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Back in the day, changes to the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) used to take place every year. This event created much year-round excitement for those for whom Standards was a full contact sport. As much as I am a fan of USPAP, dealing with changes only every two years is much more rational and allows a more orderly transition. It also allows for more considered and better vetted changes. [Read more…] about USPAP Changes 2014 – What and Why

Straighten Up and Fly Right, or, Good Ideas from the Outside?

Appraisers slogged through the long and messy housing collapse: we were told what to do after being told we didn’t do it right before, during, or after. We tried to keep our heads above water all the while resisting being pulled under. And we complained in between gulps of air. Our larger scale contributions to the crisis were not very imaginative.

[Read more…] about Straighten Up and Fly Right

The summer is winding up. After some two months of low traffic in and around Boston (sometimes) due to the absence of students on the roadway and others on vacation or in hiding, the traffic returns. [Read more…] about End of summer recap: Sharing some questions and observations about the market

Commercial appraisers have to examine many types of market evidence in the course of investigating a particular market and property. Commercial appraisers observe and analyze sales and rentals, market trends, activity and non-activity, listings, offerings, and rumors, and, hints of rumors. Further, we have to worry about not only what has happened and try to understand it in the context of what we think is going on now and what may happen. Or what may not happen. This is true in active markets with a reasonable volume of transactions. It is also true for markets where there is less velocity. [Read more…] about Commercial real estate property comparables: The wise appraiser will compare apples to apples

At the heart of any appraisal lie the appraiser’s opinions. Appraisers know, deep down, that they are right, since it so hard to be proved wrong. Even if wrong, many appraisers think they are probably less wrong than their peers, appraising being the imperfect profession that it is. [Read more…] about What would make a perfect appraiser, and also who are the perfect clients?