Blog

Some people might say a public forum isn’t the place to air this dirty laundry, but this is not really a public forum. Of my thousands of readers, very few of them are not in real estate appraisal. Right now, I’m talking to the bad apples. 

Maybe you’re in a situation where...

As a real estate appraisal provider, it can be hard to get into the home owner’s perspective. It seems that what is important to them may not directly translate into value. We often run into this problem, where an owner pours thousands of dollars into a project that doesn’t increase...

Because I get the regular opportunity to chat with appraisers, I also have the regular opportunity to answer a lot of questions.  One that frequently comes, especially in coaching situations, is what at first appears to be a simple question, but is really quite profound.  It is a...

“Mr. Harris, welcome to our home!  Come out here and take a look as this fabulous deck I built myself over a couple of weekends!  I found out how to do it by watching a video on YouTube.  Easy as pie!  What a beauty, right?  What does something like this add to...

As you already know, SR1-3(a)(v) and its Comment make it clear that we appraisers must “...identify and analyze the effect on [the subject’s] use and value of...market area trends...and...an appraiser must avoid making an unsupported assumption or premise about market area trends,...

Let’s talk about assignments in private neighborhoods, gated communities, or secure communities.  Rich folks buy, sell, and refinance their homes, too, so they need appraisals.  You have an assignment in a security community.  There is security at the entrances, you must be...