Real Estate Appraiser Tips » Appraiser As Trust Agent

Congratulations To Sacramento Appraiser, Ryan Lundquist, And Team Rancho Cordova All America City Award

http://realestateappraisertips.info/ — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 09:06:35 +0000

Congratulations To Sacramento Appraiser, Ryan Lundquist, And Team Rancho Cordova All America City Award!

Sacramento Appraiser, Ryan Lundquist, and the team from the City of Rancho Cordova California recently competed in Kansas City for the All America City Award! And, Rancho Cordova Won! From the multiple videos and photos I’ve viewed, it looks like they had a lot of fun both before and after the event. What Ryan helps teach us is that it is possible to run an appraisal business, have a family and give back to the communities we live in with community service!

Ten important real estate charts showing no recovery in 2010 And Responsible Home Appraiser Blogging

http://realestateappraisertips.info/ — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 05:40:14 +0000

http://www.realestateappraisertips.info/ - Real Estate Appraiser Tips! Home Appraisers: Ten important real estate charts showing no recovery in 2010…And Responsible Appraiser Blogging!

The 2010 Theme of Real Estate Appraiser Tips Continues to be “Becoming Your Housing Market’s Local Trust Agent!” I read the new post, Ten important real estate charts showing no recovery in 2010 at Dr. Housing Bubble with this theme in mind. Follow me here as I remind home appraisers that have chosen to become bloggers to be accurate and truthful in their reporting of the markets they serve. Why go there? Because Inman News did with “Facebook’s Real-World Implications” with the quote from J. Walker Smith being,

“The outrage simmering beneath the surface is not to be underestimated,” Smith said. People feel they were “cheated” and “conned” by bankers, mortgage lenders and politicians, among others, and that those “betrayals” have gone unpunished, he said.” You can add Home Appraisers to the list as well. Not all home appraisers, but enough to have helped contribute to some of this mayhem.

Dr. Housing Bubble both asks some probing questions and brings out some important points about not only the California market, but the U.S. housing market by stating:

“The housing market has been turned upside down with unprecedented amounts of government intervention that even the seasonal pattern has changed. Keep in mind that spring and summer are usually the most optimistic selling times in any given year but this year with the tax credit ending and the Federal Reserve done buying up mortgage backed securities, the housing market will face weaker conditions in summer. The amount of noise floating out in the current market is deafening.

How is it possible to have a market that is getting better when unemployment in many top housing bubble states remains at peak levels? In California unemployment remains at 12.6 percent (a modern record high) and we have over 100,000 unemployed Californians that have now exhausted a stunning 99 weeks of unemployment benefits. This is happening all over the country. There was a recent article showing that 40 percent of those employed nationwide are currently working at low paying service sector jobs. Will these people bring on housing boom 2.0 with Wal-Mart wages? Today we’ll be looking at 10 charts that show us a very clear picture of the nationwide housing market. What we find is the housing market is anything but steady. From Alt-A and option ARMs to strategic defaults we are dealing with trends we have never seen before.“

I’d highly recommend reading this article and studying these charts, here!. So, why did I bring up responsible home appraiser blogging? For the same reason Dr. Housing Bubble brought up the question about what housing recovery in the midst of modern high unemployment? Each of our housing markets are “local”, meaning each is different. Some are performing better than others. Some of us have more positive news to report. However, our “local markets” function within the large national economic trends patterns within our Country. If you study these ten charts, you’ll discover some challenges still facing each of our markets. Remember these charts, patterns and challenges in your reporting so as to become that local Trust Agent. Appraisers are supposed to be independent and unbiased in their reporting. My experience with some Realtors, on the other hand, is that they tend to view the market with rose-colored glasses, list homes at what the sellers want to get that listing instead of what the market will support. So, if local home appraisers can create their public platform (via blogging, video marketing and speaking at local meetings) and become a local trust agent informant of their market, they can win over attention and trust.

One Example Of How Real Estate Professionals Lost Their Credibility In The Past 5 Years.

Remember that Inman News article I noted above, “Facebook’s Real-World Implications” with the quote from J. Walker Smith about outrage. Let me to tell you why there should be some outrage in my local housing market.

