.&amp;nbsp; (that was some&amp;nbsp;use of key words there!)&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;So when you type in phrases like, &quot;home appraiser in Orlando&quot; or Clermont, or Lake county.....I am hoping you will find &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.AmcAppraisalsinc.com&quot;&gt;www.AmcAppraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;in that top&amp;nbsp;10....and hopefully with a little luck and&amp;nbsp;a lot of blogging and work....maybe one day I'll be #1!&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;For now, I'll take what I can get and rejoice in the small victories at least!&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make it a productive day&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&lt;table border=&quot;0&quot; id=&quot;nd9m&quot; width=&quot;583&quot;&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr id=&quot;a-4t2&quot;&gt;
&lt;td id=&quot;a-4t3&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot; title=&quot;Me&quot; id=&quot;r4q44&quot;&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; src=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/appraisal_news_for_real_e/images/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot; id=&quot;r4q45&quot; height=&quot;113&quot; alt=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; width=&quot;100&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AUTHOR: Richard D Ferris&lt;/strong&gt; - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; title=&quot;AmcAppraisalsinc.com -  Home&quot;&gt;AmcAppraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;Phone 877-789-5249 or email me: &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&quot;&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td id=&quot;a-4t4&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot;&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Richard D. Ferris&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; title=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AMCAppraisalsinc.com&lt;br /&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(877) 789-5249&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;One # Does It All - Voice/Fax&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Residential Appraisals in Lake, Orange, Osceola, Polk, and Seminole Counties.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Also servicing Deltona, Deland, and Orange City in Volusia County.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Florida&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; State&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Certified&amp;nbsp;Residential Appraiser&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;#RD4088&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;FHA Certified : &lt;strong&gt;Associate Member Appraisal Institute&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class='agent_signature'&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make it a GREAT day!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;table id=&quot;nd9m&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; width=&quot;583&quot;&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr id=&quot;a-4t2&quot;&gt;
&lt;td id=&quot;a-4t3&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot;&gt;&lt;a id=&quot;r4q44&quot; title=&quot;Me&quot; href=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img id=&quot;r4q45&quot; title=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; src=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/appraisal_news_for_real_e/images/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; width=&quot;100&quot; height=&quot;113&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AUTHOR: Richard D Ferris&lt;/strong&gt; - &lt;a title=&quot;AmcAppraisalsinc.com -  Home&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AmcAppraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;Phone 877-789-5249 or email me: &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&quot;&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td id=&quot;a-4t4&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot;&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Richard D. Ferris&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AMCAppraisalsinc.com&lt;br /&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(877) 789-5249&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;One # Does It All - Voice/Fax&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Residential Appraisals in Lake, Orange, Osceola, Polk, and Seminole Counties.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Also servicing Deltona, Deland, and Orange City in Volusia County.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Florida&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; State&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Certified&amp;nbsp;Residential Appraiser&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;#RD4088&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;FHA Certified : &lt;strong&gt;Associate Member Appraisal Institute&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Richard D Ferris Florida State Certified (FHA) Appraiser (AmcAppraisalsinc.com)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Wed, 14 Jan 2009 09:58:52 -0600</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/881244/i-finally-made-google-s-top-10-thanks-to-active-rain</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/871581/long-term-rates-set-another-record-but-where-are-the-appraisals-</guid>
      <title>Long Term Rates Set Another Record...but where are the appraisals?</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;So is it just me, or does all the talk about a refi boom not seem to be translating to new appraisal requests?&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; I'd love to hear from appraisers as to how busy they are right now.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I recently read the article in today's headlines about &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/01082009_Mortgage_Rates.asp&quot; title=&quot;Low mortgage rates&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;historically low mortgage rates&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;nbsp; The article reported:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;padding-left: 60px;&quot;&gt;The Primary Mortgage Market Survey recorded the tenth consecutive week of mortgage rate declines and the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) established yet another record low of 5.01 percent with 0.6 point compared to 5.10 percent with 0.7 point for the last week of 2008.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;padding-left: 60px;&quot;&gt;This establishes another benchmark low for the Freddie Mac survey which has been tracking interest rates since 1971.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;padding-left: 60px;&quot;&gt;The 15-year FRM dropped 21 basis points to 4.62 percent, the lowest rate since June 13, 2003 when the rate was 4.60 percent.&amp;nbsp; Fees and points both this week and last were 0.7 point.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Yet, my workload is still chuck full of REO and portfolio analysis.&amp;nbsp; &lt;strong&gt;Could it be that refis with the same company are &lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;not even requiring a new appraisal&lt;/span&gt;?&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Would the current lender figure &quot;we already have this loan on the books and are liable for it....why not &quot;refi&quot; the customer to a lower rate and get some fees....but why would we need a new appraisal?&amp;nbsp; Have the values gone UP since our last one?&quot;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Perhaps with all the talk of a refi boom - it is more of a boom for the lenders and not so much for the appraisers out here?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make it a productive day&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&lt;table border=&quot;0&quot; id=&quot;nd9m&quot; width=&quot;583&quot;&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr id=&quot;a-4t2&quot;&gt;
&lt;td id=&quot;a-4t3&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot; title=&quot;Me&quot; id=&quot;r4q44&quot;&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; src=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/appraisal_news_for_real_e/images/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot; id=&quot;r4q45&quot; height=&quot;113&quot; alt=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; width=&quot;100&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AUTHOR: Richard D Ferris&lt;/strong&gt; - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; title=&quot;AmcAppraisalsinc.com -  Home&quot;&gt;AmcAppraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;Phone 877-789-5249 or email me: &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&quot;&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td id=&quot;a-4t4&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot;&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Richard D. Ferris&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; title=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AMCAppraisalsinc.com&lt;br /&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(877) 789-5249&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;One # Does It All - Voice/Fax&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Residential Appraisals in Lake, Orange, Osceola, Polk, and Seminole Counties.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Also servicing Deltona, Deland, and Orange City in Volusia County.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Florida&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; State&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Certified&amp;nbsp;Residential Appraiser&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;#RD4088&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;FHA Certified : &lt;strong&gt;Associate Member Appraisal Institute&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class='agent_signature'&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make it a GREAT day!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;table id=&quot;nd9m&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; width=&quot;583&quot;&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr id=&quot;a-4t2&quot;&gt;
&lt;td id=&quot;a-4t3&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot;&gt;&lt;a id=&quot;r4q44&quot; title=&quot;Me&quot; href=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img id=&quot;r4q45&quot; title=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; src=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/appraisal_news_for_real_e/images/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; width=&quot;100&quot; height=&quot;113&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AUTHOR: Richard D Ferris&lt;/strong&gt; - &lt;a title=&quot;AmcAppraisalsinc.com -  Home&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AmcAppraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;Phone 877-789-5249 or email me: &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&quot;&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td id=&quot;a-4t4&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot;&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Richard D. Ferris&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AMCAppraisalsinc.com&lt;br /&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(877) 789-5249&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;One # Does It All - Voice/Fax&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Residential Appraisals in Lake, Orange, Osceola, Polk, and Seminole Counties.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Also servicing Deltona, Deland, and Orange City in Volusia County.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Florida&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; State&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Certified&amp;nbsp;Residential Appraiser&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;#RD4088&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;FHA Certified : &lt;strong&gt;Associate Member Appraisal Institute&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Richard D Ferris Florida State Certified (FHA) Appraiser (AmcAppraisalsinc.com)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Thu, 08 Jan 2009 11:22:53 -0600</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/871581/long-term-rates-set-another-record-but-where-are-the-appraisals-</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/838449/nar-recognizes-the-appraiser-s-water-cooler-as-a-facebook-for-appraisers</guid>
