Blog City Appraisal

Marching along...

2008-03-30T17:22:00.000-07:00

March has been picking up. Not much going on in the past six months but now that interest rates have dropped people are starting to refi. Much of Solano and Contra Costa have taken huge downturns in property values as have Alameda and many other locations around the bay. On the upside, some buyers are taking advantage of the discounted "bank owned' and "short sale" pricing. Value strongholds include San Francisco, Santa Clara, and Marin counties to name a few. From what I can tell, an abundance of "bank owned (REO)" properties as well as a high number of "short sales" are to blame for the declines. I predict foreclosures and declines to continue until early 2009 and possible beyond. Refi now because the rates aren't going any lower.

What's happening...

2008-02-19T18:41:00.000-08:00

I haven't blogged in forever. Holidays and then weddings, all kinds of things have happened over the last 4 months. The appraisal market was non-existent in the latter part of 2007. There was also very little business in January. However, business is picking up. Rates are so low people are refinancing. Hopefully things keep going steady.

It's a miracle....

2007-10-15T09:20:00.001-07:00

I was approved by HUD. Let the celebrations begin!!! More appropriately, I hope I can get some extra business.

Crossing my Fingers

2007-10-09T08:25:00.000-07:00

Called H.U.D. one last time to find out if they ever processed my application. They said they had no record of it being approved. On top of that, when I told her I had faxed the requested information 3 times, she responded that their fax machine is often broken or has so many faxes coming through that my document probably never made it. She then told me to just send it regular mail and they will be more likely to get it. Are you kidding me? It's amazing how much time I've wasted on this and how much time they have probably wasted on me. Just another example of a government agency in need of reform. Hopefully my approval is just around the corner.

Reminder to Appraisers

2007-09-24T15:01:00.000-07:00

As of today I have at least 5 clients who are either going out of business or who just keep delaying payment on money that they owe to Fog City Appraisal. I've started a more strict policy wherein I no longer do escrow appraisals unless the client is a returning customer. Even then, I'm very careful to do escrow. So watch out. More and more deals are falling through for these loan brokers due to the state of the market.

-Randy

Giving up on H.U.D.

2007-09-10T09:14:00.001-07:00

After four attempts to get my info to H.U.D., I think I'm giving up. They called me a couple times for additional info. I faxed it over and they always say that they did not receive it. I've never lost as many faxes in transit as I have with these people. They refuse to give me their e.mail addresses because it's "against policy". I suppose I could send the last required page via snail mail but in the end, I'm wondering if working with them is going to be just as much of a hassle as the application process. Anyway, down with H.U.D., another bureaucracy proves itself unworthy of operating efficiently.

H.U.D. = P.I.T.A.

2007-08-15T08:49:00.000-07:00

I have now sent my HUD application three times. The first two time I tried to fax it to them. They have this great policy of sending a request for missing information through U.S. mail. The first two applications were somehow missing pages, even though I faxed a pdf doc using eFax. There is no way the document could have dropped a page unless the HUD fax machine was not printing correctly. So after a month, I get a letter in the mail saying that I was missing some items. Then I re-faxed. A month later, I get the same thing, I was missing pages. I suggest to anyone out there applying to get on the HUD appraiser list, DO NOT FAX. The third application I decided to send certified mail with return receipt, just to make sure it got their. This worked out well and about a month later, I got a call from a guy at HUD requesting the names and addresses of five loan brokers I have worked with. Of course he asked me to fax the info; do these people not have e.mail!!!?? That was about a month ago and my name is still not showing up on the HUD appraiser roster. Go figure. I'm wondering if they got my one page fax with the loan broker names. Since it's been a month, I guess I'll be hearing from them soon. Will I ever get on this list?

Further Slow Down...

2007-07-17T11:37:00.001-07:00

The appraisal market, along with the market for home loans, seems to be slowing even further. Some "experts" believe that this slow period will only last for another five or six months before things begin to pick up again. Personally, I feel like there is no end in sight. It may be that residential real estate as an investment may be returning to what it was in the past, which is long term rather than short term. You buy a home so that you wont have to throw money away on rent over the next 30 years. In the end, you own that home and can pass it on to relatives when you're gone. There is no incredible amount of appreciation in this equation and so there is no sales flipping of houses at the rate you find now. This would not be a bad thing. Although I might be out of a job, I would much rather be able to afford a house in the Bay Area. That would be very nice indeed. Although I'm not a religious man, I pray for a major downturn in the market!!

Headhunters...

2007-07-11T06:56:00.000-07:00

It seems that I am contacted more and more each day by these appraisal headhunters. I know these people are out there making deals with big lenders for exclusive appraisal rights but lately, with the market the way it is, it seems as if these headhunters are taking a larger share of the appraisal market. I need to figure out a better way to get my name out there.

HUD

2007-06-14T15:55:00.000-07:00

I filled out HUDs application to get on their appraiser roster but still haven't heard back. It took me two days to gather all the info I needed to apply so I'm hoping to hear from them soon.

Appraisal Future

2007-06-08T11:58:00.000-07:00

I wonder if this is anything that will ever catch on: http://www.zaio.com/#

I sometimes think about how inefficient the whole process can be.

-Randy

Some help with cost approach...

2007-06-05T11:33:00.000-07:00

I found this website on building costs. It takes data from "The National Building Cost Manual" which makes it a useful resource for appraisers attempting to do the cost approach. Check it out, it's free.

http://www.building-cost.net/

And if you want a hard copy of the manual: http://craftsman-book.com/products/info/nbc.htm

Off and running...

2007-05-25T10:49:00.000-07:00

Okay, so this is a busines blog. I was informed I should put one up in order to increase my brand awareness. With that, let me get this senseless advertisement out of the way by saying that my website is www.fogcityappraisal.com. I'm not sure how much my blogging is really going to help my brand/company but I do know that I may as well make the most of it. As the owner of fog city appraisal, I am hoping to make this blog something other than just an AP newswire. Having been an appraiser for only 3 years, I don't know how much information I'll be able to offer but I do hope I can give a persective on what's going on in the San Francisco Bay Area Appraisal scene. I will occasionally list important updates from OREA but otherwise, most of the content within the contents of this blog will be opinion or simply observations that I make. With that little ditty, I welcome you to my San Francisco Bay Area appraiser blog!!!