In my market, pricing is fairly conservative when it comes to residential investment properties. The lower the investment, the greater the ROI. In California however, it’s the reverse where investment properties are or were very expensive with a lower ROI. So, what did some of my market’s local “real estate professionals” do beginning in 2005? They courted California investors with the sales pitch that they could buy lower priced condos, townhomes and multi-family properties and earn a similar ROI. In other words, they could pay $140K for a fourplex and earn the same rent as spending $400K on a 4 plex in California. Or, a local real estate developer would buy a set of apartments, perform a condo conversion and sell the condos to naive California investors for say $130K and with the hope of reselling them in 1 to 2 years for a profit, all the while collecting rental income and in 2 years being in a better tax situation at resale time.

This seemed like a brilliant idea at the time, pretty savvy marketing. I performed a few of these multi-family appraisals early on into this scheme and when I would ask the lender for the borrower’s name, that was subject to change during the process. I knew then that something was really fishy about this situation. And then, the local “real estate professionals” began raising prices in a “war zone” market. That’s when I got out and lost all respect for the agents and appraisers involved. What followed was this agent/investor selling numerous of their families 4 plex units for $20K to $40K above market. How? Because of appraisers that went along with the fraud, ignored dozens of MLS solds and used these private 4 plex sales to California investors as comps. The situation became so fraudulent that a local agent/investor sold 8 4 plexes for more than $100K above market value each. That’s major fraud in the 800K range. How? Because this investor and lender hired the “hired gun” out-of-town appraisers to make these deals happen. It would be accurate here for me to state that many if not most of these deals have already ended up in foreclosure with California investors being taken advantage of.

Those condos that were sold to local professionals, as well as California professionals, looking to turn them for a profit? Some did early on and some did not. I’ve performed 3 REO appraisals on those and watched the values in one particular development decline. Not decline because of the national economic market downturn, but decline because of the hype that the developer and developer’s representatives used to market this sham. Some of that marketing had to be online.

As home appraisers, decision makers put stock in what we as valuation experts state publicly, online and on paper. Be careful out there in your reporting.

Real Estate Appraisers: Latest Web Video Statistics For April 2010, Why You Should Care

http://realestateappraisertips.info/ — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 11:24:09 +0000

http://www.realestateappraisertips.info/ – Real Estate Appraiser Tips! Real Estate Appraisers: Latest Web Video Statistics For April 2010, Why You Should Care

comScore has released the latest online video statistics as of April 2010. YouTube is still receiving approximately 40% of all online video views.

Other notable statistics include:

178 million U.S. Internet users watched video during the month
That’s 83.5% of all U.S. Internet users
The average YouTube viewer watched 96 videos
The average Hulu viewer watched 24.7 videos…at an average of 2.5 hours per viewer
The average duration of videos watched was 4.4 minutes. Still pretty short, but about double the length of statistics from previous years.

Read the entire article here!

Why Should Real Estate Appraisers Care?

Daily, more and more businesses are shifting their marketing online – online video, social media, etc.. Based on these figures above, if you as an appraiser are not using video in your marketing, then you’re not connecting with a significant market segment. This is the 2010 Theme of Real Estate Appraiser Tips: Becoming Your Local Markets Trust Agent! And, Ryan Lundquist just wrote about this new marketing on his blog @ Just because a “ninja” says it, doesn’t mean it’ll work for your business marketing plan!

Home Appraisers: How To Report Housing Depreciation To Your Local Market

http://realestateappraisertips.info/ — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 07:53:02 +0000

http://www.realestateappraisertips.info/ - Real Estate Appraiser Tips! Home Appraisers: How To Report Housing Depreciation To Your Local Market In Video Format.

In this video, John C. Jones, Murfreesboro TN Real Estate Broker, shows us an example or format of how to properly talk to our markets about housing depreciation. The only thing I would have reported differently is to report “median sales price” versus “average sales price” because NAR’s barometer of measuring such percentages is median sales price and median sales price eliminates outliers.

