Over the past few years, there has been continued questions and at times misinformation as far as what is appropriate communication between real estate agents and appraisers. The industry tends to shift in extremes and went to the far extreme in the post 2008 real...
In my market area, a substantial percentage of my appraisal assignments are country, acreage properties. These assignments rarely involve homes that are apples to apples comparables. I typically have to look at a variety of sales and find aspects of a property that are similar...
I have found graphing to be imperative in showing market trends and emphasizing aspects of an appraisal. I’m thankful to have learned this tool of creating custom graphs a few years ago. Many viewers of the report simply want the nuts and bolts of the...
As an appraiser, I often get asked various questions about what contributes to value. One common question that seemingly comes up is the issue of landscape and how much value it adds. The honestly truth is there is not an easy answer. Every market, neighborhood...
Following up recent blog post about lack of recent comparables, an agent reached out to me recently with a scenario that most of us real estate professionals can relate to. The subject property is recently updated/remodeled but the last few sales are not ideal comparables....
Occasionally, when I get to the research comparable sales step in the appraisal process, I'll come across a situation where there has been no recent sales. In today's active market, this rarely occurs, but this does happen from time to time. Recently I came across...
Over the past year, I've continued to incorporate more private appraisal assignments such as estate, divorce, pre-listing, etc. Out of these, the most common assignment I've completed for clients is estate appraisals. While losing a loved one can be a very emotional and difficult time for...
It seems once or twice a year, I'll receive an appraisal assignment that appears to be a typical acreage property assignment. I'll go through the normal pre inspection research, pull possible comparables, etc. then come to find out when arriving at the property that the...
As 2016 winds down, I'd like to take a moment to thank all my clients that I've worked with this year. This year has been one of the busiest years of my career and, greatly appreciate working with all of you. I've also continued to expand...
While losing a loved one can be a very emotional and difficult time for everyone, it is prudent to determine value of property at the date of death for estate tax purposes between heirs and beneficiaries. The appraisal can be retrospective meaning an appraisal can...