      <title>NAR recognizes &quot;The Appraiser's Water Cooler&quot; as a Facebook For Appraisers</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This is a great site for any appraisers who want to connect, have some fun with each other, or network into groups around specific topics!&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Brian Davis is a great leader in the appraisal industry!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div id=&quot;reblogging_tag&quot;&gt;Via &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;/blogsview/697442/NAR-recognizes-The-Appraisers-Water-Cooler-as-a-Facebook-For-Appraisers&quot;&gt;Brian Davis (Brian J. Davis  &amp; Associates)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;:&lt;br/&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/09/18/watercooler.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Watercooler&quot; src=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/appraisal_news_for_real_e/images/2008/09/18/watercooler.jpg&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;296&quot; alt=&quot;Watercooler&quot; style=&quot;FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 5px 5px&quot; width=&quot;200&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Thanks to&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://narblog1.realtors.org/mvtype/appraisalinsight/&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;NAR's Appraisal Insight&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;strong&gt;blog for a &quot;shout-out&quot; on The Appraiser's Water Cooler!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote dir=&quot;ltr&quot;&gt;&lt;h3 class=&quot;entry-header&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Facebook for Appraisers&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;For those of you who want the social interaction of Facebook without all the poking, status updates, and lame pictures of high-school friends,&lt;/em&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.appraisalscoop.com/&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Appraisal Scoop&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;em&gt;has the answer. It's called:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.appraiserswatercooler.com/&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;The Appraiser's Water Cooler&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;This is a social networking forum for appraisers. It appears useful, and anything that increases appraiser interaction and communication is a plus in my book. So sign up.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Source link: &lt;a href=&quot;http://narblog1.realtors.org/mvtype/appraisalinsight/2008/09/facebook_for_appraisers.html&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;click here&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;/blockquote&gt;
&lt;p dir=&quot;ltr&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;While you're visiting&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://narblog1.realtors.org/mvtype/appraisalinsight/&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;NAR's Appraisal Insight&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;strong&gt;blog check out these hot topics:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li class=&quot;module-list-item&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://narblog1.realtors.org/mvtype/appraisalinsight/2008/09/appraisal_foundation_president.html&quot;&gt;Appraisal Foundation President expects Announcement on the HVCC Soon&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li class=&quot;module-list-item&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://narblog1.realtors.org/mvtype/appraisalinsight/2008/09/congresswoman_biggert_promotes_1.html&quot;&gt;Congresswoman Biggert promotes Appraisal Independence&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li class=&quot;module-list-item&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://narblog1.realtors.org/mvtype/appraisalinsight/2008/09/will_conservator_repudiate_hvc.html&quot;&gt;Will Conservator Repudiate HVCC Agreements?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li class=&quot;module-list-item&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://narblog1.realtors.org/mvtype/appraisalinsight/2008/09/are_lenders_abandoning_amcs.html&quot;&gt;Are Lenders Abandoning AMC's?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;div class=&quot;entry-more&quot; id=&quot;more&quot;&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class='agent_signature'&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make it a GREAT day!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;table id=&quot;nd9m&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; width=&quot;583&quot;&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr id=&quot;a-4t2&quot;&gt;
&lt;td id=&quot;a-4t3&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot;&gt;&lt;a id=&quot;r4q44&quot; title=&quot;Me&quot; href=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img id=&quot;r4q45&quot; title=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; src=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/appraisal_news_for_real_e/images/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; width=&quot;100&quot; height=&quot;113&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AUTHOR: Richard D Ferris&lt;/strong&gt; - &lt;a title=&quot;AmcAppraisalsinc.com -  Home&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AmcAppraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;Phone 877-789-5249 or email me: &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&quot;&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td id=&quot;a-4t4&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot;&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Richard D. Ferris&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AMCAppraisalsinc.com&lt;br /&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(877) 789-5249&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;One # Does It All - Voice/Fax&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Residential Appraisals in Lake, Orange, Osceola, Polk, and Seminole Counties.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Also servicing Deltona, Deland, and Orange City in Volusia County.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Florida&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; State&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Certified&amp;nbsp;Residential Appraiser&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;#RD4088&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;FHA Certified : &lt;strong&gt;Associate Member Appraisal Institute&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Richard D Ferris Florida State Certified (FHA) Appraiser (AmcAppraisalsinc.com)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Tue, 16 Dec 2008 07:13:41 -0600</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/838449/nar-recognizes-the-appraiser-s-water-cooler-as-a-facebook-for-appraisers</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/808902/who-is-watching-you-</guid>
      <title>Who is watching you?</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Reviewing an appraisal&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/3/8/1/0/5/ar122770406350183.jpg&quot; height=&quot;255&quot; alt=&quot;Review files&quot; width=&quot;200&quot; style=&quot;float: left; margin-left: 4px; margin-right: 4px; border: black 1px solid;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;The Federal Reserve has &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.frbatlanta.org/invoke.cfm?objectid=48322F80-C5A6-D175-9F7DA14278E89F4B&amp;amp;amp;amp;method=display&amp;amp;amp;quot; target=&amp;amp;amp;quot;_blank&quot; title=&quot;Appraisal Reviews Are Important to Safe Banking&quot;&gt;recently reiterated&lt;/a&gt; that &quot;financial institutions must have an effective, independent real estate appraisal and evaluation program,&quot; and that appraisers performing reviews should &quot;have the knowledge and expertise to assess compliance with the Federal Reserves appraisal regulations and guidelines.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Appraisal reviews &quot;&lt;strong&gt;should determine whether the appraisal or evaluation is appropriate for the transaction, the risk of the transaction, and whether the process by which the collateral valuation is obtained ensures independence and quality&lt;/strong&gt;,&quot; the Fed says.They &quot;should also indicate whether the appraisal or evaluation report is consistent with the engagement letter, which sets forth the scope of the appraisal assignment.&quot;The Fed also notes that &quot;some banks supplement routine reviews with post-funding evaluations of appraisal quality for some of their higher-risk or greater-value transactions as a control to assist in detecting valuation problems.&quot;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Boilerplate&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/2/5/1/9/ar122770444891526.jpg&quot; height=&quot;365&quot; alt=&quot;Boilerplate&quot; width=&quot;250&quot; style=&quot;float: right; margin-left: 3px; margin-right: 3px; border: black 1px solid;&quot; /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;In the course of my career, I have reviewed multiple reports by appraisers who have not been consistent with the scope of their assignment.&amp;nbsp; I typically do not have the engagement letter sent to me along with the file - but just the scope of work for example - has been deviated from due to one simple item in the report......&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;BOILERPLATE&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;I recently reviewed an FHA appraisal where the appraiser indicated &quot;I did not activate or test any of the mechanical systems&quot;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;This is a specific requirement of FHA - to test the air conditioning and heating (simply - do they turn on and off?), and to run the water to see if the hot water works.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Very simple stuff!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;Yet because of &lt;strong&gt;BOILERPLATE&lt;/strong&gt; text - this appraiser has violated FHA rules and will likely face sanctions.&amp;nbsp; Perhaps they did actually test the systems....but they stated otherwise in the report and that, in the end, is all the lender (and HUD) has knowledge of.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;Another example of not following our own reporting standards can be found on page #5 of the URAR in the &quot;Appraiser's Certifications&quot;...specifically #2:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Specific Terms&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/4/0/7/3/2/ar122770497623704.png&quot; height=&quot;142&quot; alt=&quot;Specific Terms&quot; width=&quot;800&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;I cannot even recount how many appraisals I have reviewed where the appraiser stated:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&quot;&lt;em&gt;The improvements appear to be in average condition at the time of inspection. No functional or external obsolescence observed upon inspection&lt;/em&gt;.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;What does that mean?&amp;nbsp; That is ALL there is to be said about the property?&amp;nbsp; Is this factual? Sure.&amp;nbsp; Is this specific?&amp;nbsp; Far from it.&amp;nbsp; What&amp;nbsp;type of cabinets are used?&amp;nbsp; Are there granite counters or just laminate?&amp;nbsp;What does &quot;&lt;strong&gt;Average&lt;/strong&gt;&quot; mean in this market?&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;Appraisers need to know that there are not only reviewers looking over your past files, but perhaps now bank regulators, portfolio reviews for mortgage backed securities, and even government task forces.&amp;nbsp; Just perform a &lt;a href=&quot;http://tinyurl.com/6dea2e&quot; title=&quot;Google search&quot;&gt;Google Search for &quot;Appraiser indicted&quot;&lt;/a&gt; and you should find enough reading material to encourage you to reconsider the use of boilerplate.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;My purpose here is not to throw our profession under the bus.&amp;nbsp; There are certainly enough GOOD appraisers along with many BAD ones in our profession.&amp;nbsp; My purpose is to rally the call to those who either don't know any better or perhaps have just fallen into a path of laziness in reporting.&amp;nbsp; &lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;WE&lt;/span&gt; have to raise the standards of what &lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;ought&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; to be expected from our reports.&amp;nbsp; Because if we do not...there certainly are other agencies watching our profession now who will.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make it a productive day&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&lt;table id=&quot;nd9m&quot; width=&quot;583&quot;&gt;

&lt;tr id=&quot;a-4t2&quot;&gt;
&lt;td id=&quot;a-4t3&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot; title=&quot;Me&quot; id=&quot;r4q44&quot;&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; src=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/appraisal_news_for_real_e/images/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot; id=&quot;r4q45&quot; height=&quot;113&quot; alt=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; width=&quot;100&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AUTHOR: Richard D Ferris&lt;/strong&gt; - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; title=&quot;AmcAppraisalsinc.com -  Home&quot;&gt;AmcAppraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;Phone 877-789-5249 or email me: &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&quot;&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td id=&quot;a-4t4&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot;&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Richard D. Ferris&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; title=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AMCAppraisalsinc.com&lt;br /&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(877) 789-5249&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;One # Does It All - Voice/Fax&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Residential Appraisals in Lake, Orange, Osceola, Polk, and Seminole Counties.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Also servicing Deltona, Deland, and Orange City in Volusia County.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Florida&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; State&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Certified&amp;nbsp;Residential Appraiser&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;#RD4088&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;FHA Certified : Associate Member Appraisal Institute&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;

