Appraisal Articles 2019 Free Appraisal Articles for Appraisers and the Public

Latest News

Note about "Views" reported on this site

Feb 7, 2014

I just want readers, contributors and potential contributors to realize that the...

This Site is Monitored

Dec 28, 2013

Articles that are not deemed contributory are removed from this site promptly, so we would...

New Site Template

Nov 30, 2013

Please pardon our somewhat painful transition, we have been working with Subrion.com...

Market Conditions Articles

Can Home Values Dramatically Increase in a 2016?

by Administrator on Feb 8, 2016 Market Conditions Articles 1641 Views

Of course they can given the right circumstances, but as some homeowners discovered in the Las Vegas area boom in 2007 if your home increases in value by 100% it's difficult to take advantage of the increase because the entire market has likely increased by a similar amount. So unless you are moving to another area your gain is a relative one. It's not difficult to imagine a situation where you find that your home value increases by 20% or more but the overall market also increased by 20% or more and if you sell it to move up, to buyer a better or larger home, you will have more money in your pocket but you may be farther from the amount that you needed as a down payment for the upgrade and farther from the income requirements to qualify for the new loan.

Continue reading →

Bringing in the Number

by Administrator on Apr 14, 2016 Market Conditions Articles 1250 Views

It’s my opinion that there remains in the mind of the public and in the mind of some real property professionals confusion about what is sought in a real property appraisal. Most people understand that appraisers are usually seeking to conclude via their analyses an opinion of market value, not a potential price, worth or simply a value. Market value definitions vary but for the most part it has been recognized as “The most probable price, as of a specified date, in cash, or in terms equivalent to cash, or in other precisely revealed terms, for which the specified property rights should sell after reasonable exposure in a competitive market under all conditions requisite to a fair sale, with the buyer and seller each acting prudently, knowledgeably, and for self-interest, and assuming that neither is under undue duress.”

Continue reading →

Real Estate Market Changes - How Important are They?

by Administrator on Nov 27, 2016 Market Conditions Articles 1254 Views

Appraisers and real estate agents spend a significant portion of their lives watching changes in the national and local real estate markets. There can be a relatively large disparity between sub markets like the retail market segment and the industrial market segment in the same city or county. Market changes within each of the segments are usually tracked every few months, or per quarter, and published by a number of competing brokerage firms. Appraisers and brokers pay close attention to statistics / changes in market activity including but not limited to; employment, sales volume (total SF sold and number of sales), sales price per square foot (SF), new construction, the average rental rate per SF per month, the average direct capitalization rate and the average vacancy rate.

Continue reading →

How Fast Can a Real Estate Market Change?

by Administrator on Nov 30, 2016 Market Conditions Articles 1358 Views

If you have seen market cycle graphs with big swings in market values over time you have some idea of just how much change can happen in a real property market over time. Most graphs on market cycles display a sine wave that make it look like the up and down cycles are evenly spaced, so there is some uniformity to prices. The fact is that things like recession of 2008 has, in many areas and in many sub markets, kept prices down for an extended time. The residential real estate market in Las Vegas for example, saw prices for a 2,500 SF home increase from about $ 215,000 to about $ 515,000 between 1998 and 2007. That was a upward spike that was felt by everyone in the residential real estate market, multiple offers were received on almost every property listed and of course the upward movement was not sustainable.

Continue reading →

Appraisal Market Segmentation Las Vegas / Henderson Nevada

by Administrator on Oct 5, 2017 Market Conditions Articles 1107 Views

If you are an appraiser or mortgage lender who is new to Las Vegas / Henderson Nevada you may want to read on, because there are many who don’t understand which segments of the Las Vegas / Henderson market currently (in 2017) and in the recent past have seen the most sales and generally generate the most appraisal assignments. I’m going to work from my own (primary) sales data collected from various non-proprietary sources and while not 100% complete it includes a relatively large number of market sales and it is believed to be a good indicator. I have grouped property sales into the following categories; vacant land, office (which includes medical office), retail, industrial, apartment, hospitality and other. There were relatively few properties found to fall in the hospitality and other area and the other area was excluded from the following graphic.