Here’s my response to John’s video to him:

Hi John,
Thank you for tackling this issue and for showing the local “trust agents” on how to report on our markets. I really like how you broke it down by MLS Areas and price ranges in 100K increments. You’re exactly correct in how difficult this reporting can be. In my market, it’s almost a subdivision-by-subdivision specific breakdown because some subdivisions are still up post Hurricane Katrina and post mortgage meltdown. Some MLS areas are down more than others and some MLS areas are still increasing or maintaining stability. So, it’s very difficult to state a certain percentage decline overall.

The thing I respect about you is that you’re admitting there is declines in local housing values. In my market, it seems like the local marketing message by my MLS Board and most agents is to remain positive and deny any declines and refute any national news reporting of declines. I do live and work in an outstanding market, but we do have declines and over 50% of my appraisal work is pre-foreclosure in nature. So, I see a local “trust agent” issue for those not reporting on their market accurately and an opportunity for me to continue reporting truth like you’re doing in this video. Appreciate You! Bill

Home Appraisers: Why Do Realtors List Homes At What Sellers Want Instead of What Market Supports?

http://realestateappraisertips.info/ — Sat, 22 May 2010 12:58:46 +0000

http://www.realestateappraisertips.info/ - Real Estate Appraiser Tips! Home Appraisers: Why Do Real Estate Agents List Homes At What The Seller Wants?

Wow! This is rare….a Realtor that actually gets it! This is a must see video posted on YouTube under Jessica Riffle “thecarolinasfinest“, August 04, 2009 —

“An appraiser’s job is not always easy, but it is important to remember that they WANT a property to appraise. It only makes their job more difficult when something doesn’t appraise or they cannot get it to appraise with the available comparables.”

Real Estate Appraisers: Short Talking-Head Videos Are An Effective Way To Get Seen and Build Trust

http://realestateappraisertips.info/ — Sun, 09 May 2010 05:16:55 +0000

http://www.realestateappraisertips.info/ - Real Estate Appraiser Tips! Real Estate Appraisers: Short Talking-Head Videos Are An Effective Way To Get Seen and Build Trust!

Below is an example of a local real estate professional simply talking about their market!. The benefits are that this type of video is helpful to locals, helps them see you and get to know you and helps you earn their trust! NOTE: This video is short and to the point, only 1:26 in length.

Tags: Real Estate Appraiser Video Marketing, Appraiser Video Marketing, Appraiser As Local Trust Agent, Real Estate Appraisers, Home Appraisers

Real Estate Appraisers Video: John C. Jones and Coach Mike Burt On What Does World Class Look Like!

http://realestateappraisertips.info/ — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 09:56:51 +0000

http://www.realestateappraisertips.info/ – Real Estate Appraiser Tips! John C. Jones and Coach Michael Burt: What Does World Class Look Like! In this video, Broker John C. Jones talks to a local business coach about the process of growth from being mediocre in whatever we choose to do and be in life to being our very best in that endeavor and in life.

Notice that John C. Jones is clearly on his way to becoming his market’s “Trust Agent“!

Notice too that John is using video to communicate his message to a local and national audience that tunes in each week.

Notice too that John, a real estate broker, varies his topics and local guest “TO ADD VALUE” to his audience….it’s not always about him, him, him or me, me, me each week!

John’s approach is similar to California Appraiser, Ryan Lundquist, in that his focus is his local community and he interviews those within that local community to bring value to others tuning in and to those that will eventually tune in. John has 102 videos on Viddler you can watch here: http://www.viddler.com/explore/johnjones/videos/

If you as an appraiser want to grow your appraisal blog readership, do what John C. Jones and Ryan Lundquist are doing and incorporate your local community into your blog by either video, video interviews or text interviews. Just Do It! I live off the success coach Mike Litman’s philosophy, “You Don’t Have To Get It Right, You Just Have To Get It Going!”. My Appraisal Blog isn’t perfect, but it’s working and providing value to locals….so much so that the local business report publication called me yesterday for my opinion on the local housing market.

Real Estate Appraiser Tips Video Of How Much Value Do Enclosures and Additions Add?

http://realestateappraisertips.info/ — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 05:24:54 +0000

http://www.realestateappraisertips.info/ - Real Estate Appraiser Tips Video Of How Much Value Do Enclosures and Additions Add? This would be a valuable resource for locals to find a video like this on your appraisal blog.