&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class='agent_signature'&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make it a GREAT day!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;table id=&quot;nd9m&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; width=&quot;583&quot;&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr id=&quot;a-4t2&quot;&gt;
&lt;td id=&quot;a-4t3&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot;&gt;&lt;a id=&quot;r4q44&quot; title=&quot;Me&quot; href=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img id=&quot;r4q45&quot; title=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; src=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/appraisal_news_for_real_e/images/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; width=&quot;100&quot; height=&quot;113&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AUTHOR: Richard D Ferris&lt;/strong&gt; - &lt;a title=&quot;AmcAppraisalsinc.com -  Home&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AmcAppraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;Phone 877-789-5249 or email me: &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&quot;&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td id=&quot;a-4t4&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot;&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Richard D. Ferris&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AMCAppraisalsinc.com&lt;br /&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(877) 789-5249&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;One # Does It All - Voice/Fax&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Residential Appraisals in Lake, Orange, Osceola, Polk, and Seminole Counties.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Also servicing Deltona, Deland, and Orange City in Volusia County.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Florida&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; State&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Certified&amp;nbsp;Residential Appraiser&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;#RD4088&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;FHA Certified : &lt;strong&gt;Associate Member Appraisal Institute&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Richard D Ferris Florida State Certified (FHA) Appraiser (AmcAppraisalsinc.com)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Wed, 26 Nov 2008 07:29:18 -0600</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/808902/who-is-watching-you-</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/788492/are-sellers-being-realistic-yet-</guid>
      <title>Are sellers being realistic yet?</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;I read a news story from MSNBC indicating the reality now setting in on many sellers in the market.&amp;nbsp; You can read the story at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27648884?GT1=43001&quot; title=&quot;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27648884?GT1=43001&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27648884?GT1=43001&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;One statement was made by a Florida seller, &quot;We lost close to $100,000 in equity so we were walking away from real money.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;First - is it &quot;real money&quot; or &quot;not yet realized&quot; money.&amp;nbsp; For homeowners who purchased a home in 1st quarter 2007, their actual value vs their purchase price is likely MUCH lower in the present market.&amp;nbsp; THEY have lost REAL money.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;But if you bought a home in 2003, and gained $150,000 of equity from 2003 through 2006 - and are now back to 2003 levels - their only real loss is potential, or loss of equity.&amp;nbsp; Or, perhaps the real loss is when you compare your home investment to the lost opportunity of putting your money in other venues such as mutual funds.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I am noticing a continued trend, however, of the &lt;strong&gt;WIDE GAP&lt;/strong&gt; of hopeful sellers with the narrow expectations of buyers in today's market.&amp;nbsp; One trend was in a community in south &lt;a href=&quot;http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&amp;amp;FORM=LMLTCC&amp;amp;cp=28.103632~-81.468129&amp;amp;style=h&amp;amp;lvl=16&amp;amp;tilt=-90&amp;amp;dir=0&amp;amp;alt=-1000&amp;amp;scene=17655292&amp;amp;phx=0&amp;amp;phy=0&amp;amp;phscl=1&amp;amp;encType=1&quot; title=&quot;Click to see an ariel view&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Poinciana, FL&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;nbsp; This is actually in the Polk county section of Poinciana.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I noticed the median sales price vs the average sales price.&amp;nbsp; But then, I started to compare, as I always do in my appraisal reports, the difference in sales price vs listing price.&amp;nbsp; Typical observations...3-4% difference.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;But then I looked also at the &lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;ORIGINAL&amp;nbsp;list price vs the sales price&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;.&amp;nbsp; WOW.&amp;nbsp; This is where sellers have to face some reality and quick -&amp;nbsp;if they want to move their homes!&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Poinciana Over pricing&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/7/3/4/8/ar123970122184378.png&quot; height=&quot;222&quot; alt=&quot;Poinciana Over pricing&quot; width=&quot;800&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;You see the trend? Homes were initially listed 17-23% above the sales price.&amp;nbsp; This area has been hammered hard by foreclosures, short sales, etc.&amp;nbsp; So buyers in this market are really looking for a deal.&amp;nbsp; And when a seller is now competing against bank inventory - the markets are not forgiving.&amp;nbsp; The numbers show that buyers can get pretty decent homes (maybe some carpeting and painting needed) - for in some cases 1/2 of the competing listings!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I found this quote from the article very interesting:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;PADDING-LEFT: 60px;&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&quot;A recent Coldwell Banker report showed that more than three-quarters of its real estate agents surveyed said most sellers have unrealistic initial listing prices for their homes.&quot;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;Help me understand this Realtors&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;....why would you list a home if you clearly believe the price if too high?&amp;nbsp; I know you WANT the listing.&amp;nbsp; Are you betting you can wear down the seller and convince some future price reductions?&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Does this lend itself to sellers who are digging their heels in just thinking that you - the Realtor - are not doing your job?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Maybe this is where some additional help can come in handy.&amp;nbsp; I know most people think of using an appraiser only at the END of the transaction...when the bank REQUIRES one.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; But why not at the beginning?&amp;nbsp; What is the view of an appraiser in today's market?&amp;nbsp; Are we too mired in &quot;over inflated appraisal&quot; stories?&amp;nbsp; Have Realtors just been exposed to too many low quality appraisers who only seem to know how to fill out forms and &quot;hit the sales price&quot;, etc?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;What if you could enlist a qualified, professional appraiser to help you convince that seller of their unrealistic expectations?&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Would that be worth $300-$400?&amp;nbsp; What if you could have a &lt;strong&gt;quality appraiser&lt;/strong&gt; provide you with a pre-listing appraisal, measure the home, get you a floor plan, true measurements, market analysis, and specifically...what the seller can expect in declining market conditions?&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I know in my reports, I break down market declines into a daily figure.&amp;nbsp; So your seller could see they may be losing 0.0025% &lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;each DAY they wait in the market&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I know you don't want to spend $300-$400 out of YOUR pocket...&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;but how much money are you wasting&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; with trips to meet the seller, renegotiate the listing price, time spent discussing reductions, etc?&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Perhaps $300 out of the gate may get quickly repaid with less hassle from the seller and also a quicker closing?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Perhaps once that seller learns you went out on the limb to employ a &quot;team approach&quot; and hires a quality, certified real estate appraiser - that one listing could turn into multiple referrals?&amp;nbsp; All for the cost of a &lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;QUALITY real estate appraisal&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;And I keep harping on &lt;strong&gt;QUALITY&lt;/strong&gt; here, since you don't just want someone who has been licensed for 2 years.&amp;nbsp; You want someone who WANTS to tell you and the seller the TRUTH.&amp;nbsp; Someone who can break down market statistics, decline rates, neighborhood trends - and formulate that into a very simple to understand report that your seller will grasp.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I hope you will consider employing an appraiser in a pre-listing scenario.&amp;nbsp; But be sure you ask them some specific questions.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ol&gt;
&lt;li&gt;How long have you been licensed?&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;What methods do you employ to &quot;break down&quot; the market?&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Do you use graphs, charts, or regression analysis tools?&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;What sources of data do you use (assessor only? MLS and assessor, other online tools?)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Are you a member of any educational groups (Appraisal Institute, NAIFA, FREA?) to demonstrate your commitment to eduction and advancing your skills?&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;And lastly - can you send me any samples of your work so I can know they kind of appraiser I may be working with?&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ol&gt;
&lt;p&gt;In today's markets - there are plenty of appraisers all looking for new sources of work.&amp;nbsp; That is good and bad for you.&amp;nbsp; Good because appraisers may be more willing to let you &quot;interview&quot; them.&amp;nbsp; Bad - because you, the REALTOR need to do more research into knowing what makes an &quot;average&quot; appraiser and what makes a &quot;QUALITY&quot; appraiser.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I hope this gets you thinking.&amp;nbsp; And...I hope it helps you discuss the &quot;gap&quot; with your sellers so you make the most of YOUR time and theirs in the market!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make it a productive day&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
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&lt;p&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; src=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/appraisal_news_for_real_e/images/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; id=&quot;r4q45&quot; height=&quot;113&quot; alt=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; width=&quot;100&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AUTHOR: Richard D Ferris&lt;/strong&gt; - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; title=&quot;AmcAppraisalsinc.com -  Home&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;AmcAppraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;Phone 877-789-5249 or email me: &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&quot;&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Richard D. Ferris&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; title=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;AMCAppraisalsinc.com&lt;br /&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(877) 789-5249&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;One # Does It All - Voice/Fax&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Residential Appraisals in Lake, Orange, Osceola, Polk, and Seminole Counties.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Also servicing Deltona, Deland, and Orange City in Volusia County.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Florida&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; State&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Certified&amp;nbsp;Residential Appraiser&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;#RD4088&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;FHA Certified : Associate Member Appraisal Institute&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
