News By Edition

At the 2024 Appraisal Summit conference from Las Vegas, veteran appraiser Craig Morley, of Morley & McConkie, LLC, revisited highest and best use.

He broke down the specific criteria for using the designation, in addition to sharing key principles for appraisers to apply.

Read Part I of this conference conversation with Morley.

At the 2024 Appraisal Summit in Las Vegas, appraiser Chris Shoemaker, owner of Oregon-based Sunshine Appraisal and Consulting, addressed conference attendees on the subject of reconciliation.

Valuation Review was in attendance and caught up with Shoemaker for more details regarding his session.

Read Part I of this exclusive conference feature article.

Valuation Review traveled to the 2024 Appraisal Summit from the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.

We caught up with Greg Stephens, veteran appraiser and owner of GE Stephens-Compliance, Consulting and Training, who presented “Intro to Litigation” to conference attendees.

Read on for the full conference story.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Federal Reserve Board, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency recently announced the 2025 threshold for higher-priced mortgage loans that are subject to special appraisal requirements will increase.

On Sept. 30, The Appraisal Foundation announced a new scholarship program which would blaze a trail for aspiring appraisers to fulfill their experience requirements with financial backing.

ASA recently announced its 2024 award winners at its International Awards Luncheon, held during the ASA International Valuation Conference in Portland, Ore.

Real estate stands out as an exceptional hedge against inflation, according to Dutch Mendenhall, an investor, educator and author of “Money Shackles: The Breakout Guide to Alternative Investing.”

Investors who want to protect their portfolios against inflation should note that real estate might be one of the best ways to diversify your holdings, Mendenhall shared with Valuation Review.

Read on for more insight from Mendenhall.

Valuation Review caught up with Valutrust Solutions Quality Assurance Vice President and Chief Appraiser Patrick Brown for his insights on several areas of appraising.

Brown shared his thoughts on many topics including his belief that the appraiser who arrives at the property armed with advanced tech devices will come off looking more professional than those carrying clipboards and measuring tapes.

Read more of Part I of our conversation with Brown.

To begin November’s installment of appraisal advice from Dustin Harris, “The Appraiser Coach,” we examine thoughts from his latest blog posts “You Don't Know What You Don't Know,” and “Airplane Mode.”

An admission of a lack of knowledge isn’t always a bad thing, Harris noted, while urgency in the digital world is a real matter of concern.

Read on to learn more.

Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA)President and CEO Bob Broeksmit issued the following statement on the Oct. 28 Federal Housing Finance Agency announcement on loan repurchases, appraisals, and pricing at MBA’s 2024 Annual Convention and Expo.

Florida is home to three of the five major metros where property tax bills have increased the most since before the pandemic, exacerbating the difficulty of affording a home in the Sunshine State. That’s according to a new report from Redfin.

For another installment of its “Women in Appraising” series, Valuation Review features National Association of Appraisers President Malinda Griffin.

With family members guiding her along the way, Griffin talked about her early start in the profession, in addition to some challenges she encountered.

Read on to learn more about this "spotlighted" woman appraiser.

Recently, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Justice Department (DOJ) took action to end Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp.’s mortgage lending discrimination against majority-Black neighborhoods in the greater Birmingham, Ala. area.

The CFPB and DOJ allege Fairway illegally redlined Black neighborhoods, including through its marketing and sales actions.

Read on for all of the details surrounding this matter.

Ascribe, a national provider of residential and commercial valuation, evaluation, property inspection, and REO services to mortgage lenders and servicers, has appointed a mortgage industry veteran to its team. 

CoreLogic recently introduced a new cloud-based analytical portal designed for flexible delivery of CoreLogic’s global suite of high-fidelity catastrophe risk models.

BSI Financial Services recently launched an artificial intelligence-driven predictor model that calculates the likelihood a borrower will refinance their mortgage within the next 90 days.

To provide a few more scares on this Halloween, Valuation Review offers this “encore” presentation of a story we ran in 2019. Appraisers often have similar or usual assignments to render an opinion of value on, but for some properties, “routine” would hardly be the case for one appraiser who has walked upon the grounds and inside the homes where eerie, creepy and frightening thoughts would be the norm.