Continue reading →

Will the Loss of a Tax Deduction on Home Mortgage Interest Affect Market Value?

by Administrator on Nov 3, 2017 Market Conditions Articles 995 Views

The current proposal to do away with the mortgage interest deduction on homes purchased in the future may negatively affect the market value of homes. Home buyers in the Las Vegas area are spending $ 300,000 or more to purchase a new home and most have only 10% to 20% down, so their mortgages are substantial. A buyer who is going to take on that new say $ 250,000 plus dollar mortgage has in the past expected an annual interest deduction of around $ 10,000. For many home buyers a mortgage interest deduction has in the past been significant and it was relied upon to bring down their taxable income. Their deduction has been relatively large for most, even with relatively low interest rates near 4%, and it has helped bring down taxes in each and every year a buyer paid on his or her mortgage. Many people don’t realize that interest rates over the past few years have been extremely low, so the deduction while still large for most, would be much larger to new borrowers if interest rates

Continue reading →

What Makes Henderson, NV Appraisals Different?

by Administrator on Dec 20, 2017 Market Conditions Articles 1190 Views

I live in Henderson and I am always amazed by how fast portions of the market change. Some of the market segments, like industrial buildings, have lagged the prices garnered in the City of Las Vegas market while other segments, like housing, has increased in value faster than many of the similar Las Vegas markets. Henderson benefits from its master planned communities like Cadence, Tuscany, Del Webb Anthem, Seven Hills, MacDonald Highlands, MacDonald Ranch, Green Valley, Green Valley Ranch, Whitney Ranch, Inspirada, and Lake Las Vegas. Some of them offer entry level housing while others have extremely high-end homes that rival the most prestigious in Clark County.

Continue reading →

When Legal Permissibility Doesn't Matter

by Administrator on Apr 7, 2018 Market Conditions Articles 1104 Views

When everyone on your block has rezoned their property commercial and your property is still zoned and planned residential it’s “reasonably probable” that your property will also be approved for a commercial use. Commercial zoning doesn’t exist for the site, so clearly commercial zoning is a hypothetical condition, but for appraisers it’s not taking a giant leap to realize that uses have changed, and the use of the subject will also likely change. There are other situations in the real estate world that can test an appraisers ability to make the right value decisions. Say you are appraising a low-density residentially zoned lot that is set back off the road, behind constructed single-family homes, but large and small vacant parcels surrounding it (including the homes) have been acquired by a speculator. So you are appraising what is effectively a “spite strip” or an “island” like parcel that you know the speculator must have. It appears to a casual observer that nothing has changed

Continue reading →

Mortgage Interest Rates and Appraisals

by Administrator on Jun 18, 2018 Market Conditions Articles 988 Views

If you are lucky enough to find a home, especially in one of the high housing demand states, you should be happy that rates aren’t 8.0% or higher. I know that sounds painful, no one wants to hear that a situation that is becoming worse is not that bad, but I can honestly say that I would be happy with a 4.75% to 5.25% mortgage interest rate. If you have ever taken a 30-year home mortgage with an 8.0% to 10.0% interest rate, like I have, you can put recent increases in perspective. If you have only been around to see 3.31% to 5.0% mortgage interest rates I’m sorry to inform you that you are out of touch with reality. It doesn’t take much to get back to higher rates, probably not as high as the record 18.63%, but higher than the near 5.0% that we have today. Those who decided to wait for rates to fall may never get another chance to buy or cash out for years.

Continue reading →

Appraisals for Real Estate Agents

by Administrator on Jul 3, 2018 Market Conditions Articles 908 Views

Do some real estate agents / brokers have unreasonable appraisal expectations? If the agent / broker starts your conversation by saying “I already have an appraisal but it’s too high” or they say “it’s too low” you are headed for problems. My last assignment the agent had a high appraisal, he didn’t disclose the value to me and I didn’t ask, but he couldn’t put the deal together so called me and asked for another appraisal. My appraisal was “too low” for him so he asked his money back. I have refunded appraisal fees, not many over 40 years, but if there is a valid reason I will consider it. The value being “too low” is not a valid reason.

Continue reading →