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&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class='agent_signature'&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make it a GREAT day!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;p&gt;&lt;img id=&quot;r4q45&quot; title=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; src=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/appraisal_news_for_real_e/images/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; width=&quot;100&quot; height=&quot;113&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AUTHOR: Richard D Ferris&lt;/strong&gt; - &lt;a title=&quot;AmcAppraisalsinc.com -  Home&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AmcAppraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;Phone 877-789-5249 or email me: &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&quot;&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
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&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Richard D. Ferris&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AMCAppraisalsinc.com&lt;br /&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(877) 789-5249&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;One # Does It All - Voice/Fax&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Residential Appraisals in Lake, Orange, Osceola, Polk, and Seminole Counties.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Also servicing Deltona, Deland, and Orange City in Volusia County.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Florida&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; State&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Certified&amp;nbsp;Residential Appraiser&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;#RD4088&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;FHA Certified : &lt;strong&gt;Associate Member Appraisal Institute&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
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&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Richard D Ferris Florida State Certified (FHA) Appraiser (AmcAppraisalsinc.com)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Thu, 13 Nov 2008 14:33:58 -0600</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/788492/are-sellers-being-realistic-yet-</link>
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    <item>
      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/785174/erc-appraiser-trained</guid>
      <title>ERC Appraiser Trained</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;I &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.screencast.com/t/jAkrhAGkO&quot; title=&quot;ERC Training Certificate&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;recently completed&lt;/a&gt; the ERC course &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.worldwideerc.org/PERC_USA/ratp_guide.shtml&quot; title=&quot;ERC Appraisal Training&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;The Relocation Appraisal Training Program&lt;/a&gt;&quot;&amp;nbsp; I signed up with ERC to promote my real estate forecasting skills with trend analysis.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;You may not be interested in joining another organization - but I would really recommend this course to anyone appraising homes for relocation as well as anyone who wants to understand market forecasting.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The Appraisal Institute also offers this course with credit towards AI continuing education.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;In slow times, appraisers need to pay attention to diversification of skills as well as clients!&amp;nbsp; Relocation work is something which is another avenue of residential appraisals, however, you need to have the skills to measure the market and know where values are going.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.worldwideerc.org/PERC_USA/ratp_guide.shtml&quot; title=&quot;ERC Appraisal Training&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;The Relocation Appraisal Training Program&lt;/a&gt;&quot;&amp;nbsp;is just one more online resource to help sharpen you skill set!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make it a productive day&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
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&lt;p&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; src=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/appraisal_news_for_real_e/images/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; id=&quot;r4q45&quot; height=&quot;113&quot; alt=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; width=&quot;100&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AUTHOR: Richard D Ferris&lt;/strong&gt; - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; title=&quot;AmcAppraisalsinc.com -  Home&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;AmcAppraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;Phone 877-789-5249 or email me: &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&quot;&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
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&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Richard D. Ferris&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; title=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;AMCAppraisalsinc.com&lt;br /&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(877) 789-5249&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;One # Does It All - Voice/Fax&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Residential Appraisals in Lake, Orange, Osceola, Polk, and Seminole Counties.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Also servicing Deltona, Deland, and Orange City in Volusia County.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Florida&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; State&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Certified&amp;nbsp;Residential Appraiser&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;#RD4088&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;FHA Certified : Associate Member Appraisal Institute&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
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&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class='agent_signature'&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make it a GREAT day!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;p&gt;&lt;img id=&quot;r4q45&quot; title=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; src=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/appraisal_news_for_real_e/images/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; width=&quot;100&quot; height=&quot;113&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AUTHOR: Richard D Ferris&lt;/strong&gt; - &lt;a title=&quot;AmcAppraisalsinc.com -  Home&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AmcAppraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;Phone 877-789-5249 or email me: &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&quot;&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Richard D. Ferris&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AMCAppraisalsinc.com&lt;br /&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(877) 789-5249&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;One # Does It All - Voice/Fax&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Residential Appraisals in Lake, Orange, Osceola, Polk, and Seminole Counties.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Also servicing Deltona, Deland, and Orange City in Volusia County.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Florida&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; State&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Certified&amp;nbsp;Residential Appraiser&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;#RD4088&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;FHA Certified : &lt;strong&gt;Associate Member Appraisal Institute&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
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&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Richard D Ferris Florida State Certified (FHA) Appraiser (AmcAppraisalsinc.com)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Tue, 11 Nov 2008 16:44:48 -0600</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/785174/erc-appraiser-trained</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/776855/do-we-all-report-the-same-observations-</guid>
      <title>Do we all report the same observations?</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;I was recently contracted to perform a second FHA appraisal for a new construction.&amp;nbsp; The builder thought this was odd since they had JUST had an FHA appraisal completed.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I waited until they cleared it up with the lender and sure enough, the lender wanted a 2nd appraisal.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;When I drove out to see the home, I noted a facility nearby, within 2000 feet of the subject's lot:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Facility&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/2/5/8/2/2/ar12259824122852.png&quot; height=&quot;392&quot; alt=&quot;Facility&quot; width=&quot;549&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;You have to drive by this water treatment facility as you enter into the neighborhood.&amp;nbsp; Would this have any impact on market value?&amp;nbsp; Is it against FHA regulations for safety?&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; I wasn't so sure at first - since the county obviously thought it was OK to approve a new subdivision within 2000 feet of a water treatment facility.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;However, when I took a closer look at the facility's entrance - here is what I saw:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Facility Front&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/7/6/8/7/8/ar122598251687867.png&quot; height=&quot;385&quot; alt=&quot;Facility Front&quot; width=&quot;529&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;Now, using my ZOOM :&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Chlorine Gas&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/1/7/9/6/ar12259825569716.png&quot; height=&quot;379&quot; alt=&quot;Chlorine Gas&quot; width=&quot;503&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;What do you think?&amp;nbsp; Would this have an impact on the appeal of your home if you sat 2,000 feet due west of this facility?&amp;nbsp; Would the possibility of a &lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;Chlorine Gas leak&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; pose a problem to the marketability of the home?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;This certainly explained why some of the builder's inventory has sat on the market over 250 days and homes have now been drastically reduced in price.&amp;nbsp; Some may think it is due to the over supply in the area....maybe there are other reasons?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;So - back to my original question.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Do we all observe AND REPORT the same things?&amp;nbsp; I wonder if appraiser #1 dealt with this issue - or just passed over this as an influence on marketability?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;What would you do?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make it a productive day&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
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&lt;p&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; src=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/appraisal_news_for_real_e/images/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; id=&quot;r4q45&quot; height=&quot;113&quot; alt=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; width=&quot;100&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AUTHOR: Richard D Ferris&lt;/strong&gt; - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; title=&quot;AmcAppraisalsinc.com -  Home&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;AmcAppraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;Phone 877-789-5249 or email me: &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&quot;&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Richard D. Ferris&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; title=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;AMCAppraisalsinc.com&lt;br /&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(877) 789-5249&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;One # Does It All - Voice/Fax&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Residential Appraisals in Lake, Orange, Osceola, Polk, and Seminole Counties.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Also servicing Deltona, Deland, and Orange City in Volusia County.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Florida&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; State&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Certified&amp;nbsp;Residential Appraiser&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;#RD4088&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;FHA Certified : Associate Member Appraisal Institute&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
