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
The REAL Purpose of Appraisals What is the purpose of an appraisal, in the context of a residential real estate sale? To make sure that, if the Buyer defaults on their loan and the lender ultimately forecloses, the value of the collateral is sufficient to make the lender whole. Or, in plain English: if the...Read More
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
Did the Appraiser Goof? A client trying to refinance his mortgage recently ran into an infrequent but not unheard of problem: a low appraisal. My client was convinced that the appraiser goofed because ” amongst other things ” the appraiser listed the home as only having one Bathroom, not two. Unfortunately, the second Bathroom is...Read More
Sales Blockbuster a Big Surprise “We like to have a comparison title so that we can do sales forecasts, but in this case none of the comparisons work.” –“The Long Tail of ‘Where the Crawdads Sing”; The New York Times (12/21/19). It turns out that publishers estimate book sales the same way Realtors (and Appraisers)...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