On this Halloween, CoreLogic attempts to put the scare in readers with its “A 13-Stop Tour of Some of the Most Haunted U.S. Places.”

Originally posted on Oct. 13, 2023, the terrifying tale suggests there are many things that must be disclosed when buying or selling a home but listing whether a building qualifies as haunted is not required. Unless, of course, a homeowner has publicly made that claim.

Read on for more "scary" details.

Newark High School students were introduced to the multifaceted world of commercial real estate (CRE) through a hands-on summer internship program.   

The program was provided by the Newmark Associates CRE in partnership with the Newark Board of Education.

Read on for more information about this opportunity for future commercial appraisers.

On Oct. 28, the Federal Housing Finance Agency announced updates to several Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac policies, including expanding eligibility for appraisal waivers on purchase loans and expanding Uniform Appraisal Dataset data.

Single-family home prices increased from Q3 2023 to Q3 2024, a deceleration compared to the previous quarter’s downwardly revised annual growth rate, according to the latest reading of the Fannie Mae Home Price Index.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has been committed to broadening affordable avenues to homeownership for millions of families, particularly families of color and those from disadvantaged communities. Recently, HUD has provided new funds, flexibilities, and tools to expand housing counseling options to ensure families have access to the quality, affordable homes they deserve.

National residential mortgage lender PrimeLending recently named a 30-plus year industry veteran , as executive vice president, growth and strategic development.

The Justice Department announced it filed a lawsuit alleging that Rocket Mortgage LLC; Solidifi US Inc.; Maverick Appraisal Group Inc.; and Maksym Mykhailyna discriminated against a Black homeowner by undervaluing her home based on her race in an appraisal.

Valuation Review reached out to Rocket Mortgage and Solidifi for comments.

Read on to find out what we were told.

Valuation Review announces the 10 lucky winners from among this year’s Voice of the Appraiser survey respondents.

The Voice of the Appraiser annual report will be launched next week at www.valuationreview.com.

Read on to find out who the 2024 winners are.

In Part II of Valuation Review’s interview with Mark Walser, senior vice president at Class Valuation, we examine other areas of importance and relevance to appraisers.

Such would include turn times, AVMs and desktop accuracy.

Read on for the conclusion to this story.

At the 2024 Valuation Expo conference in Las Vegas, Mark Calabria, former Federal Housing Finance Agency director, author and now a senior advisor at the CATO Institute, spoke to attendees on the status of the market and its future effects on real estate.

Valuation Review caught up with Calabria, who shared his views with our readers.

Read on for the full story.

At the 2024 Appraisal Summit in Las Vegas, appraiser Chris Shoemaker, owner of Oregon-based Sunshine Appraisal and Consulting, addressed conference attendees on the subject of reconciliation.

In Part II of our conference feature, Shoemaker speaks to listing prices, property analysis and other factors surrounding appraisal reconciliations.

Read on for the conclusion of this story.

CoreLogic recently announced the launching of Araya, a property and location intelligence platform.

CubiCasa recently announced the launch of CubiCasa Tour, an artificial intelligence-powered virtual tour product designed to enhance real estate listings with minimal effort.

With the average interest rate on mortgages increasing in 44 of the 50 states between the first and second quarter, the personal-finance website WalletHub recently released its new report, “The States Where Mortgage Interest Rates Are Increasing the Most.”

Valuation Review presents Part II of our conference feature from the 2024 Appraisal Summit conference from Las Vegas with appraiser Craig Morley, of Morley & McConkie, LLC, outlining more specifics of highest and best use (HBU).

How do appraisers assess HBU when dealing with property taxes and specific land categorizations?

Read on for the conclusion to this conference feature.

Reggora recently announced a new member has joined the company as director of business development and partnerships.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development recently announced the start of its process to update the Multifamily Asset Management and Project Servicing Handbook and launched a request for public feedback to improve the implementation and operational efficiency of multifamily projects for its internal asset management team, property owners, and management.