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&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class='agent_signature'&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make it a GREAT day!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;tr id=&quot;a-4t2&quot;&gt;
&lt;td id=&quot;a-4t3&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot;&gt;&lt;a id=&quot;r4q44&quot; title=&quot;Me&quot; href=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img id=&quot;r4q45&quot; title=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; src=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/appraisal_news_for_real_e/images/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; width=&quot;100&quot; height=&quot;113&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AUTHOR: Richard D Ferris&lt;/strong&gt; - &lt;a title=&quot;AmcAppraisalsinc.com -  Home&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AmcAppraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;Phone 877-789-5249 or email me: &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&quot;&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td id=&quot;a-4t4&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot;&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Richard D. Ferris&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AMCAppraisalsinc.com&lt;br /&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(877) 789-5249&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;One # Does It All - Voice/Fax&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Residential Appraisals in Lake, Orange, Osceola, Polk, and Seminole Counties.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Also servicing Deltona, Deland, and Orange City in Volusia County.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Florida&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; State&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Certified&amp;nbsp;Residential Appraiser&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;#RD4088&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;FHA Certified : &lt;strong&gt;Associate Member Appraisal Institute&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Richard D Ferris Florida State Certified (FHA) Appraiser (AmcAppraisalsinc.com)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Thu, 06 Nov 2008 08:48:16 -0600</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/776855/do-we-all-report-the-same-observations-</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/775228/creating-market-analysis-charts</guid>
      <title>Creating Market Analysis Charts</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;I have found for some reason, that some of the &lt;a href=&quot;http://activerain.com/blogsview/748855/Export-MLS-data-to-create-Trend-Analysis&quot; title=&quot;BLOG-Creating Trend Analysis Charts&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;videos displayed in past blog posts&lt;/a&gt;, will occasionally not appear.&amp;nbsp; Sometimes, you will get a small silver triangle where the video should be - and you can click on it to play.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I was informed by some colleagues, that they were not able to access the video series - so here are some HTML links directly to the videos:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;#1&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.screencast.com/t/W7P47qcC62t&quot; title=&quot;http://www.screencast.com/t/W7P47qcC62t&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;http://www.screencast.com/t/W7P47qcC62t&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;#2&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.screencast.com/t/8GKuKZnSLr&quot; title=&quot;http://www.screencast.com/t/8GKuKZnSLr&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;http://www.screencast.com/t/8GKuKZnSLr&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;#3&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.screencast.com/t/yvWLO9WEK&quot; title=&quot;http://www.screencast.com/t/yvWLO9WEK&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;http://www.screencast.com/t/yvWLO9WEK&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;#4&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.screencast.com/t/OuXiLv8io&quot; title=&quot;http://www.screencast.com/t/OuXiLv8io&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;http://www.screencast.com/t/OuXiLv8io&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Hopefully - these will be helpful to anyone using Excel 2003 to export some data from your MLS and further enhance your expertise in your market area!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make it a productive day&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&lt;table cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; id=&quot;nd9m&quot; cellpadding=&quot;3&quot; width=&quot;583&quot;&gt;
&lt;tbody id=&quot;a-4t1&quot;&gt;
&lt;tr id=&quot;a-4t2&quot;&gt;
&lt;td id=&quot;a-4t3&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot; title=&quot;Me&quot; id=&quot;r4q44&quot;&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; src=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/appraisal_news_for_real_e/images/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; id=&quot;r4q45&quot; height=&quot;113&quot; alt=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; width=&quot;100&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AUTHOR: Richard D Ferris&lt;/strong&gt; - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; title=&quot;AmcAppraisalsinc.com -  Home&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;AmcAppraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;Phone 877-789-5249 or email me: &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&quot;&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td id=&quot;a-4t4&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot;&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Richard D. Ferris&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; title=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;AMCAppraisalsinc.com&lt;br /&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(877) 789-5249&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;One # Does It All - Voice/Fax&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Residential Appraisals in Lake, Orange, Osceola, Polk, and Seminole Counties.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Also servicing Deltona, Deland, and Orange City in Volusia County.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Florida&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; State&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Certified&amp;nbsp;Residential Appraiser&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;#RD4088&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;FHA Certified : Associate Member Appraisal Institute&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class='agent_signature'&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make it a GREAT day!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;table id=&quot;nd9m&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; width=&quot;583&quot;&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr id=&quot;a-4t2&quot;&gt;
&lt;td id=&quot;a-4t3&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot;&gt;&lt;a id=&quot;r4q44&quot; title=&quot;Me&quot; href=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img id=&quot;r4q45&quot; title=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; src=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/appraisal_news_for_real_e/images/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; width=&quot;100&quot; height=&quot;113&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AUTHOR: Richard D Ferris&lt;/strong&gt; - &lt;a title=&quot;AmcAppraisalsinc.com -  Home&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AmcAppraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;Phone 877-789-5249 or email me: &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&quot;&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td id=&quot;a-4t4&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot;&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Richard D. Ferris&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AMCAppraisalsinc.com&lt;br /&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(877) 789-5249&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;One # Does It All - Voice/Fax&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Residential Appraisals in Lake, Orange, Osceola, Polk, and Seminole Counties.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Also servicing Deltona, Deland, and Orange City in Volusia County.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Florida&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; State&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Certified&amp;nbsp;Residential Appraiser&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;#RD4088&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;FHA Certified : &lt;strong&gt;Associate Member Appraisal Institute&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Richard D Ferris Florida State Certified (FHA) Appraiser (AmcAppraisalsinc.com)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Wed, 05 Nov 2008 09:39:28 -0600</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/775228/creating-market-analysis-charts</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/772138/do-sellers-and-buyers-have-the-same-perspective-</guid>
      <title>Do Sellers and Buyers Have The Same Perspective?</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;I have found recently that many neighborhoods in the Central Florida housing market, show significant differences between what a seller's expectations are and what is reality from the buyer.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; One example of this, is in a community south of Clermont, FL known as Westchester.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;There are presently 15 active listings in the &lt;a href=&quot;http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&amp;amp;FORM=LMLTCC&amp;amp;cp=28.373844~-81.688821&amp;amp;style=h&amp;amp;lvl=16&amp;amp;tilt=-90&amp;amp;dir=0&amp;amp;alt=-1000&amp;amp;phx=0&amp;amp;phy=0&amp;amp;phscl=1&amp;amp;encType=1&quot; title=&quot;Click for a map view of the community&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Westchester community&lt;/a&gt; ranging in size from 1,176 sf to 2,200+ sf.&amp;nbsp; Listing prices are from $109,900 to $249,000.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; In the last 12 months, the MLS reports 7 closed sales from $150,000 to $209,000 for homes of similar size range.&amp;nbsp; There are currently many short sale and REO/Bank owned properties noted in the community.&amp;nbsp; The adjacent community, Greater Groves, is additional competition in the market.&amp;nbsp; This community has had 12 sales in the last 12 months from $110,000 to $250,000 for homes of similar size and age.&amp;nbsp; Active listings in this community range from $117,900 to $279,000 with 22 active listings.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Total between the communities at present are 37 active listings with 19 closed in the last year.&amp;nbsp; This is considered an over supply of available inventory based on absorption rates.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The market is considered to be declining at present.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The following is a view of the 10 year trend history for the subject's market area.&amp;nbsp; This includes all sales of single family homes regardless of age and size.&amp;nbsp; This represents the average sold price/sf and the average days on market (DOM) for the area:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;See graph below:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Westchester 10 Year History&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/9/2/3/7/9/ar122573924897329.png&quot; height=&quot;484&quot; alt=&quot;Westchester 10 Year History&quot; width=&quot;800&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;As noted, the trend in average sold price/sf rose dramatically from 2002 through 2006 with the peak being in 4th quarter 2005.&amp;nbsp; The trend since 2006 has declined with market corrections and has dropped in 2007 due to many short sales and bank owned sales in the market.&amp;nbsp; Likewise, the average days on market has escalated since 2006.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The following is a view of the average market indicators in the last 12 months:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Westchester 12 Month View&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/2/6/1/2/6/ar122573931962162.png&quot; height=&quot;226&quot; alt=&quot;Westchester 12 Month View&quot; width=&quot;800&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The average list price vs sales price is 6.80%.&amp;nbsp; Median is 9.31%.&amp;nbsp; The reconciled LP vs SP is 8.00%.&amp;nbsp; This represents the difference between the seller's last listing price and the final sales price.