When you don't think the valuation that you paid for is accurate you can spend some time and effort yourself to validate the results.

Settling an estate after the death of a loved one is a complicated process, especially if there is any real property involved Hiring the services of a professional real estate appraiser is an important and highly useful procedure that helps everyone involved, from the heirs of the estate to tax agencies, agree on a property’s value

Real estate appraisers in 2009 have been struggling with trying to analyze real estate markets that are basically one sided, they simply lack any sort of demand.  Like the failure of Economists to explain the reason for the financial collapse, appraisers generally fail when attempting to express "market value" opinions, because as a matter of fact, real estate "markets" do not really exists for some property types in some areas.

NAR's decsion to attack the HVCC via the NY Attorney General's Office and FHFA to bring appraisals more in line with sales contracts is not beneficial to the appraisal industry.

If you have an interest, and you have been watching the reports and articles on the vacant land market in Las Vegas you likely have come away confused.  Here are some interesting facts that you, as an appraiser, buyer or seller may want to consider:

May 5, 2009, Written by: Michael C Zari If you have not already heard, as of Friday May 1st 2009, as one industry expert put it, "the complete lending landscape just changed

After the Savings and Loan crash in the late 1980's, appraiser licensing was put into place in 1991 by the federal government in an attempt to avert another banking disaster.  Here we are, however, in 2009 with a much larger banking disaster to deal with.  So clearly the original plan for appraiser licensing has ended in failure.

Today marks a major change in the lending landscape and the way loans are sold to Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac

As it becomes more and more difficult to find comparable vacant land sales in the Las Vegas market, due to decreasing sales volumes, some appraisers have turned to past sales.  The selection of past vacant land sales is, however, frought with a number of potential problems.

Most appraisal assignments direct the appraiser to form an opinion of the market value of a specific property. If you are familiar with appraisal definitions you know that most market value definitions indicate that market value is the “most probable price” that a market participant will pay for a property. So in most instances appraisers have to consider value as an anticipation of future benefits.