Through the Appraiser's Eyes

I truly am looking forward to 2010, if for no other reason then to have gotten through 2009. I do feel that things will be better for all of us in the real estate industry. It is so consistent that from November through December and right through the first 3 weeks of January business is slows down, Obviously due to the holidays and new year. However, over the past week activity has increase by quite a bit. Sales, refinances, and still unfortunately foreclosures. I feel that things are going to slowly keep getting better, and I really think we all can have a good new year. Keep in mind that marketing and looking for business is the key. You can't just sit there and wait for the business to come to you.
I would like to wish a good year for all and if I can ever help with an appraisal or a question for those of you in my service areas just let me know.

Thanks for reading
Lori
The appraiser 

A lot of people out there are waiting to buy.  They want to see if prices or interest rates will go lower and they might, I've been told that some rates have dropped below 4%. Will they go lower, possibly.

Lets look at why you might want to buy a home. Fore some it's there first, others might want to down size, and still others are thinking of moving up in size. Consider this, a home is most peoples largest investment. However people don't buy homes logically, they purchase home emotionally then justify the purchase logically. Normally when you buy a house it is because you want a home. I had a friend who has owned and lived in a multi-family for a good few years. It was time to buy a single family home for his family. He is going to keep his multi-family and rent out his unit. Being an appraiser and formally a real estate agent I wanted to show him some real opportunities with bank owned and short sale properties on our MLS (Multiple Listing Service). He told me that he was considering a home in a neighboring community that was not bank owned but had what there were looking for, Land. I tried to convince him that there are and will be many great opportunities out there to save quite a bit of money. So, what did he do, Yep! he bought the house that they were looking at, saving some money was not the issue. They bought emotionally like most everyone else.

The question is,is now a good time to buy? You bet it is!!! There are so many great buys out there and rates are so low that if you are considering buying then start looking now. The more you look the better you will do. Try to put some logic into the purchase though and you can save Thousands.

People who are looking to move up or down in size and have a home to sell have more to think about and should look at all the financial angles. Each situation is unique and should be looked at in every way. Remember if you have a home to sell then consider this; if your selling a home at a discount you get to buy your new home at a discount also. Maybe a great discount if you consider banks owned and short sales.

I think that now is a great time to buy however look at things with a level head and consider all options

The Appraiser

Because I got such a positive response to our last blog (What lender’s are looking for in an appraisal.) We thought we would end the year with several more guidelines that lenders look for and appraisers are required to follow.

Appraising 101

What is the highest value you can put on a report?

When doing an appraisal, an appraiser cannot put a value higher that the highest sale and lower than the lowest sale. The price must be bracketed. For example: If a home is selling for $300,000 and the highest comparable sale is $275,000 then that’s the highest price we can go out at. So when doing a comp search for a listing make sure that there are sales in the neighborhood that support what you think the property will sell for.

What do I do if I have no sales?

If you cannot find any comparable sales in subject neighborhood, then you must expand your search. For example: There are no sales within one mile (This is normally considered the neighborhood). You must then extend your search let’s say 1.5 miles, then 2 miles etc. Normally we limit our search up to three miles. However if you have a unique property you might have to go into abutting towns, or even more than three miles.

What if I have a really unique property, a water front for example?

I just had an appraisal were it was practically ocean front with a gross living area of approx. 900sq. ft., in an area were there aren't many sales at all. In this case I had to expand my search with no milage limitation. Instead I had to go to surrounding towns that had similar water front properties. I think my search took me at far as 10 miles away. These are the things you must do when dealing with such a unique property, and there just are not comparable sales in the subjects town.

I hope these guidelines help when determining a value for a new listing.

Remember if you ever need help feel free to call on us at no charge!!!

Call Today: 508-336-2500 or email info@carrollappraisal.net

Check out our blog on our website www.carrollappraisalservices.com

Enter to win a free appraisal

I just received notice today that alamode is offering a promotion to anyone who formally had Day One, like myself. As you may or may not know DayOne had it's assets sold off by Zaio (It's parent company) when they went Bankrupt. A pretty sad situation. DayOne was a successful software company for over 20 years, however the company was bought by Zaio and as I said when they went belly up they took DayOne with them.

