Appraiser

The appraisal process has never been more stringent — and for good reasons.

Leading up to the 2008 recession and housing market crash, more than half of appraisers cited experiences where they felt pressured from another party — a lender, a borrower or a real estate agent — to inflate their valuation of a home. In 2007 alone, that number was at an all-time high: nearly 90 percent of appraisers felt high or above-market valuations were demanded of them. Many of us know how that story ended.

St. Patrick's Day has been a popular holiday for hundreds of years, but many aspects of it remain shrouded in mist as thick as pea soup. From leprechauns to shamrocks and shillelaghs, there's more to the symbols of St. Patrick's Day than meets the eye. Here's your chance to impress your friends with your knowledge of St. Patrick's Day's most colorful symbols and traditions.

SAMCO works with an extremely talented group of appraisers in multiple states. The appraisers that we work with have an exceptional skill set for their markets. Our clients (Community Banks & Credit Unions) offer services in some pretty unique areas. From a farm in the Midwest to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (SNOW Country). Our appraisers know their markets.

In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, home sale activity plunged and foreclosures increased dramatically. As a result, the pool of recent sales appraisers could use as comparable sales shrank. At the same time, REO sales (“Real Estate Owned” by banks) became an increasing percentage of sales. In many cases, appraisers used REO sales in their appraisals – with complaints subsequently levied by brokers and buyers who argued that the use of REO sales resulted in appraisals that understated market value. So what exactly is an appraiser supposed to do in such a situation and is the use of foreclosure or REO sales acceptable practice?

New Year offers the chance of a fresh start, and one of the most positive changes you can make is to get your finances into shape. When your money's under control, life's less stressful in most other ways as well. Here are seven New Year's resolutions which will help smooth your financial path through 2018.

Stop One Bad Habit

The path to a better budget is easier when you take it one step at a time. This New Year, think of one bad financial habit you have and aim to eliminate it as soon as you can. Whether this is online impulse shopping you later regret or a weakness for eating out when you can't really afford it, making one single change is more achievable than trying to change your whole financial life around.

Are your property taxes too high? If you think so, you’re standing with some pretty high rollers. Walt Disney Parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot and Hollywood Studios), along with SeaWorld, Universal Orlando, and other commercial property owners have filed over 100 lawsuits against the Orange County Appraiser Rick Singh. But believing that their properties assessments are exceeding fair market value and proving it in the Orange Circuit Court will be two different things!

The county assessor (Singh) valued Epcot at $446 million, Magic Kingdom at $437 million and Hollywood Studios at $339 million. There are other lawsuits for quite a few hotels that are not just owned by Disney, but by other corporations.

In April one of the largest bank failures in years occurred. State regulators shut down First NBC Bank, New Orleans. The FDIC was appointed the receiver and they promptly sold a small part of the assets (about 1 billion) to Whitney Bank. The December total assets of NBC were 4.74 billion. Of course, no customers lost money, but the FDIC really took a hit to its Deposit Insurance Fund.

What are your thoughts on Wikipedia, is it a valid reference or is it people’s perceptions? Now most of us know that Wikipedia is not considered a valid source for a research citation. But I always check there when writing on a topic just to see what the perception is ….valid or not. It is someone’s opinion. If you check the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) under Wikipedia it explains briefly about the code and how it became effective in 2009. The funny part is the last part (which has been disputed – and not by me), it goes on to say that this had not been well accepted by most appraisers because it eliminated the constructive working relationship the appraiser’s had with a lender.

An AMC’s thoughts on the repeal of Dodd-Frank……I recently read an article titled “An Appraiser’s Thoughts on the Repeal of Dodd-Frank” by Tom Horn, and I found it interesting that our thoughts lined up so well on some key points about what we would like to see remain and what we would like to see removed if Dodd-Frank is changed. 

We’re all influenced by interest rates in some way. But what does it affect when the Fed changes its benchmark interest rate? In the past three months, the Fed has raised its rate twice, and it’s expected that there will be two additional rate increases in store still for this year. Consumer products like mortgage loans, credit cards, car loans, and savings accounts are all affected differently by Fed rate hikes. Here’s how.