Does anyone remember when mortgage operatives required that only certified appraisers could inspect a property? Trainees (with a minimum of 45 hours of appraisal-specific education) couldn’t inspect a property without supervision; licensed was not good enough either.
My hometown has an environmentally friendly laundromat. How do I know? They have a huge banner stretched over the front door that states “ECO-Laundry.” In addition, the letters are all printed in bright green. I mean, what could be more reassuring about their commitment to the environment
We all have too much stuff. Some of us are hitting the age when we are downsizing and in doing so, need somewhere to store all of that stuff. Millennials, many of whom are deferring home purchases and prefer apartment living, need extra storage for their belongings.
Market inflections are a challenge for both the appraiser and underwriter in the commercial property markets. Economic and property market trends are used for forecasting, and forecasting methodologies are often relied upon in commercial property markets.
Most of you probably know what an opportunity zone is. I’ll do a brief rundown and then focus on the opportunities for real estate development and the potential risks. Briefly, opportunity zones were created by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
The current residential appraisal environment in Southern Maine continues to be challenging, but mostly in a managing the near overwhelming workload. This appears to be directly related to a combination of extremely favorable interest rates as well as what is normally higher demand during a typical, yearly appraiser “cycle.”
This article was originally written in 2015. Seems like a long time ago. Interestingly how everything changes there are some fundamental concepts that don’t. A lot of economic behavior takes place based on a lack of knowledge and judgment and over-reliance on habit, benchmarks, or other factors founded
It is important for an appraiser to understand the difference between cold storage and food processing facilities compared to other forms of more traditional warehouse and manufacturing plants. The appraiser first needs to identify their unique physical characteristics
Financial regulators have raised from $250,000 to $400,000 the threshold at which an appraisal is required. The wisdom of that decision may not be decided until we have another crash. In the meantime, appraisal clients might serve themselves well by understanding the difference
The good times continue in the New England markets, and nationally, as the economic expansion continues. However, it might be time to throw away the complimentary closer that typically follows “and shows no signs of slowing down”- because that just does not fit anymore, unfortunately.