For all you appraiser's out there I have been a fan of alamode for quite some time, I started using there Xsite (A conversion program for AMC's (Appraisal management companies ) and was also using there Excellerate program for marketing. The marketing program is great for emailing and snail mailing people in you database. I just got there appraisal software and with everything else there is a small learning curve, but what a great product. There customer service is second to none. There is no paying for map's or census info either.

For all you mortgage originator's and real estate agents, alamode has marketing and databases along with other software that can be just as helpful to you. They also work with lender's and other professional to help get new business.

As I have said before I don't get paid for my endorsement I feel if you really believe in a product then help other's experience the benefits of that product as well.

As for today marketing tip; get a good website, that's were the business is. If need be have someone who can help improve your rating and activity on your website. I am working with someone who is doing that for me now. He work's quite a bit with the alamode websites. You can find him at http://www.mixmysite.com and feel free to check out www.alamode.com .

A final marketing note as suggested by my website guy and I am also a believer as well. Get a logo to ad to that website and everything else. Super important. People recognize logo's more that names. I used http://50dollarlogo.com/ Believe it or not I paid $50 for my logo. It's all done by email and you can have your logo in about a week with as many revisions as you need.

I wish all of you good luck and a positive mental attitude. Yes even in these challenging times.

The Appraiser

You know how an appraiser can tell when the interest rates go down, A serge of business that's how. For months banks would not lower their rates because they are afraid to lend. Even though part of the reason for the Government bailout was so lender's would start to lend again, it just didn't happen. Well I guess through some divine intervention rates have dropped.

Over the past year I have joined many AMC's ( appraisal management companies) They are national companies that work with some of the largest lenders like Bank of America or Wells Fargo. Even with all these companies things can be slow, however if I get an order here and there from these companies they can add up do a decent month. When things however happen such as rates going down, even just a little, then we get busier.

Now I am not saying that's a bad thing, but it just goes to show you that it doesn't take much for things to pick up. And when we are all dealing with these challenging times any surge of business sure makes it all start to seem worth it.

The appraiser

I one of my blogs I had mentioned that the average age of an appraiser is over 50. That means that more appraiser's are and will be retiring. In these challenging times many appraisal offices are closing. I also found out that Fannie Mae will require any trainee to be accompanied by a supervisory appraiser on all inspection when Fannie Mae is doing the loan. The way it has worked in the past is that someone becomes an appraisal trainee and could go on inspections, write the report and have a supervisor appraiser review the report. So a trainee could be an assest while in training by doing the inspections.

What does this all mean. Lets look at the big picture. The appraisal business is going through some real tough times, just like anyone in the real estate field. Actually anyone in any business today mostlikely is having a real tough time of things. Anyway, With (A) more appraiser's retiring, whether due to age or the challenges of the business. (B) Appraisal businesses are closing. (C) Appraiser's are not or can not hire new trainees due to the fact that the appraiser must hold the trainees hand and accompany the trainee to every appointment. throughout the whole training process. You see there is no motivation for an appraiser to hire a trainee unless they have an account or two to bring to the table. This means less people able to get into the appraisal business.

So in the big picture it appears that it is going to be tougher than ever to enter into to appraisal business. Not that you would want to at this time, however thing will turn around as they always do and then we have to look at the best way to work with the system and bring new blood into the business.

The appraiser

What's the first thing a company cuts back on when tough times hit. That's right, marketing and advertising. Anyone in business should know that marketing and advertising is one of the most important tools in any market. I know that budgets are tight all over, I am no exception as you can imagine as a real estate appraiser in these challenging time. However there are things that you can do that cost little if no money.

