portland appraisal services: 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)
portland appraisal services: 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)
portland appraisal services: 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)
portland appraisal services: 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)
portland appraisal services: Rebuilding Portland... with the same old stuff
- 03/20/07 02:44 PM
At first we had Hippo Hardware, and then Rejuvenation... now the mothership of all rebuilding stores lives here in Portland... The Rebuilding Center. Why is it so popular? Well, unlike the first two (still incredibly addicting) rebuilding stores, The Rebuilding Center is ‘interactive' and so regular folks (not just builders, contractors and demolitionists) can bring in scrap wood, old windows, door knobs, fixtures, etc. These same folks can park their cars after going through the convenient drop off area, walk through the front door and purchase other scrap wood, old windows, door knobs, fixtures, etc. that other normal folks have dropped … (3 comments)
portland appraisal services: 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)
portland appraisal services: 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)
portland appraisal services: 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)
portland appraisal services: Eco-friendly is a GPS navigation system
- 02/15/07 06:09 AM
I have lived in the Portland Metropolitan area all my life. It could be told that I know my way around and that I even impress some folks with my knowledge of shortcuts. But as it turns out, at times I get lost. I get lost a lot. I reach an unfamiliar neighborhood toward the end of a sunless day and every turn I make I get more and more turned around. Now, I'm not necessarily a techno-phobe, but I had played with GPS navigation systems before and I found them more burdensome and frustrating than getting lost was and so I … (10 comments)
portland appraisal services: 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)
portland appraisal services: 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)
portland appraisal services: 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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