Why not data science? Before we talk about anything, we need to know what ‘it’ is. What is data science? First, what is science? Science is “a systematic study, by observation or experiment; by an expert in scientific method and the field of study.” And what is data? Data is anything which can be measured, […]
AI is “Artificial Intelligence.” The AI is Appraisal Institute. Artificial intelligence is a part of data science. Appraisal comprises science and art. Let’s take a look at what the primal AI intended, and what happened. Which is which? Once upon a time, science and art aspired to be the same. Just different words. What was […]
Editor’s Note: This is Part 1 of a new series on Bias. Easy – Just don’t be biased. Don’t even think about it! Alternately, we can have the government regulate and require it! To know what ‘unbiasedness’ is, and how to achieve it, we have to be able to measure it. We cannot enforce anything, […]
Market-specific price indexing is powerful and underused! It improves accuracy and precision of appraisals. It enables an objective market analysis. It forms a natural path from traditional, judgment-based appraisal to informative, evidence-based professional analyses. Best of all, it enables a sense of pride in appraisal work, while making it more fun! Market Price Indexing (MPI)© […]
Why the letter R? R is a letter. It may be the most important letter to you since Sesame Street! Appraisal services as we have known them continue to decline. AVMs continue to capture a larger market share. Slowly, but surely. But the AVM industry has other issues. Traditional, judgment-based appraisal was built on your […]
How do Standards effect the excess of appraisers? The excess of appraisers is cyclical. It persists by the five forces of friction: practices, standards education, regulation, and client expectation. In this blog issue, we consider the second friction (appraisal standards). Together and separately these prevent improvements in valuation, including additional services of risk measurement, forecasting, […]
A valuation model may not be a model valuation. What happened with that sentence? It’s called “equivocation.” Something I learned about in my college English class. What I learned is that a word can be used for different meanings. Equivocation can be used to make language more colorful – to entice, to irritate, or to […]
How can we fix the excess of appraisers? Easy — we do what we have always done, each time . . . 1) We will raise the standards (“cost of entry”). 2) We will make it harder to become an appraiser; 3) Lower fees will discourage newcomer appraisers. Each cycle, the ‘appraiser shortage’ cycles with […]
Yes, personal bias in appraisals can be eliminated. The appraisal ‘process’, in its current standard, is “loose.” It is not internally biased either way. But it is vulnerable to systemic human and analytic bias. It enables and conceals bias. It is vulnerable to attack — as being “too high” or “too low,” depending on the […]
Judgment in valuation analysis is not needed — so they say — so long as the algorithm is right. So long as the algorithm is right . . . For appraisers, this means the valuer has identified a good scope of work. For a researcher, this means an investigation path is identified – a hypothesis. […]
How can we fix the excess of appraisers? Easy — we do what we have always done, each time . . . 1) We will raise the standards (“cost of entry”). 2) We will make it harder to become an appraiser; 3) Let the lower fees discourage newcomer appraisers. In past issues of the Analogue […]
Bias and prejudice are always relevant topics. Recently these have received more attention. In asking the questions we present in the Analogue Blog, we find that three concepts/actions produce the greatest response, to create divisiveness and deepening anger in an argument. The three concepts of ignorant argument: 1) use the word “bias,” badly; 2) state […]
The neighborhood section of appraisal reports is pretty much protocol. We have asked how a report on the neighborhood may or may not contribute to valuation value or reliability (risk) estimates. We continue to consider how traditional practice helps or hinders adoption of modern process technologies. As always, we have found it is important to […]
Market area, District, Neighborhood – what do our directives say? Let’s take a look at standards, education, regulations, and the GSE (Government Sponsored Enterprises). First, let’s set a goal: What is the ideal comparable data to analyze? How big, how similar, and how competitive should it be? Read Part I and Part II of Do […]
Diversity can be a goal in itself when diversity means breaking down barriers of groupthink and apathy. An expansive concept. Fairness, on the other hand is elusive, demanding definition. Fairness depends on the very point of view it attempts to define. “Fair” is in the eye of the beholder. EBV (Evidence Based Valuation)© (or EBA, […]