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; However, the average listing is typically 10% over priced as noted from the variances between original listing price and sales prices in the area.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;This indicates that the seller's perspective is typically higher than the market. &lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;This also indicates why the average DOM is 133 days.&amp;nbsp; Many listings show reductions after 90 days and continued reductions until the market median are met.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Typically, from the last reduction to contract is within 30 days once the price reaches levels where buyers are acting.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; This indicates that aggressive pricing in the market is key to selling homes under 180 days.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&lt;table cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; border=&quot;1&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot;&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td valign=&quot;top&quot; width=&quot;214&quot;&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Conclusion:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;As noted from the table to the right, the average decline in 2008 has been 2.38% per month.&amp;nbsp; There was some gain in the 3rd quarter 2008 - yet this was again offset by a strong decline in the 4th quarter sales noted so far.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The general trend as noted by this table, as well as the 10 year trend chart attached above, is that the market is still declining at a rate of 2.38% per month on average - stronger than past years.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;This market was influenced by investor speculators during the 2005-2006 market and thus, has had harder corrections than other surrounding areas as a result.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td valign=&quot;top&quot; width=&quot;377&quot;&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;img title=&quot;Westchester 5 Year Trends&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/7/9/9/4/8/ar122573944084997.png&quot; height=&quot;411&quot; alt=&quot;Westchester 5 Year Trends&quot; width=&quot;362&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;Further evidence of the trends of over pricing in the market are shows in the graph below:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;List Price VS Sales Price&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/0/7/0/3/ar122573953730706.png&quot; height=&quot;482&quot; alt=&quot;List Price VS Sales Price&quot; width=&quot;800&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The general trend between original list price, final list price and sales price in the last 3 years in the market.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;strong&gt;Certainly, the perspective of a buyer in this market since the decline....is&amp;nbsp;MUCH different than the seller's.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;For a FREE PDF copy of this report, please click &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:richard@amcappraisalsinc.com?subject=Westchester Report&quot; title=&quot;Click to email a request&quot;&gt;HERE&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make it a productive day&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&lt;table cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; id=&quot;nd9m&quot; cellpadding=&quot;3&quot; width=&quot;583&quot;&gt;
&lt;tbody id=&quot;a-4t1&quot;&gt;
&lt;tr id=&quot;a-4t2&quot;&gt;
&lt;td id=&quot;a-4t3&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot; title=&quot;Me&quot; id=&quot;r4q44&quot;&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; src=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/appraisal_news_for_real_e/images/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; id=&quot;r4q45&quot; height=&quot;113&quot; alt=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; width=&quot;100&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AUTHOR: Richard D Ferris&lt;/strong&gt; - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; title=&quot;AmcAppraisalsinc.com -  Home&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;AmcAppraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;Phone 877-789-5249 or email me: &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&quot;&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td id=&quot;a-4t4&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot;&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Richard D. Ferris&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; title=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;AMCAppraisalsinc.com&lt;br /&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(877) 789-5249&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;One # Does It All - Voice/Fax&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Residential Appraisals in Lake, Orange, Osceola, Polk, and Seminole Counties.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Also servicing Deltona, Deland, and Orange City in Volusia County.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Florida&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; State&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Certified&amp;nbsp;Residential Appraiser&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;#RD4088&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;FHA Certified : Associate Member Appraisal Institute&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class='agent_signature'&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make it a GREAT day!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;table id=&quot;nd9m&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; width=&quot;583&quot;&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr id=&quot;a-4t2&quot;&gt;
&lt;td id=&quot;a-4t3&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot;&gt;&lt;a id=&quot;r4q44&quot; title=&quot;Me&quot; href=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img id=&quot;r4q45&quot; title=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; src=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/appraisal_news_for_real_e/images/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; width=&quot;100&quot; height=&quot;113&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AUTHOR: Richard D Ferris&lt;/strong&gt; - &lt;a title=&quot;AmcAppraisalsinc.com -  Home&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AmcAppraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;Phone 877-789-5249 or email me: &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&quot;&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td id=&quot;a-4t4&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot;&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Richard D. Ferris&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AMCAppraisalsinc.com&lt;br /&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(877) 789-5249&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;One # Does It All - Voice/Fax&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Residential Appraisals in Lake, Orange, Osceola, Polk, and Seminole Counties.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Also servicing Deltona, Deland, and Orange City in Volusia County.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Florida&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; State&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Certified&amp;nbsp;Residential Appraiser&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;#RD4088&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;FHA Certified : &lt;strong&gt;Associate Member Appraisal Institute&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Richard D Ferris Florida State Certified (FHA) Appraiser (AmcAppraisalsinc.com)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Mon, 03 Nov 2008 13:27:55 -0600</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/772138/do-sellers-and-buyers-have-the-same-perspective-</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/768624/what-you-don-t-know-about-your-neighbor-s-home-could-hurt-you</guid>
      <title>What you don't know about your neighbor's home COULD hurt you</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;I recently completed an inspection for an appraisal of a home in my county.&amp;nbsp; The home was a typical block ranch with needed updates to the flooring, painting, etc.&amp;nbsp; But the home itself was pretty typical of the area.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The neighbor's home had a fence around it and all seemed just fine to me at the inspection.&amp;nbsp; All the homes had similar appeal to the area, etc.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Then I pulled the satellite maps from the county assessor's office:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Your Neighbors Home&quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/9/6/7/2/9/ar122547336092769.png&quot; height=&quot;453&quot; alt=&quot;How well do you know your neighbor&quot; width=&quot;800&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;So do you think this would have any impact on the value of YOUR home if you lived next door?&amp;nbsp; The amazing thing is, you cannot see any of this from the street.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; All of these vehicles (if they are still there) are behind a very high fence.&amp;nbsp; But, as confirmed from both the county's maps and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.maps.live.com&quot;&gt;www.maps.live.com&lt;/a&gt; - this is the way the neighbor's yard looks in the back of that home.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Now I do not have any data to suggest that this has a known impact on a buyer's perception for the adjacent home.&amp;nbsp; But sure enough, this would be a BIG concern to the lender making the loan for purchase - should there be some environmental impact.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Can you say leaking gasoline into nearby septic tanks?&amp;nbsp; Luckily the area has county water services so no wells exist for drinking water.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;So if you plan to buy a new home in a densely populated neighborhood - pull some satellite images or go visiting before you take out that new purchase loan!&amp;nbsp; It could save you some disputes in the future!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Just another reason to be sure your appraiser is using current technology tools!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make it a productive day&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
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&lt;p&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; src=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/appraisal_news_for_real_e/images/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; id=&quot;r4q45&quot; height=&quot;113&quot; alt=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; width=&quot;100&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AUTHOR: Richard D Ferris&lt;/strong&gt; - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; title=&quot;AmcAppraisalsinc.com -  Home&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;AmcAppraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;Phone 877-789-5249 or email me: &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&quot;&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td id=&quot;a-4t4&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot;&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Richard D. Ferris&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; title=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;AMCAppraisalsinc.com&lt;br /&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(877) 789-5249&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;One # Does It All - Voice/Fax&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Residential Appraisals in Lake, Orange, Osceola, Polk, and Seminole Counties.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Also servicing Deltona, Deland, and Orange City in Volusia County.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Florida&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; State&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Certified&amp;nbsp;Residential Appraiser&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;#RD4088&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;FHA Certified : Associate Member Appraisal Institute&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
