See: Housing
Bubble: Are We There Yet by Robert Blumen, Mises Economics Blog
Garbage In, Garbage Out Gone are the days when the realty valuation guru commanded a little professional respect in their communities serving as a check and balance on over-valued realty collateral securing the loan on real estate. Since the Fraud of Appraisal Regulation, FIRREA 1989, the GSEs, the FED, and the mortgage lending industry [Federal Banking Cartel] have done about everything they could to destroy a once respected trade [nope, I cannot call it a profession]. Professional designation? What's that and who needs it! I just received a phone call from an older gentleman inquiring about the cost of a residential appraisal on a suburban property 2 miles south of Rock Bridge High School here in Columbia, Missouri. The guy bought the property 8 years ago for $114,000, and now wants an appraisal to market the property, since he is in poor health and can no longer maintain it -- plus he wants to downsize. When I told him my fee was $400 for the 2 page Universal Residential Appraisal Report with all attachments, he told me that he didn't think the cost of the appraisal would be that high. He would have to think about it. Then the phone went dead. Click! Can he get it done cheaper? Sure he can. There are folks here in town that can run right out in 15 minutes after they get off the phone with him and put something down on the form for $200. They probably won't drive by the comparable sales, since that might take a couple of hours of driving time. But they can get the pictures of the sales from Columbia MLS -- point, click, and save, then dump. While it would probably take me 45 minutes to more than an hour to inspect the property, not including driving to the rascal, they can probably save time by inspecting the property in 15 minutes. Quicker is better, isn't it!??? It is going to be a hard lesson for a heck of a lot of folks to understand that you get what you pay for, and that garbage in, is nothing but garbage out. Folks flipping hamburgers at McDonalds command more professional respect in this marketplace than the professionally designated real estate appraiser. Plus, they get to wear nice hats. Looking in the Sunday want ad section of the Columbia Daily Tribune for job opportunities here locally [which are pretty poor, by the way for a real estate guru], I noted all the car dealerships with their top sales folks and their new sales folks plastered all over pages 2F and 3F. Now these guys, whether dealing in new or used vehicles, including those gas guzzling SUVs, command some respect. One of these guys is my neighbor up the street, and he really is a good guy -- been selling cars for years, and a real cracker jack! Some of the good guys are getting out of the fee appraisal gig altogether. A guy I trained years ago to do residential valuation work, who was out on his own for a while, just packed bags and shagged to Dallas to become a $60,000 a year portfolio reviewer for Countrywide. One less appraiser in Columbia, but it won't make any difference in the marketplace with over 140 lender clients here exerting their influence on the industry. Rodney Dangerfield, now no longer with us, had the famous one-liner: I don't get no respect! I don't know which would be more fun for a living -- selling Fords, Chryslers, and Chevy's or pulling weeds? Yours Truly,
Ole Bear, Editor © 2005 Realty Reality |
GLOBAL
REAL ESTATE MARKETS FORUM