In this video, we discuss how appraisers value enclosures and additions. It all depends on the quality of the improvement and how close it matches the original quality of the home and design of the original home. Was the slab raised to the height of the slab of the original home? Does the enclosure or addition flow well with the original floor plan? Was the central heat and air conditioning upgraded to handle the extra living area without installation of a window unit? Does the flooring match the original flooring or did they just install cheap indoor/outdoor carpeting? These are the questions an appraiser attempts to answer while on-site.

Tags: real estate appraisal, real estate appraiser, real estate appraiser blogging, real estate appraiser interviews, real estate appraiser marketing, real estate appraiser podcast, real estate appraiser survival, real estate appraiser tips, real estate appraiser video marketing, real estate appraiser videos, real estate appraisers

Real Estate Appraiser Tips Video Of How Much Value Do Pools and Metal Buildings Add?

http://realestateappraisertips.info/ — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 05:13:40 +0000

http://www.realestateappraisertips.info/ - Real Estate Appraiser Tips! – Video Of How Much Value Do Pools and Metal Buildings Add? This would be a valuable resource for locals to find a video like this on your appraisal blog.

In this video, we discuss how appraisers value pools and metal buildings. Generally, the return might be 1/4 to 1/3 of investment, but not always. Sometimes pools have no value at all, especially the older the age of the pool. Some people likes pools and others don’t and end up filling them in with dirt. However, if you’re buying a home to live there forever, enjoy that home and add what you can afford to install…..just don’t expect to get a dollar-for-dollar return on your investment of items in your yard.

I wrote more about this topic here, “Homeowner Should Not Have Added $60,000 Pool In A $150,000 Subdivision“

and

“Is It Wise To Invest $60,000 For A Pool and Landscaping For A $250,000 Home“

NOTE: Just don’t let that pool salesman convince you that adding that pool will significantly increase the value of your home.

Appraiser Woody Fincham Interview and His Tips To Help Navigate 2010!

http://realestateappraisertips.info/ — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 06:49:02 +0000

http://www.realestateappraisertips.info/ - Appraiser Woody Fincham Interview and His Tips To Help Navigate 2010!

NOTE: I’ve enjoyed reading Woody’s Articles and comments on Appraisal Scoop for years now. I asked Woody for an interview on Tips for two reasons: 1.) Because of his candid opinions and directness as to the direction appraisers should be following post HVCC. 2.) Because Woody is about the business of becoming his local market’s “Trust Agent”! Woody, Thank you so much for your time!

1.) Tell us about Woody Fincham and about your family?

I am a certified residential appraiser in the Norfolk/Virginia Beach MSA. I have just left the fee world full time, and now work of the City of Newport News as an appraiser in the Assessor’s office. I also work in the Labs group at a la mode software.

I am married to Laurie, have one 15 year old son and we have custody of my great-niece and nephew, (16 month old twins).

2.) Tell us about your local Appraisal Business in VA?

My fee business is run by a former employee, to whom I sold the business in 2009, after taking a position with another firm in the Knoxville, TN market. We do mostly mortgage use work, with some personal and litigation use work.

Your specialty?

My forte is unusual property types, custom and waterfront homes. I also am developing a low level USPAP compliant report utilizing real world appraisal expertise and statistical applications.

3.) With the advent of HVCC, what was 2009 like for you business wise?

I have an unusual perspective on this, as I left my well established company to take a position with a larger shop in another state. The shop that I went to work for has been around for over 25 years, and did all property types (residential and commercial). Their residential work fell off and I came in to help re-establish the shop as a market leader. This means that I was left to essentially begin anew in a world that was turned on it’s head by the HVCC.

New start ups in this industry suffer from the inability to network in a traditional sense. The only way to get put onto lists with lenders and AMCs is to offer services lower than the rest of the market. I also had to struggle with the reputation my employer had. In this case he runs an ethical and moral company that was slowly but surely taken off of major lender’s lists due to not hitting numbers.

The year was also one that I used to develop myself professionally. I completed my demo report requirement for my SRA designation, as well as knocked another few classes off the list for the designation. I am just short a class and my experience log to apllying for my designation.While it was not my best year financially, I consider it a success as I made a living and improved my professional tools.

