One appraiser brain says you must be “independent, impartial, and objective.” (USPAP) It wants to be good. It wants integrity and to sleep peacefully at night. But there’s another brain. It’s primal and wants to survive. It has other responsibilities: meet the bills, feed the family, pay the mortgage, and pay government taxes/fees. And recorded […]
We read articles and advertisements on how to prove an adjustment. Is this possible? How wonderful it would be. To prove an adjustment, just push a button and bam! Out comes the correct answer. How could we have we missed this? Of course, if such a simplistic and exact answer was possible – anyone could […]
Well, of course – appraisal is not based on our subjective beliefs. It is based on support! Support your opinions and conclusions! Support your results “by relevant evidence and logic.” Form your opinion, then support it . . . These words have always bothered me. A scientist does not form an opinion, then figure out […]
Simple. It’s valuation based on evidence, not belief or “good judgment.” What is “evidence”? Evidence can be anecdotal, empirical, or logical. Logical evidence is the easiest, and strongest. If A, then B must follow. We only need to agree that A is a fact, or is true, or as an assumption. Generally, there is no […]
Have you ever left a class feeling excited, but when you did your next assignment, you went back to the old way? Actionable education means you learn immediately useful actions and attitudes, AND the motivation to take advantage in your daily practice. How is this achieved? Well, one way is to simply understand how your […]
Editor’s Note: Check out the post from November 26th, 2019 here: Does Gratitude Make Me Money? Why should I have gratitude? Ugh! My clients want me to hit the number . . . And be ethical about it! Pressure, pressure, pressure. For me, the problem was the way I looked at things. I saw gratitude […]
What kind of appraiser are you? Different appraisers have different attitudes! Some have a lot of experience, others a lot of education. Others emphasize the ‘art’, while others consider themselves ‘quants’. Let’s put aside the ‘art’ versus ‘science’ discussion, where the artists say: “No computer will ever replace the appraiser”, or “No amount of education […]
We are taught that our work must have believability: as per USPAP, credible means “worthy of belief”. Let’s look here at the difference between credibility and reliability. It must be important. It’s used in the actual standards (integrity and performance) part at least 59 times. If you include the whole USPAP 2018-2019 book, it is […]
New Year’s resolutions are certainly good, even great wonder and intent. I have made a few. I don’t remember any ever working out. But some things did work out. I ask: What was the difference? The difference is between January 3rd and December 28th. Generally, I had resolved to make some resolutions right away, on […]
Bank regulators are nearing a decision to raise residential real estate transactions appraisal threshold to $400,000 from $250,000, for certain transactions. Perhaps it should be set to $2million, or $5million. It strikes me that we have two separate taxpayer regulatory/administrative/quasi-governmental organizations working in opposition. On one hand we have the Appraisal Subcommittee and The Appraisal […]
We have been taught that appraisal solved one problem: the opinion of value. We were taught an “appraisal process” (now a “Valuation Process”). The process is called a procedure. It goes like this:[1] Identify the problem Decide on your scope of work Collect the data and describe the property Analyze the data (include market analysis) […]
There’s some evidence that appraisal as a marketable service is finished. Several things point in this direction. First, we must clarify what is an appraisal for purposes of this blog. It’s an opinion of value. An appraisal is a valuation service provided by an appraiser in an appraisal practice, representing that he/she complies with USPAP […]
An opinion of value is just that. Everyone has one. Asset value is wanted for one of three reasons: to measure risk, forecast profit, or to achieve fairness. Mostly the clients are collateral lenders, investors, and regulators/litigators. An appraisal is an opinion of value by an appraiser acting in appraisal practice. There are other opinions […]
We know there is science in art. Musical scales. Perspective and the golden ratio. The ordered sequence of a good novel. It’s difficult to be a good artist without knowing, or at least intuitively applying the truths found in the logic. Both science and art reflect our search for the truth. Our primal human nature […]
And change it does. The biggest changes slip in almost without notice. USPAP recognizes change. In fact, Standard 1-1 says: …the principle of change continues to affect the manner in which appraisers perform appraisal services. It specifically recognizes change in cost, construction, marketing, law, lending all lead, or should lead to corresponding changes in appraisal […]