Appraisal business owners

Is a Model Home Considered Occupied?

Here’s a situation you’ll run into once or twice in your career.  There is a new subdivision.  Now, new subdivisions sometimes have model homes.  Model homes typically have furniture, fixtures, and equipment – usually upgraded. The subdivision has completed its sales program and the developer is now selling the model(s).  Your job is to appraise […]

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Can Appraiser B Update Appraiser A’s Appraisal?

Can an appraiser complete a 1004D form (an Appraisal Update and/or Completion Report [Form 1004D]) if s/he did not do the original appraisal?  A lot of appraisers ask this question.  At first glance, you’d think the answer was “NO!”.  How can appraiser-B update an appraisal that appraiser-A did six months ago?  But before you answer,

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How To Handle Page One With A Subject To Appraisal

12OK! You get to the bottom of Page 1 of the 1004 from and there’s that statement: “Are there any physical deficiencies or adverse conditions that affect the livability, soundness, or structural integrity of the property?” Since you are doing the appraisal for FHA, you know you must indicate there is peeling paint. Sometimes peeling

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The Tier V Position Must Function at 30,000 Feet

You have heard me talk (a lot!) about Tier I, Tier II, Tier III, and Tier IV appraisal office  skills. Now we’re going to talk about Tier V office skills, which are a vision over the first three.  The person who occupies Tier I or Tier II basically has no appraisal skills because, at these

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Aren’t Appraisers Supposed to be Independent?

When was the last time you brought in somebody from outside your firm to help you solve an appraisal problem?  Is that a step you should take?  Aren’t appraisers supposed to be independent?  Aren’t outside consultants and advisors expensive relative to the typical appraisal fee? Recently I had an assignment in Wyoming, a state not

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To Pay or Not To Pay, That is the Question

Should appraisers pay to be on an AMC’s approved appraiser list?  Is this one way to get new clients?  If an AMC solicited you, would you check it out?  Now, I work for some AMCs that, frankly, you might not choose to work for.  That’s fine.  It’s a choice we all make.  Understand that most

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This One Needs A Red Toe-Tag

You never know what is going to happen in your appraisal office.  There are just too many variables to be able to cover all of them all the time.  So let’s look at the word triage.  All it means is “the act of dividing into three.” In medicine, it means the decisions of who gets

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Virtual Appraisal Assistant Synergy

I sometimes am criticized for hiring assistants outside of the United States. More specifically, I am criticized for paying my virtual assistants outside the United States 3-6 dollars an hour. I think there is an idea that I am exploiting them and treating them unfairly; when in reality, we are in a mutually beneficial business

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Don’t Overdo It

I think it is human nature to do things the way you have always done them. Now these things may not necessarily be wrong, but they also may be hurting your business. It is up to us as appraisers to personally decide when things are necessary and professional versus when things are overkill. Story time!

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Setting Up an Effective Appraisal Business Structure

  Many of you are striving towards building and changing your appraisal firm. You are working to grow your business, delegate more, and improve the quality of your services. It can be easy as a business owner to become overly excited about the many incredible possibilities growing your business can bring and possibly jump the

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