http://www.appraisalarticles.com/http://www.appraisalarticles.com/General-Real-Property-Topics/General-Real-Property-Topics/General-Real-Property-Topics/Mortgage-Financing///4562-Appraised-Value-Interest-Mortgage-Rate-and-Loan-to-Value-LTV.htmlTue, 11 Aug 2015 13:51:30 EDTThe purchase of a new or used property like a single-family home hinges on the appraisal completed for the mortgage lender. Even though there is a deal signed by bother buyer and seller. A buyer who signs a purchase agreement with a builder, for example, may negotiate a purchase price of $ 300,000 for a home, but if the mortgage lender’s appraiser concludes a market value of $ 280,000 the deal may be in jeopardy since the home asset may not support the loan. Author: Garrett Steelehttp://www.appraisalarticles.com/Litigation-Expert-Witness/4560-Engagement-Letters-for-Litigation.htmlSun, 09 Aug 2015 00:00:00 EDTLitigation assignments are not the same as other appraisal assignments, and it's better to have your understanding with a client and / or the attorney spelled out in detail. Otherwise you may spend many more hours than you originally anticipated trying to get an assignment successfully completed. All of my engagement letters spell out; my business information, the clients name, property identification, the interest to be appraised, date of value, turnaround time and the appraisal fee. If there are multiple dates of value, extraordinary assumptions or hypothetical conditions those facts are also discussed. Author: Garrett Steelehttp://www.appraisalarticles.com/Litigation-Expert-Witness/4561-Setting-Fees-for-Appraisal-Litigation.htmlSun, 09 Aug 2015 00:00:00 EDTIn Southeastern Michigan it has been my experience that appraiser's bid or set their assignment fees for their litigation appraisals in the same way that they do for most appraisal assignments that they complete, or on a flat fee basis. Appraisers tell me that they do however consider the fact that litigation appraisals take them more time and attention to detail than their typical appraisal. Thus flat appraisal fees for litigation related assignments are generally higher. Appraisers are usually asked to quote an hourly rate for additional research or to consider new issues related to the case. I offer a reasonable fee for this service. Complex issues can take several hours to resolve and write about, so you want to advise your client in writing what the estimated turnaround time will be. You don't want to put several hours in and then have your client say "I would never have agreed to that," litigation is difficult enough, you don't need to have the client turn against you. NoAuthor: Garrett Steelehttp://www.appraisalarticles.com/4559-Contingent-Appraisal-Fees.htmlSat, 08 Aug 2015 13:17:49 EDTMany appraisers are asked by clients or potential clients to "work with me, you will get paid through escrow." The problem for appraisers is that it's often the case that if the appraisal doesn't "come in" in these circumstances there won't be an escrow to get paid from. It's one of those situations that appraiser's must approach with caution. If your fee won't be paid if a certain value is not reached clearly you can't accept the assignment. Even real estate developers with speculative projects have come to realize that most commercial appraisers will not invest their time and expertise and hope to get paid, they simply refuse to be put in that contingent fee situation. Author: Garrett Steelehttp://www.appraisalarticles.com/General-Appraisal-Articles/4558-Avoiding-an-Appraisal.htmlFri, 07 Aug 2015 10:18:10 EDTMost buyers and sellers of real estate just want to keep their expenses as low as possible. They will volunteer the fact that they don't want an appraisal, don't want to pay for an appraisal and don't see the need for an appraisal. When you are dealing with other people's money "OPM" however it's hard to get away from an appraisal being required. Banks are one of the biggest users of appraisal services, beyond the fact that they have federal requirement to appraise real property assets for federally backed mortgages, they simply don't want to find out that they just loaned money on a property and it's not worth what they loaned. So it's tough to avoid an appraisal when you are working with a bank. There are however exceptions. If you loan is only going to have a loan to value ratio of say 50% there is a good chance that the bank will just waive the appraisal.Author: Garrett Steelehttp://www.appraisalarticles.com/General-Appraisal-Articles/Market-Conditions-Articles/4556-Appraising-Detroit-2015.htmlThu, 06 Aug 2015 00:00:00 EDTDetroit's economy has seen extreme highs and extreme lows over the past several years, and there are segments of the economy that are still struggling. Parts of the fragmented residential real estate market still have a lot of healing to do. Commercial real estate in Detroit has seen a significant strengthening and 2015 looks like it could provide more positive movement. Detroit offers its commercial appraisers a wide range of appraisal challenges. Downtown, the riverfront and the suburbs are particularly strong, but a near 20% vacancy rate persists in the office sector.Author: Garrett Steelehttp://www.appraisalarticles.com/Feasibility-Studies/4557-Feasibility-Studies-and-Appraisers.htmlThu, 06 Aug 2015 00:00:00 EDTIt's a fact that real estate developers are a leading consumer of feasibility studies, but many developers are not searching for the best location for a new mini-storage building or considering the best site location for a new Walmart store. They often already own a site and they are usually just trying to get it developed for a use that appeals to them because the use is in their opinion the most profitable one. Often they have expended hard money to further their plan.Author: Garrett Steele