Posts with tag appraisals

By Jeff Brown Like many young things, the housing recovery is suffering some growing pains, as appraisals lag rising prices and make it difficult for borrowers to get loans. The problem, mortgage-data firm HSH Associates says, starts with the conservative appraisal standards implemented during the financial crisis. That... Continue Reading »

The housing market stumbled again in April, as tight lending practices continue to hamstring buyers. Existing-home sales fell 0.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.05 million in April, down from 5.09 million in March, according to the National Association of Realtors. Compared to last April, when buying... Continue Reading »

Video Transcript First impressions are everything in real estate -- a fact Paul Isolda, an appraiser with 22 years of experience, knows all too well. Isolda has seen every home staging disaster under the sun, from tacky cabinetry to dingy flooring. One discerning glance from him could mean a final appraisal worth... Continue Reading »

If you want to know what a short sale experience is really like, just ask Erin. In 2005, Erin and her husband, then newly married, purchased their first home, in Sacramento, Calif., for $350,000. Just three years later, her husband's commodities business was in decline and their financial situation soured to the point... Continue Reading »

When President Obama signed the Dodd-Frank Act in late July, he ended the controversial Home Valuation Code of Conduct or HVCC, now set to expire in 90 days. HVCC was implemented in May 2009 by the Federal Housing Financing Agency "as an attempt to improve the independence of appraisers by prohibiting lenders and third... Continue Reading »

San Francisco resident Mike S. thought he had a handle on the costs associated with home buying. Down payment -- check. Mortgage -- check. HOA dues -- huh? "The dreaded homeowner association dues," as he calls them, would add hundreds of dollars to his monthly nut, an outlay he hadn't figured when he calculated his home... Continue Reading »

This week starts a showdown on mortgage-lending rules. How strong the protections will be for consumers will depend upon how successful lenders are at softening the rules proposed by Congress. Up for grabs are rules for: loan repayment; appraisals; how much skin lenders must have in the game; and suing a lender for fraud... Continue Reading »

The housing market in California's Silicon Valley is beginning to rebound. And while it certainly isn't as hot and heavy as it was in the dot-com boom with multiple offers as high as the sky, local real estate agents say competition is starting again among homebuyers, especially on the lower end of the... Continue Reading »

Do you feel like you're paying more than your fair share of property taxes? Well, you're not alone. Many homeowners believe their homes are over-assessed, especially after the housing crisis pummeled home values by 30 percent or so from their peaks. And guess what? A high percentage of homes really are over-assessed --... Continue Reading »

Spice Girl Mel B mistook a property appraiser parked outside of her Los Angeles home with a camera for a paparazzo and sic'd her hubby on him. The appraiser, Amada Aguirre, claims he was assaulted by Scary Spice and husband producer Stephen Belafonte while just trying to do his job. Apparently, he was scared enough to file... Continue Reading »

Anyone's lucky to be able to sell a home in this economy, especially when you consider tight-fisted banks and appraisal snafus. Gone are the days when a "quick sale" meant you had an offer in under a week. These days, anything less than six months on the market could be counted as "quick." So, when after a mere four... Continue Reading »

Heard of HVCC? It's not a heating and ventilation system for the home (that's HVAC), nor is it an infectious disease. HVCC is the Home Valuation Code of Conduct, a controversial set of guidelines established by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in May 2009. By setting up a sort of firewall between lenders and appraisers, in the... Continue Reading »

Greedy appraisers, who put lofty valuations on properties to please lenders and line their pockets, played a large role in the housing bubble. And the fallout continues: On Jan. 29, a former Beverly Hills real estate appraiser was sentenced to three years in federal prison for her role in a multimillion-dollar scheme to... Continue Reading »

Sure, owning a green home can save money in lower energy bills and tax breaks, but is that value reflected in a higher price when you sell? Experts say that even as the number of environmentally certified homes continue to rise there's no clear proof that putting more green features into your home will put more green in... Continue Reading »

Low appraisals are on the rise and they're killing real estate deals right and left. The problem stems from a combination of short sales and foreclosures. Both are contributing to difficulties accurately pricing homes, according to MSNBC. Roughly 40 percent of all home sales last year were foreclosures and short sales,... Continue Reading »