…….Or put your money where your mouth is As an appraiser who works a very small area, and has for many years, I am fortunate to have quite good relationships with the agents in my community. Because of this, I get a lot of calls and emails asking for help when they run into situations with appraisals on their sales. Often the situation involves an appraisal that is under sales price where the agent is adamant that the appraisal is wrong. Yesterday I had an email from an agent who told me that she had done … (0 comments)
ann arbor: Ann Arbor - Saline market snapshot
- 04/16/14 02:36 AM
Market snapshot – comparing Ann Arbor and Saline Prologue I admit it; I am a data junkie. There is something about graphs and charts that I just get all-geeked out about. Maybe it is simply having too much time on my hands, or maybe it is a thirst for knowledge (hoping for the latter, but with understanding it may be the former). Without further ado, I offer my recent take on the comparison of two markets, because they often compete with each other. The data below is run as one years’ worth of data at a time, but compared month … (0 comments)
It is quite frustrating to see how many people rely on these online value estimators to either price their home, or use it for marital dissolution, or other reasons. As will be shown in a minute, these can be off by a significant amount, either low or high. I just ran sales in Ann Arbor, in the 48103 zip code for the past couple of weeks. I then compared the sales prices to two online value estimators and State Equalized Value times two. The only consistency to the information is that these online value … (1 comments)
ann arbor: Measuring market change (part 2)
- 02/10/14 12:28 AM
So many ways to measure (part 2) Yesterday I wrote about two different parts of the analysis of market conditions and today I will finish my story. There are a number of different ways to measure the market, but what I am doing now (and I do change things up as I learn of new techniques) is taking one years’ worth of data at a time, run on a monthly basis and compare and measure how markets change. The data is run as one year periods because it neutralizes the seasonality that you see happening in this area. It is … (0 comments)
ann arbor: Market snapshot - a couple ways to measure the market
- 02/09/14 12:58 AM
So many ways to measure Markets are rarely identical and what happens as a nation isn’t necessarily what happens in a county, or what happens in an area, or even a submarket. We hear a lot about the improving market conditions that are occurring nationally, but as in all things real estate, the market really is fundamentally local. I live and work in the Ann Arbor market. Not all markets within this area are moving in the same direction, or at the same pace. Even within Ann Arbor there are differences, and the data below represents current information comparing the Ann … (3 comments)
On January 11, 2014 I posted a snapshot of the Washtenaw County market showing the number of arm’s length sales in each school district as well as the change in price per square foot over time and the current number of offerings and houses under contract. After some consideration, I have eliminated all “to-be-built” houses as they are starting to flood into the market locally. These houses are not truly on the market as they are not yet started and are not available for immediate, or even generally quick, occupancy. The data below … (0 comments)
ann arbor: Measuring market change
- 01/07/14 10:05 PM
Measuring market change Most of the measurements we see reported in the MLS relate to median price change over time, not price per square foot. As house sizes rise, the price per square foot falls and does so because price per square foot includes not only the gross living area, as well as the garage, basement, improvements to the house, decks, patios, and other site improvements, and even more importantly, the site itself. Since there is a diminishing return as house sizes increase, it is easy to see how a shift upward in house size could make the market look like … (2 comments)
ann arbor: Stacking up valuation models against the real world
- 01/02/14 04:56 AM
Most of us have seen comparisons between appraised values and the valuation models accessible via the web. I hadn’t seen an actual comparison to recent closed sales and these models, so thought it would be an interesting exercise to see how they stack up with properties that closed within the past couple of weeks in my local MLS. The data that follows is a compilation of 21 recent sales in the Ann Arbor school district that closed in mid to late December 2013. These houses were exposed through the local MLS and picked up by a number of different valuation models. … (2 comments)
ann arbor: Ann Arbor rentals - why rent when you can buy?
- 12/16/13 01:01 AM
(continued from previous post) Why rent when you can buy? Often the lack of a down payment, or a down payment that is small, compels the need for Private Mortgage Insurance. Sometimes it is the need for flexibility such as the ability to move and not be locked into a mortgage. There are a myriad of reasons not to buy, not the least of which is lack of money for the down payment and for ongoing property maintenance. With the upcoming changes in the mortgage market, financing a house/condo is likely to become more difficult and this upcoming change may … (2 comments)
Courage of your convictions
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