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&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class='agent_signature'&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make it a GREAT day!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;p&gt;&lt;img id=&quot;r4q45&quot; title=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; src=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/appraisal_news_for_real_e/images/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; width=&quot;100&quot; height=&quot;113&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AUTHOR: Richard D Ferris&lt;/strong&gt; - &lt;a title=&quot;AmcAppraisalsinc.com -  Home&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AmcAppraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;Phone 877-789-5249 or email me: &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&quot;&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td id=&quot;a-4t4&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot;&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Richard D. Ferris&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AMCAppraisalsinc.com&lt;br /&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(877) 789-5249&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;One # Does It All - Voice/Fax&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Residential Appraisals in Lake, Orange, Osceola, Polk, and Seminole Counties.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Also servicing Deltona, Deland, and Orange City in Volusia County.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Florida&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; State&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Certified&amp;nbsp;Residential Appraiser&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;#RD4088&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;FHA Certified : &lt;strong&gt;Associate Member Appraisal Institute&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
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&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Richard D Ferris Florida State Certified (FHA) Appraiser (AmcAppraisalsinc.com)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Fri, 31 Oct 2008 12:22:37 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/768624/what-you-don-t-know-about-your-neighbor-s-home-could-hurt-you</link>
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      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/763078/amcs-are-not-the-enemy-the-enemy-is-within</guid>
      <title>AMCs are not the Enemy...the enemy is within</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I contend that the &lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;real&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; &quot;hot button&quot; is not the lowering of fees - but the &lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;inequity of appraisal standards&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The trainees or newly licensed appraisers who cannot afford to open their own shop may indeed get a raise in fee by accepting an order for $200.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; That is logical and a true fact of the matter.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I think where long time appraisers get very irate about this issue is when they are asked to complete an appraisal for $200&amp;nbsp;when they typically charge $350-$450 for the same home.&amp;nbsp; In the scenario where a staff appraiser in an appraisal office is completing the order and being paid a fee split - I agree that this is similar to an AMC set up.&amp;nbsp; Except that typically in an appraisal office - if all the proper steps are taken, likely the supervisor or other staff appraisers may be helping with the process, etc.&amp;nbsp; So the full fee is indicative to the work produced and shared among a group or office.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;Where things fall apart and the &quot;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;inequity of appraisal standards&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&quot; are noticed - is when a newly licensed appraiser, who has only been trained to measure homes and fill forms, takes the same work for $200 and only completes a &quot;form filler&quot; quality report.&amp;nbsp; No measuring the market, no discussion of value trends, and many times, no investigation of the highest and best use in regards to zoning, etc.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I have been both.&amp;nbsp; I was trained from 1994-1996 to be a form filler.&amp;nbsp; I measured homes, I pulled comps, but only filled forms and checked boxes.&amp;nbsp; Pretty average stuff.&amp;nbsp; No calls to Realtors to confirm concessions, motivations, etc.&amp;nbsp; So you know what, I could inspect a home in 30-40 minutes.&amp;nbsp; I could even drive and take pictures within 1 hour for my comps.&amp;nbsp; I could sit down and write the report in under 3 hours typically - after all, I was just filling forms and using adjustments like &quot;$20/sf if it is REALLY nice, $15 if &quot;Good&quot;, $5 if fair.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;And to make matters worse, I was &lt;em&gt;isolated from the real world&lt;/em&gt;.&amp;nbsp; I had only known my form filler trainer, bought his business (another fiasco of a story) and did not work or associate with other appraisers.&amp;nbsp; So I worked in a vacuum and only got feed back from clients and underwriters.&amp;nbsp; And hey, if my jobs were within 15% net and 25% gross, comps within 2 miles, values &quot;came in on par&quot; - why complain?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;It wasn't until an appraiser, an SRA with the AI, reviewed one of my appraisals and called me up one day to say, &quot;What the hell are you doing?!&quot; - then the crack in my bubble formed.&amp;nbsp; I welcomed the criticism and she continued to mentor me - untraining and retraining.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Then, I got with the Wintotal Group in 1999 and later the Inland CA group - and now have added market measuring, graphs, charts, verification of data, etc.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style=&quot;PADDING-LEFT: 30px&quot;&gt;Ooh boy.&amp;nbsp; These appraisals now take hours and hours of research, commentary, analysis, etc.&amp;nbsp; I am not too happy about taking that AMC work anymore since my &quot;standards of reporting&quot; have increased to a level where I realize I am no longer making $40 an hour but now more like $10 for that $200 job.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;And there lies the TRUE challenge.&amp;nbsp; I don't care how much anyone charges.&amp;nbsp; Undercut me and take my business by being faster and cheaper.....AS LONG AS you also meet these same reporting standards.&amp;nbsp; THAT is where we need to elevate our &quot;profession&quot; and the rest of these discussions become moot.&amp;nbsp; If we were ALL doing the same level of work - same standards of analysis, reporting, etc - then those who take $175 URAR jobs are truly working for peanuts.&amp;nbsp; And we know that won't last long.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Then, if someone wants to beat out a competitor - the playing field is even.&amp;nbsp; The &lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;inequity of appraisal standards&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;now made level.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;That is where the AMC discussions HAVE to go.&amp;nbsp; Because if the AMCs approach anyone, knowing that the expectations for an appraisal go from a current &quot;2&quot; to an expected &quot;10&quot; (on a 1-10 scale) - people will think long and hard about taking any fee that comes their way.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;Join the discussion over on the Water Cooler with Patrick Egger at&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.appraiserswatercooler.com/group/urars&quot; title=&quot;http://www.appraiserswatercooler.com/group/urars&quot;&gt;http://www.appraiserswatercooler.com/group/urars&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;Let's get to work on raising the bar.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make it a productive day&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
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&lt;td id=&quot;a-4t3&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot; title=&quot;Me&quot; id=&quot;r4q44&quot;&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; src=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/appraisal_news_for_real_e/images/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; id=&quot;r4q45&quot; height=&quot;113&quot; alt=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; width=&quot;100&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AUTHOR: Richard D Ferris&lt;/strong&gt; - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; title=&quot;AmcAppraisalsinc.com -  Home&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;AmcAppraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;Phone 877-789-5249 or email me: &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&quot;&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Richard D. Ferris&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; title=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;AMCAppraisalsinc.com&lt;br /&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(877) 789-5249&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;One # Does It All - Voice/Fax&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Residential Appraisals in Lake, Orange, Osceola, Polk, and Seminole Counties.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Also servicing Deltona, Deland, and Orange City in Volusia County.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Florida&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; State&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Certified&amp;nbsp;Residential Appraiser&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;#RD4088&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;FHA Certified : Associate Member Appraisal Institute&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
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&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class='agent_signature'&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make it a GREAT day!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;td id=&quot;a-4t3&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot;&gt;&lt;a id=&quot;r4q44&quot; title=&quot;Me&quot; href=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img id=&quot;r4q45&quot; title=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; src=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/appraisal_news_for_real_e/images/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; width=&quot;100&quot; height=&quot;113&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AUTHOR: Richard D Ferris&lt;/strong&gt; - &lt;a title=&quot;AmcAppraisalsinc.com -  Home&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AmcAppraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;Phone 877-789-5249 or email me: &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&quot;&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
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&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Richard D. Ferris&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AMCAppraisalsinc.com&lt;br /&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(877) 789-5249&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;One # Does It All - Voice/Fax&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Residential Appraisals in Lake, Orange, Osceola, Polk, and Seminole Counties.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Also servicing Deltona, Deland, and Orange City in Volusia County.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Florida&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; State&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Certified&amp;nbsp;Residential Appraiser&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;#RD4088&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;FHA Certified : &lt;strong&gt;Associate Member Appraisal Institute&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
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&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Richard D Ferris Florida State Certified (FHA) Appraiser (AmcAppraisalsinc.com)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Tue, 28 Oct 2008 10:51:12 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/763078/amcs-are-not-the-enemy-the-enemy-is-within</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/762750/new-yahoo-group-ai-associates-2008</guid>
      <title>New Yahoo Group - AI Associates 2008</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;I just started a new Yahoo Group today. This is a group to help new &lt;a href=&quot;http://appraisalinstitute.org/&quot; title=&quot;Appraisal Institute&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Appraisal Institute associates&lt;/a&gt; like myself, who are looking to find answers to the journey towards a designation and higher learning.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;In the past, I had joined another Yahoo group - but the level of spam and unmoderated posts - put any productive messages to a stand still.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If you are looking for a moderated group - with some helpful information, guidance, and discussion on topics related to the Appraisal Institute - &lt;a href=&quot;http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/AIAssociates2008/&quot; title=&quot;Visit AiAssociates2008&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;visit the group today!&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;strong&gt;Make it a productive day&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