What I am doing now is a perfect example. Blogging, my website tech told me that the most important thing I can do for my website www.carrollappraisalservices.com is to blog. It's one of the most powerful tools to increase my ranking on sites such as Google.

I am a firm beliver of a logo for a company. It gives visual recognition. I am in the process of having a logo designed for my company. Expensive you say, not if you go to 50 dollar logo www.50dollarlogo.com for example and for around $50.00 you can have a logo designed with unlimited revision. I am in the process or working with them now and I am, so far, very impressed.

Establish a website for those of you who don't have one and are in the real estate business whether you a real estate agent, loan officer or appraiser you can get an inexpensive website template at Alamode www.alamode.com. They also have a marketing program called Xsellerate where you can do email programs or post card mailer's for almost nothing.

In my business I have some sites that give me free listings, they are appraisal directories. Some charge a fee and some are free. You just have to check them out and see.

That's just a few ideas on ways to start marketing yourself. When I find out more I will be happy to let you know.

Good Marketing!

The Appraiser

Day One is a software company many appraiser's have used for the past 20 years. A company called Zaio bought them several months ago and Zaio has gone bankrupt taking Day One with them.

Zaio is a company that was attempting to create the world most advanced AVM with the help of appraisers. AVM's are automated appraisals, that were very popular in the housing boom. Anyway Zaio started buying up companies that could assist in there grand plan and apparently went belly up.

I just received an email from a former employee at Day One and after 10 years of service he was told "your services are not longer required". Apparently ACI has bought out the assets of Day one and for A time we cannot access there services.

For the past few months I have been thinking about, and finally converted  my company from Day one to the Alamode software. In my opinion it is the best system going for not only appraiser's, but also Realtor's, and Loan officer's. They not only offer software for appraiser's but also website, training programs, Marketing programs, networking and much more.

No I am not being paid for my endorsement of Alamode, I just really believe in there services and there tech support has no equal.

So for any appraiser out there, check out alamode and for you realtor's and loan officer's I recommend checking then out as well.

Good Luck, and Good day!

Today I am going to talk about the ups and downs of having your own business. I thought of this topic today because I am feeling a bit under the weather. When you have your own business that does not matter. You still have a business to run and how you feel is irrelevant. That may be one of the downs sides of course if you are lucky enough to have a full staff maybe you can take a day hear or there, they the staff handle things in the office.

With these challenging times we have had to go back to basics. You see, I have an appraisal company and as you can imagine I have been affected with the economy and real estate downturn just as almost anyone associated with real estate, or any other business for that matter. So I went from a secretary and 5 appraisers to just my wife and I and my mother-in-law, the founder of this company. I don't mind though we are holding our own and look forward to the great days and opportunities ahead.

Lets talk about the upside for a moment. I personally love having a business. I love the  challenges of bringing in more business, marketing, flexible hours,well in the appraisal business anyway. I love the rewards and the challenges of of making my business grow.

I guess what I am trying to say is that even though I feel so bad physically today I still feel so good mentally because I think there is nothing like having your own business.

I read an article today in a local paper talking about the decline in home sales. Now anyone who reads the paper or watches the news is not hearing anything new from me. But what you might not be aware of is that this article went on to say that Even though the state of Rhode Island, (one of the states I service)has seen an increase in pending sales many of them are not closing. People with excellent credit are having a hard time getting mortgages. Short sales (that is a sale were a bank allows a seller to sell their home for less than is owed) are not going through.

There are people out there who want to buy homes and with all the REO's(Real estate owned, properties that banks take back) there are some incredible opportunities out there.

I wish that banks would realize that part of the reason that there are so many foreclosed properties out there is that the adjustable rate mortgages were pushed.

I have done short sale appraisals where the people have owned their home for 15 years and when they went to refinance to remodel the kitchen and bath they were talked into an adjustable rate and they could refinance down the road. Unfortunately prices dropped and there rates went up.We still have to understand that 90% of homeowner's are still paying there mortgages on time.

To end this on a positive note. The real estate market is cyclical and what goes down will eventually go up.