“Appraisal is not an exact science” are words I used to hear a lot. This understandable view leaves much to be explained. In the USA, appraisal is an opinion of value by an appraiser. (Licensed, and when required, for “federally related transactions”.) All other types of valuations have different or no regulations. However, they are […]
We have heard a lot about “modernizing” the appraisal process, particularly from the GSE’s (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac). What is clear, is that the path is not clear. The GSEs, pressing for an improved valuation product, are in a difficult situation. On one hand, they are supposed to cooperate. On the other hand, they […]
Reviewers ask why a certain sale was not used as a comparable. Why don’t they know I already used the best comps, just like I was taught? Don’t they know I used what was competitive, similar, and “able to be compared” – Just like The Appraisal of Real Estate 15th ed. says: A good comparable […]
Appraisal standards and regulations are mostly designed to discourage personal bias. But what about traditional appraisal practice? To understand this question, we must separate personal bias from analytic bias. Personal bias can be open, declared prejudice – or it may grow from basic human instinct – towards those who look like us. This basic tribal […]
Once upon a time, appraisers did not give an opinion! They provided estimates. Why the change? It seemed appraisers were getting sued over their estimates of value, which opened the door to attack on how the analysis was done. An estimate comes from an analysis. The professional response: “We will just deliver an opinion!” Safe! […]
Time adjustments is a timely topic. Recent ski-jump rises in prices have been ramp-ant in many places. Valuemetrics.info provided a free, two-hour webinar on the topic, and we had almost exactly 1000 appraisers sign up. (Although many did not show – free, you know.) Prior to the webinar, I asked some reviewers about how appraisers […]
Data science is new ways of thinking, new tools, computation, and visualization. For valuation, it is simply optimizing the best of appraiser judgment and computer power. Traditional appraisal theory is good. It is a subset of economic theory. What is different is the available data and algorithms to select and predict from that data. Also […]
Statistics is a necessary part of modernized valuation, and it is very much misunderstood. The main problem with statistics is words! First, let’s get one word out of the way – A parameter is a summary number of any data set, such as mean, median, maximum, minimum, range, quantile, or variation (standard deviation). We use […]
Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA) is an implicit part of traditional appraisal. The appraiser invokes education, training, and market area familiarity to decide on comparables and adjustments to be made. The process takes place fully in the mind of a competent practitioner. EDA is expressed in quasi-governmental standards (USPAP) as a focus on the subject property’s: […]
I was curious about what is “critical race theory”. I didn’t understand what it was about. The Sunday paper article – yes, I still read the morning newspaper every morning . . . seemed to summarize CRT and the oblong political football it seems to have become. Why critical? Why Theory? And what does this […]
Appraiser training tells us to use good judgment – repeatedly. In fact, the word ‘judgment’ is used over 300 times in the current USPAP book. It must be important. It’s also used some 800 times in The Appraisal of Real Estate. It must be important. The basis of appraisal theory in the United States is […]
Misused terms: AI (Artificial Intelligence), ML (Machine Learning), makes you look smart. It makes for clever marketing. And it may be BS. The most important “algorithm” for valuers is A+B=C. Words are important. They help us understand each other and avoid wars. Marketers, in particular, tend to bandy about clever words, designed to impress you […]
Is it “Obvious”, like some people have “common sense”? Or is it counter-intuitive? We compared price versus value in Part I. (There, the leading paragraph defines “market value” as per USPAP Advisory Opinion 22.) The Appraisal Foundation opinion goes on for a full page to explain the explanation of the definition, and the importance of […]
Is it time that matters? Or is it different market conditions? At one point, I was told to stop teaching that it’s a ‘time adjustment’. Because it’s actually a ‘market conditions’ adjustment. This bothered me. It seemed like yet another step backward in the march of appraisal practices. Comparing market conditions at two different time-groups […]
Market value for home loans in the United States is precisely defined. The understanding of “market value” is the single most important concept defining what appraisers do. Buyer/seller are prudent, knowledgeable, well informed or advised, and ‘typically’ motivated; there is no ‘undue’ stimulus; and the sale is in cash terms, with normal exposure, and “unaffected […]