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&lt;p&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; src=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/appraisal_news_for_real_e/images/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; id=&quot;r4q45&quot; height=&quot;113&quot; alt=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; width=&quot;100&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AUTHOR: Richard D Ferris&lt;/strong&gt; - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; title=&quot;AmcAppraisalsinc.com -  Home&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;AmcAppraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;Phone 877-789-5249 or email me: &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&quot;&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
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&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Richard D. Ferris&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; title=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;AMCAppraisalsinc.com&lt;br /&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(877) 789-5249&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;One # Does It All - Voice/Fax&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Residential Appraisals in Lake, Orange, Osceola, Polk, and Seminole Counties.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Also servicing Deltona, Deland, and Orange City in Volusia County.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Florida&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; State&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Certified&amp;nbsp;Residential Appraiser&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;#RD4088&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;FHA Certified : Associate Member Appraisal Institute&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
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&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class='agent_signature'&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make it a GREAT day!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;td id=&quot;a-4t3&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot;&gt;&lt;a id=&quot;r4q44&quot; title=&quot;Me&quot; href=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img id=&quot;r4q45&quot; title=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; src=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/appraisal_news_for_real_e/images/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; width=&quot;100&quot; height=&quot;113&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AUTHOR: Richard D Ferris&lt;/strong&gt; - &lt;a title=&quot;AmcAppraisalsinc.com -  Home&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AmcAppraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;Phone 877-789-5249 or email me: &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&quot;&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Richard D. Ferris&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AMCAppraisalsinc.com&lt;br /&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(877) 789-5249&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;One # Does It All - Voice/Fax&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Residential Appraisals in Lake, Orange, Osceola, Polk, and Seminole Counties.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Also servicing Deltona, Deland, and Orange City in Volusia County.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Florida&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; State&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Certified&amp;nbsp;Residential Appraiser&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;#RD4088&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;FHA Certified : &lt;strong&gt;Associate Member Appraisal Institute&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/td&gt;
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      <dc:creator>Richard D Ferris Florida State Certified (FHA) Appraiser (AmcAppraisalsinc.com)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Tue, 28 Oct 2008 06:30:37 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/762750/new-yahoo-group-ai-associates-2008</link>
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      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/754834/flrodia-voters-marriage-protection-ammendment-on-your-ballot-</guid>
      <title>Flrodia Voters - Marriage Protection Ammendment On Your Ballot!</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;p&gt;My church was actually supporting &quot;Vote yes on 2&quot;.&amp;nbsp; From the surface of what you hear in the news and blogs, etc - it all seemed worthwile if all the verbiage said was &quot;marriage is defined as a union between 1 man and 1 woman&quot;.&amp;nbsp; I would have no problem voting for that - as some have mentioned, the DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) already defines marriage as such.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;However, it took listening to a guest on a conservative (local) radio show to change my mind.&amp;nbsp; This woman was supporting the opposition (vote NO on 2) - and explained in very thoughtful and meaningful terms - why this is bad verbiage in the amendment.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;So I went to the web and looked at it for myself.&amp;nbsp; You know, I think &quot;conservative&quot; just got a new meaning.&amp;nbsp; I used the think I was &quot;conservative&quot; on many issues.&amp;nbsp; But now, it seems like the new &quot;conservative&quot; is the ULTRA right and somehow &lt;strong&gt;I have become &quot;moderate&lt;/strong&gt;&quot;!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;So despite even my own Pastor's recommendation to vote yes on 2....I will be voting NO.&amp;nbsp; The last line in there &quot;&lt;em&gt;no other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized&lt;/em&gt;&quot; is what caught my attention.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Why is that even necessary&lt;/strong&gt;?&amp;nbsp; If all one wanted to accomplish was to define YES to marriage being between a man and a woman - leaving this last phrase out of the amendment would have done the trick. Right?&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; So my &quot;agenda&quot; antenna are now up!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div id=&quot;reblogging_tag&quot;&gt;Via &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://inna.activerain.com/post/754318/Flrodia-Voters-Marriage-Protection-Ammendment-On-Your-Ballot&quot;&gt;Inna Hardison-ha media group Marketing and Advertising Pros&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;:&lt;br/&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;Here is the full text of Ammendment #2 on Florida Ballots:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&quot;&lt;strong&gt;Ballot Title:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;FLORIDA MARRIAGE PROTECTION AMENDMENT&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ballot Summary:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;This amendment protects marriage as the legal union of only one man and one woman as husband and wife and provides that no other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Financial Impact Statement:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The direct financial impact this amendment will have on state and local government revenues and expenditures cannot be determined, but is expected to be minor.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Full Text:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;ARTICLE I, NEW SECTION&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;DECLARATION OF RIGHTS&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Inasmuch as marriage is the legal union of only one man and one woman as husband and wife, no other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized.&quot; - taken from Flaglerelections.com.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Florida has never been a particularly open-minded or, as my friends on the other side of the fence would say, liberal State when it comes to most things, but I have a fundamental issue with Voting for or against something that will have no impact on my life, yet will have the capacity to injure someone else's.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The fact that we call these Ammendments &quot;&lt;strong&gt;Marriage Protection&lt;/strong&gt;&quot; as opposed to &quot;&lt;strong&gt;Denial of Rights to Gays&lt;/strong&gt;&quot; ought to tell us something in and of itself.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I will have been married for nine years, come January.&amp;nbsp; If my relationship with my husband was a crappy one for either or both of us, we'd go our separate ways, and no &lt;strong&gt;Legislature &lt;/strong&gt;could save our marriage or make it last any longer.&amp;nbsp; If, on the other hand, we are fine, we'll gladly spend the rest of our lives together.&amp;nbsp; The State has absolutely no impact on the success or failure of my marriage.&amp;nbsp; However, the benefits in&amp;nbsp;taxation, hospital visitation, property ownership and inheritance, to name a few, are certainly there for the hubby and I.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Why would the people in this State, or any other for that matter, want to &lt;strong&gt;deny those same benefits&lt;/strong&gt; to same sex couples is simply beyond me.&amp;nbsp; Chances are, this ammendment will pass, after all, it sounds so fabulously good - &lt;strong&gt;Marriage Protection&lt;/strong&gt;.&amp;nbsp; The overt implication that the State can protect a &lt;strong&gt;sacred institution&lt;/strong&gt; is in and of itself bizarrely unconstitutional sounding, but it's also blatantly false.&amp;nbsp; Worse still, in my opinion, it is worded deceptively, at best.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The reality of the matter is they are not asking us to &lt;strong&gt;Protect Marriage&lt;/strong&gt;. They are asking us to &lt;strong&gt;deny benefits and rights&lt;/strong&gt; enjoyed by heterosexual couples to same sex couples. It is really that simple, and that black and white.&amp;nbsp; I simply wish they had worded it as such, so that at least the people voting yes on it would know exactly what they were voting for.&amp;nbsp; When our &lt;strong&gt;Constitution&lt;/strong&gt; depends on the 75-word descriptor&amp;nbsp;to explain the meaning of what we are &lt;strong&gt;voting for or against&lt;/strong&gt;, I would simply prefer it if those words were plainly stated &lt;strong&gt;truths&lt;/strong&gt;.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Meanwhile, the optimist in me is hoping that maybe Florida is changing for the better, and maybe the people in this State will decide that it's non of their business what others do in their bedrooms.&amp;nbsp; Our &lt;strong&gt;rights&lt;/strong&gt; as people shouldn't depend on&amp;nbsp;the &lt;strong&gt;Good Book&lt;/strong&gt;,&amp;nbsp;- not in this &lt;strong&gt;country&lt;/strong&gt;.&amp;nbsp; I am hoping Florida Votes &lt;strong&gt;NO on 2&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;em&gt;Copyright (C) 2008, inna hardison. please, don't steal from the starving artists, it's illegal and well, just plain freakin' wrong!&lt;br /&gt;:-)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class='agent_signature'&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make it a GREAT day!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;td id=&quot;a-4t3&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot;&gt;&lt;a id=&quot;r4q44&quot; title=&quot;Me&quot; href=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img id=&quot;r4q45&quot; title=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; src=&quot;http://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/appraisal_news_for_real_e/images/2008/02/21/richard_ferris.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Richard_ferris&quot; width=&quot;100&quot; height=&quot;113&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AUTHOR: Richard D Ferris&lt;/strong&gt; - &lt;a title=&quot;AmcAppraisalsinc.com -  Home&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AmcAppraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;Phone 877-789-5249 or email me: &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&quot;&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Richard D. Ferris&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot; href=&quot;http://www.amcappraisalsinc.com/&quot;&gt;AMCAppraisalsinc.com&lt;br /&gt;richard@amcappraisalsinc.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(877) 789-5249&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;One # Does It All - Voice/Fax&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Residential Appraisals in Lake, Orange, Osceola, Polk, and Seminole Counties.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Also servicing Deltona, Deland, and Orange City in Volusia County.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Florida&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; State&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Certified&amp;nbsp;Residential Appraiser&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;#RD4088&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;FHA Certified : &lt;strong&gt;Associate Member Appraisal Institute&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
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      <dc:creator>Richard D Ferris Florida State Certified (FHA) Appraiser (AmcAppraisalsinc.com)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Thu, 23 Oct 2008 13:54:54 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/754834/flrodia-voters-marriage-protection-ammendment-on-your-ballot-</link>
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