vancouver washington appraiser: Doggie Dash - Portland, OR
- 05/12/07 10:26 AM
Portland was ranked the nations "Dog-Friendliest City" by Dog Fancy Magazine in 2006 and it's no wonder why. Today was Portland's annual Doggie Dash. The route took dogs and their people along the Waterfront Park, over a bridge, down the eastside Esplanade, over another bridge and back down to Front Street (I was volunteering on the westside, so I am not sure of which bridges). This event reportedly earned the Oregon Humane Society over $52,000 as of last week and event coordinators expected to double that by the time the event started today if the weather held. Fortunately, it did. Other … (4 comments)
vancouver washington appraiser: Communication breakdown by mandate - Realtors vs Appraisers - Disclosure
- 05/03/07 04:51 AM
So it's our job (as Appraiser's) to research the facts in historic sales for the Market Approach to value and now it's the Realtor's job to hide those facts. Just when I thought that groups like AR were bringing the RE industry closer together, the industry leaders attempt to keep us butting heads... It is already rare to receive a call back from a Realtor in regards to a sales concession on a property (at times I am tempted just to leave a message that I am inquiring about their services to sell my house to get a call back). Now Realtors … (0 comments)
vancouver washington appraiser: Earthern Floors
- 04/22/07 06:44 AM
It must be Earth Day as one of our local papers committed much of this week's issue to Being Green. One of the articles that I am personally interested in (so much so that I'm inquiring with the company featured for more information) is this one on Earthern Floors by Sukita. (My big question now is, how do I explain the difference between ‘Earthern' and ‘Dirt' floors on an appraisal report? :-) ) … (8 comments)
vancouver washington appraiser: Home owners get their hands on Zillow
- 03/27/07 04:50 AM
I was perusing Zillow the other day and ran across a house for sale. I see that it has the red 'For Sale' flag as well as the blue 'Make Me Move' flag. Scrolling down, I see that the Zestimate is $295,430 and the sales price is $325,000. Strangely, I see that the 'Make Me Move' listed square footage is about over double the 'Make Me Move' square footage. I forge on.... I find (as suspected) that the tax information shows a basement that Zillow did not catch (nor does Zillow appear to be able to differentiate above ground square footage from basements). … (14 comments)
vancouver washington appraiser: Energy Efficient Items worth still not recognized
- 03/14/07 11:06 AM
"[Appraiser's] don't calculate energy improvements made to homes because standards don't exist to accurately measure the increased value from energy upgrades." Reference: http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2001/07/30/focus7.html I was reading this old article on bizjournals.com about appraiser's and energy efficient items. The fact is, if it's not a standard in the MLS listing or tax information, appraiser's are unable to make the assumption that the comparable properties do or do not have energy efficient items, therefore, we are unable to make adjustments for them in our reports. This is a conversation that I had months back with my neighbor, Kria, who has set up meetings with real estate … (10 comments)
vancouver washington appraiser: Reviewers, Underwriters & Conditions... oh my!
- 03/13/07 11:50 PM
If there is one thing I excel at it is sleeping and yet here it is 3am. I popped up with thoughts of work in my head. These are not issues with my fellow Appraisers or Loan Officers, but rather the nameless and faceless Underwriters and Review Appraisers. For those of you unaware of the ‘Post-Appraisal Process' here is a brief summary (someone correct me if I'm wrong as it's been a while since I worked at a bank or lender's office); Once the Appraisal is submitted to the Loan Officer it, as well as all the other paperwork, is sent to an Underwriter for … (4 comments)
vancouver washington appraiser: Mug Shot or Not?
- 02/15/07 06:25 AM
I was chatting with my friend who is a loan officer in a company where they can choose whether or not to add a picture to their business card. He did a little impromptu study and looked over his associates business cards. He found that across the board the higher producing loan officers had pictures on their business card while (you guessed it) the lower producers did not. Realtors seem to treat pictures on business cards as an industry standard, loan officers show their mugs about 50-75% of the time in this area, and in contrast rarely do I find an appraiser's picture … (14 comments)
vancouver washington appraiser: How do you measure? ANSI rules included
- 02/12/07 02:28 AM
When measuring Do you: Deduct 6 inches for brick facades or use measurements from the interior or exterior?Round to the nearest inch, 1/4 foot, 1/2 foot, foot? Eliminate one level of the stairway and open spaces?It all adds up (or down) and when it comes down to it, it's all about how the county or developer (or whatever reference you are using for the houses in the area) has decided to measure the comparable property spaces. Even my state board has varying opinions within the office. This is the reason I give a 50 square foot leeway for comparable properties to subject. Here are some ANSI … (14 comments)
vancouver washington appraiser: New measuring software
- 02/12/07 01:56 AM
Originally I had incorrectly responded to a post that Meg wrote. I am editing and reposting my comment on this new bulletin. I've been talking with a friend who is curious about this new software: http://jkontherun.blogs.com/jkontherun/2007/02/how_to_measure_.html - I laughed and told him that it was just as easy to use a tape measure, especially because you would more than likely need to measure at least one side and the upstairs of any structure (as the sides will most likely not allow you to get enough distance to take a picture and the upstairs still may have negative 'vaulted space' as well as … (1 comments)
vancouver washington appraiser: Zaio.com
- 02/02/07 02:54 PM
OK - I started to investigate in Zaio.com, the self-proclaimed 'new AVM'. I am not one to 'fast track' the appraisal process, but am interested in keeping up with new trends. In my reading, I find that (foremost) the set up fee is $9,000 with a $250 annual membership fee (wha wha what???) and was unable to find any credentials stating bonafide bigtime clients that use their program (perhaps because I stopped reading the FAQs after seeing the set-up fee) - And then I went for the juice and googled zaio and found this: http://www.appraisercentral.com/zaio-corp.htm which then leads to this: http://appraisercentral.com/AVM.htm (general information … (2612 comments)
vancouver washington appraiser: Cost to Cure - Unpermitted additions
- 01/14/07 03:36 AM
Dave from my myspace appraiser group (I think he's lurking in the shadows on activerain as well) posted informatoin about lenders wanting a cost to cure statement for unpermitted additions - Here is one of his quotes: "I do not include the square footage of any additions in the GLA, in the report. I do make a comment that additions have been done, but I do not give any value to the additions. By doing so, it opens up a liability issue because you are stating (by including it in the GLA and final value) that the addition is of the … (12 comments)
vancouver washington appraiser: Appraiser identity theft
- 12/23/06 11:15 AM
Nick had looked at my website and saw a note that I put on there stating that I no longer add a copy of my appraiser's licenses to each report due to appraiser identity theft and so he ask that I elaborate on the topic. I looked into some online articles and whatnot and found the following links: http://www.ai-md.org/LicensetoSteal.pdf (see page 5 for suggestions on how to circumvent identity theft) http://ourappraisal.blogspot.com/2006/03/appraiser-identity-theft.html http://www.liability.com/claim_detail.asp?ClaimID=97 There are many more... you can google 'appraiser identity theft' and search through the other articles. I have been contacted once or twice by lenders who want to confirm that I am the one that has written … (17 comments)
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