4.) How have you survived the Mortgage Meltdown and Virtual Housing Market Collapse Since 2008?

There is still work to be had, but it is more difficult to gain new clients. AMCs have made it hard to scratch out a living for many of us. Most AMCs, regardless of what Trice and that lot have to say, select appraisers on fee amount first. The sad fact of the matter is that many under qualified appraisers are competing with us, and we can’t reduce our scope of work to the level these appraisers do.

The AQB changes in 2008, while merited, will take a long time to weed out the bad guys. I know that one of the local real estate colleges here in Hampton Roads was pushing new appraisers through like a factory. A previous instructor for that school, before leaving to start a new school, had been sanctioned twice by the state board. He now has been sanctioned a third time. As of the third hearing with the state board he still had his USPAP instructor’s certification.

Additionally:

The point of this story is, just using my backyard as an example: a lot of poorly trained appraisers are out there. These same appraisers are populating many of the lists that used by the local banks, and the AMCs. Regardless of the quality of an appraiser’s education, the litmus test for being on a roster is: does the appraiser have a license/certification.

With all of that said, had I stayed in my own company, I would have existed on my established network. I would have needed to take some discounted work to make ends meet.

Diversification?

I think diversity is the buzz word for well qualified appraisers. I know many appraisers do not see the benefit of receiving designation form the various organizations out there, but it does show you to be an expert in your field. When I was in TN, my employer received a good majority of work because he is both a MAI and SRA with the Appraisal Institute. Another peer I met in that market was also designated with NAIFA, and was well respected for it.

In order to stand out to attorneys, trustees, government agencies and executors designation is key. Mortgage companies do not really care. I think if left to make a distinction between the two, most mortgage companies would chose a non-designated appraiser. I think designated appraisers do too thorough of a job, resulting in higher fees, thus mitigating their use. Most mortgage companies want someone to appease a transaction, not appraise the property.

Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of good non-designated appraisers out there. The problem is that too many good, non-designated appraisers are virtually lumped together with the poorly trained ones, too.

If nothing else, I would think that non-designated appraisers should at least take as much upper-level residential, statistical and related education as possible. Your resume should be full of advanced classes.

5.) What percentage of your business is mortgage lender related and non-lender related?

I have the advantage now of being selective of who my mortgage use clients are. Meaning I can now work with people I want to work with, as the majority of my time is spent working at the assessor’s office.

I am looking to make my fee work made up of about 50% mortgage use, and 50% other types of use. I have some great attorney clients, as well as many agents that like to use me for listing use reports and analysis.

6.) Is it possible for most appraisers to survive on just non-lender related clients?

I think so, but it will take a special kind of appraiser. Designation and specialization would be the key for it.

7.) What advice would you offer to appraisers nationwide accepting $130 for a full FNMA 1004 with MC struggling to feed their families?

In all honesty, turn it down. Even if you reduce your scope of work, you can’t make a living like that. You are just going broke slower than if you weren’t working. Find something else to do, as appraisers that only do that fee level of work, are making it bad for the industry.

I know that sounds cold, but the reality is that the industry suffers every time an appraisal is accepted at such a low fee. If there weren’t so many appraisers accepting the low fees, then the fees would have to go up. The Richmond area of appraisers refused to do work for BB& T through FISERV as they were requiring fees to be that low. One of my mentors, Pat Turner, led a group of appraisers to refuse the fee. This resulted in BB & T raising the fee. I do know that FISEV in my area is still at that low of a fee. The reason is no one will stand up to them and say no. I simply will not take an assignment for a fee that low.

This is where membership with a large organization such as the AI or NAIFA benefits an appraiser. If you network and interact with the other local members, you can get a pulse of the market. Most members care about the industry, and are more than willing to discuss things like this. Friendly competition is possible.

8.) Besides your appraisal business, where else do you focus your efforts and time?

Appraisal wise, I like tinkering with software, and ways to improve my analysis.

Personally, I play the guitar and write music. I also read, coach soccer, play soccer and travel some.

9.) How can appraisers get in touch with you?

Website: http://www.fmava.com/

Email: sthnorfolk@gmail.com

Please be sure to email Woody and thank him for these tips! Bill Cobb