Those of you local to Huntsville TX where I am an appraiser may know me or you may know of my favorite charity - SAAFE House, a local non profit who's mission is to support and educate victims of sexual assault and family violence for Walker, Trinity, San Jacinto and Polk Counties.
SAAFE House will receive $3000 if you vote and your friends vote! Feel free to ask … (0 comments)
appraiser: A thank you from Huntsville, TX for the good, the bad & the ugly!
- 08/15/16 11:42 AM
I am a real estate appraiser in Huntsville, TX. For those that don't know we are about 1 hour north of Houston, well, the northern part of it and about 2.5 hours south of Dallas. Another appraiser and I were discussing the current state of appraisal business in this area and commenting about the amount of work that we seem to pass up because we are very busy and the scope of work in appraisals now is much higher than the "good ol' days". So of course we then discussed how appraisal management companies are pushing for quicker turn times and … (2 comments)
appraiser: QTip please? Only for the kind and generous
- 01/24/13 10:02 PM
Is your bathroom stocked with Qtips, wipes, lotions, body wash, bandaides, deodorant, body wash, shampoo, conditioner? You know, the basics?? Like yours (probably) my bathroom is and it's hard to imagine not having those things many would call basics BUT our troops overseas go without those things many days. Imagine not being able to shower and relying on baby wipes for cleanliness? Imagine not having enough baby wipes to go around...yes, it's like that. Or being cold? There is a website to visit -- anysoldier.com -- the mission of anysoldier.com is to provide the information and contacts necessary to send support and … (5 comments)
appraiser: We have so much to be Thankful for!
- 11/20/12 10:05 PM
Here I sit at my desk in Hutnsville, Texas with appraisal reports to finish before I start my Thanksgiving cooking and baking and concentrating on report typing is a little difficult as thoughts of all I have to be thankful for keep entering my mind.
It occurred to me that I have so much to be thankful for this holiday season....first, my health. For a 62 year old real estate appraiser I am in relatively good health, I have a wonderful family, a nice home, wonderful friends and plenty of work. I feel very blessed and wish the same of … (6 comments)
appraiser: Appraisal Industry Petition needs signatures...Please sign and forward this link!
- 04/13/11 08:53 AM
ActiveRainers...appraisers are currently pushing a petition to encourage the Feds to clarify new regulations regarding fair and customary fees. As you may have noticed....appraisal fees to home buyers have risen but actual fees to praisers have declined causing appraisal quality to suffer therefore the homeowner and the real estate industry in general suffers.
Please support our petition by signing and forwarding this link to your friends and family....the petition is well written and explains it better than I can...thanks in advance for your support.
appraiser: Fair and Customary Fees?
- 07/22/10 01:06 PM
My understanding is that FHA requires appraisers be paid fair and customary fees...and that this does not include fees paid by AMC's. Okay, I thought, we are making progress...ha...just when does this start? When I inspect a house that is for FHA the inspection time is doubled for me. My inspection includes but is not limited to photos of the attic and crawl space (if there is one), testing all of the appliances, the furnace and A/C, the garage door, windows in each room. I also check the water pressure, take pictures of each room, not any problem areas...well, you get … (15 comments)
appraiser: Two Thank You's -- People do nice things, it's true!
- 03/07/08 03:26 AM
Joseph Coffaro -- Thank you! I'd been trying to get placed on the FHA approved appraiser list since September 9 th, 2007 without much luck. My application had been sent in twice -- something like finding a deep well that has no bottom....I could just toss it down the hole with the same results. I called them several times and left a messge -- not even an echo back from the same deep hole. I know they are busy. So I checked the roster for a local appraiser who had just been added to the list and I found Joseph Coffaro -- also … (11 comments)
appraiser: Security Bars - from the appraiser's view point.
- 11/25/07 05:58 AM
It seems each year during the holidays we hear some tragic story about home fires caused by Christmas trees or some other cause. I was saying a small prayer that this year would be different. It started me to think about the number of houses I appraise that have unsafe security bars. Those are the security bars on bedroom windows that have no quick releases or quick releases that are rusty and do not work properly. Sadly, I see this often and I wish I would not. If there are no quick releases on bedroom windows I tell the borrower that they must … (11 comments)
appraiser: This is what I will tell your client!
- 11/05/07 08:34 PM
There is this appraisal area that creates confusion and sometimes hard feelings for your home owner. Please know that I try to keep the peace as much as possible. I do my best to explain and keep the home owner happy. I am speaking about just who I can talk to about the value of the home I am appraising and why I can't just send a copy of the appraisal. Depending on the scope of work for each assignment I accept I am limited in who I can discuss the value with. IF you are the mortgage broker, banker or agent … (6 comments)
appraiser: Marketing -- What about timing?
- 11/02/07 04:21 AM
The other day I was talking to another real estate appraiser here in San Jose -- well, okay, I was whining about the slow down in business. The fellow appraiser is experiencing the same thing and our conversation turned to ways to market our services. We touched on mailing flyers, websites and listing services that charge a free to list appraisers. We also talked about free services.....then my friend said something that bothered me. She said that there was no point in cold calling -- which was my next plan of attack -- because no one had any business and it would be a waste of time. … (12 comments)
appraiser: Where Have All the Children Gone?
- 11/01/07 04:04 AM
Last night was Halloween....supposed to be a fun night for the children and for the parents if you enjoy seeing the little ghosts and goblins and fairys and princesses -- oh, and lets not forget the power rangers, spiderman, wonderwoman and power rangers! Our light was on, jack-o-lanterns were lit and the candy bowl was full.....we had a giant bowl of candy all set to go. I was ready and so excited. All together we had 15 trick-or-treaters...that's it -- 15. To add insult to injury only 4 out of the 15 were under the age of 10. We even had one small group … (8 comments)
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