Big data is in the news. Why is big data a big deal? What does big data mean to appraisers? And what of those who care about collateral risk, litigation damages, investment risk and portfolio risk. Perhaps we are progressing out of the age of information to the “age of connection.” Yes, we are connected […]
Can I Reproduce? Please? Why won’t they teach me how to reproduce? We hear of a “reproducibility crisis.” What is it? Who cares? How does it affect me? And finally – Do we reproduce properly in the appraisal process? Depending on the author, the scientific method can be broken down into four parts, or five […]
Who cares if it’s reliable? It only needs to be “credible” – believable. Credible: “Worthy of Belief” Reliable: “Repeatability of findings” Credibility comprises both trustworthiness and expertise. It has both objective and subjective elements. One can also increase credibility by being a good salesperson by convincing the reader of your viewpoint. You form an opinion, then […]
Can you just give me some magical software which will calculate my adjustments? I get asked questions like this often. Can you just show me how to do a graph a client wants? Can you just give me your class stuff so I don’t have to come all that way? So often, the question degrades […]
Is Appraisal belief based? USPAP says our work should be credible: “worthy of belief.” That’s the test. What/who tests worthiness? In the Scope of Work Rule, it is “client expectations” and “peer’s actions.” In the section on “acceptability,” it goes even further, stating that an appraiser must do what “would appear relevant to the client.” […]
What does it mean “Can the profession be saved?” Does anyone else care except us? The second question first. Who might care? Clients who have developed a trust for you and who are comfortable with the traditional ways of doing things. There is a group of us and of them who like doing things as […]
Why should they trust me? Trust me. I am an appraiser. I am trained. I have experience. I have high ethical standards – and a government-issued license which says so! What more could you ask? What more could you ask? To answer this question, let’s look at what the client needs and what is the […]
Appraisers provide clients a point value. From two weeks ago. An opinion. What clients need: A forecast, a risk analysis, an underlying “fundamental” value; annual and spot update revaluations. Why not? Why not us? Why not you? What are competitors providing? AVMs provide testable reliability (risk) measures BPOs are faster and cheaper Economists provide analytic […]
Stress testing of regulated banks forecasts how declining economic conditions may impact bank safety. Loans, secured by real property can be significant in the overall portfolio of a bank. This property collateral portfolio itself will have different characteristics, depending on the locations, property types, and business types involved in the underlying collateral. Different properties will […]
Is the sale price the best indicator of value for appraisers? A recent study[1] includes a graph which shows that some 90% of appraisals hit the sale price exactly, or were higher, while only some 10% were below the sale price (when the sale price is known). Is this a bias on the part of […]
If we had an Appraisal Inspection Standard, how would it look? To frame this question, we need to look at what we have today regarding inspections, and what is really needed in the world. Let’s look then under common United States specifications. What we have today is left entirely up to the appraiser. The only […]
How does price validation differ from your traditional appraisal opinion? One of the arguments against the value of appraisals is that appraisers almost always just land on the sale price. How does this happen? Why? There are some obvious answers. The market system works, so the sale price should be near “market value.” Pressure exists […]
We seem to be hearing stuff about risk recently. Why? Back in the old days, before internet but after the wheel – It was my challenge as a new appraiser to scratch together four or five comps, then put three of them on a form, or perhaps even all five on a table. We called […]
How about “loan conditions”? Clients only need a value in order to quantify risk. Is this scary? Editor’s Note: This post is an intersection of Modernization and Risk. There are only three uses for knowing value: 1) collateral loss, 2) investment gain, 3) equitability. Historical value may only be relevant to #3. Loss or gain […]
Transaction costs are added to every property transaction. Is this add-on a fair addition to the fundamental, intrinsic value a buyer gets? Is it part of the value of the home? Or is it something else? Is this a public policy issue? Is it an appraisal issue? And, is it yet one more question about […]