How do appraisers account for a bowling alley in the basement? Or some other unusual feature, like a helicopter landing pad, 10,000 gallon aquarium, basement basketball court, or dozens of other unusual ” and therefore hard to estimate ” home features? They don’t. Huh?? Self-Cancelling Features If it’s possible, the preferred strategy in such situations...Read More
Home Price as a Moving Target “Those who know, don’t talk; and those who talk, don’t know.” —Stock market saying. What’s true in the stock market is also true in real estate. Namely, the value of what Realtors call a “Comparative Market Analysis” (“CMA”) that can be had for free is . . . about what...Read More
Three Quibbles A new study purports to put a number on the value of curb appeal: 7%. The study’s authors did that by analyzing Google Street View photos and sales data from 88,980 properties in the greater Denver area. Specifically, they performed these three steps: “The researchers manually scored a set of properties, grading 400 images...Read More
But First . . . a Brief History Lesson I don’t know about other states ” I’m only licensed to sell real estate in Minnesota ” but here, residential property taxes are due twice a year: May 15 and October 15. Those non-randomly chosen dates stretch back to when Minnesota’s economy ” like practically every...Read More
How do Appraisers and Realtors account for a bowling alley in the basement? Or some other unusual feature, like a helicopter landing pad, 10,000 gallon aquarium, basement basketball court, bomb shelter, soundproof music studio, or dozens of other unusual —and therefore hard to estimate — home features? They don’t. Huh?? Self-Cancelling Features If it’s possible,...Read More
He Who Adjusts Least Adjusts Best” When it comes to pricing a home off of Comp’s (“Comparable Sold Properties”), the trick is to minimize both the number and absolute magnitude of the adjustments. The ideal would be a condo identical to its peers in every respect ” floor plan, size, condition, location, market conditions, etc....Read More