Appraisal Today 
 
NEWZ:///Appraiser shortage-AMCs/FHA info for 9-14/Most Expensive Homes September 10, 2015
E&O insurance 
Thanks to our sponsor!! 
 
Course Title:   NEW DATE
                             ADDED
 
FHA Appraiser Training (Atlanta Homeownership Center)
Date/Time:
September 17, 2015, 8:30 AM - 4:00 PM (Eastern)
Event Location:
Atlanta Homeownership Center
40 Marietta Street
Five Points Plaza
Atlanta, GA 30303-2806
Registration Link:
Description:
This FREE FHA on-site training is intended for appraisers and mortgage loan professionals, including underwriters and loan officers.  The training is designed to assist in preparing the industry for the release of the new FHA Single Family Housing Policy Handbook (HUD Handbook 4000.1). Discussions will include changes, policy clarifications, and updates on topics such as: property acceptability criteria; underwriting the appraisal; minimum property requirements; property defective conditions; enhanced appraiser responsibilities and requirements; programs and products (i.e., 203(k), Energy Efficient Mortgages) and much more.
Special Instructions:
There is no fee for this training.  Registration is required.  Walk-ins will not be admitted.  Seating is limited; please register early.  Check in will begin 30 minutes before the beginning of each session.  A government issued photo I.D. is required for entrance into the building.  Parking is available in nearby garages and lots for a fee.  Lunch is on your own.
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Course Title:   NEW
 
Single Family Housing Policy Handbook: Appraiser and Property Requirements Webinar  (Single Family Office of Program Development)
Date/Time:
September 29, 2015, 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM (Eastern)
Event Location:
Webinar
Registration/Login Link:
 
Dial-in Information:
Attendees must also dial in to this call:
  •  (800) 700-7784
  • Access Code: 368209
 
Description:
For appraisers on the FHA Appraiser Roster, the appraiser and appraisal-related policy changes contained in the Single Family Housing Policy Handbook (SF Handbook; HUD Handbook 4000.1) impact how to perform and complete an appraisal for an FHA-insured property.  Attend this webinarfor an overview of these changes, centered on the core concepts of "Observe, Analyze, and Report".
 
During this webinar session, FHA subject matter experts will provide an overview of the structure, format, and changes contained in the SF Handbook's Appraiser and Property Requirements section, effective for case numbers assigned on or after September 14, 2015.  Additionally, the webinar will highlight policies in the SF Handbook's Doing Business with FHA - Other Participants and Quality Control, Oversight and Compliance - Other Participants sections specific to appraisers.
 
Special Instructions:
There is no fee for this training.  This webinar is open to all stakeholders; however it is targeted primarily to FHA Roster Appraisers and others who have detailed knowledge of FHA's appraiser and appraisal policies and requirements.

My comment: I have no idea why FHA is giving so few live classes and webinars for appraisers!!! There is mass confusion in AppraiserLand!!

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Most Expensive Homes for Sale
Source: CNBC 
 
Excerpt:
Zillow has come up with a list of the top, best, most expensive homes on the market in the U.S.
 
Here's my takeaway after looking at these houses: If you enjoy going to the bathroom a lot, imagine never having to go twice in the same place in the same week.
 
Here are two:
East Side, West Side, all around the town
 
For $120 million, you can own not just one, but three, adjacent townhomes in Manhattan. "Rising six stories tall, the three townhomes boast an astounding 73 feet of prime frontage on 62nd Street and exemplify the grandeur of Gold Coast architecture." The townhomes are nearly a century old but were restored and can be combined as one residence. There are 23 fireplaces, "some with original mantles," and 11 terraces to take in the view of Central Park, just steps away.
 
Tahoe Treasure
 
The top bargain on the Zillow list has the most space, 133 acres of property on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe for $98 million. Shakespeare Ranch is where all the world's a stage for boating, golfing, yachting and the local annual rodeo. There are 17 homes and cabins with names like "Romeo" and ... wait for it ... "Juliet." There's also a massive pool house, along with plans for a 9,500-square-foot main home. In all, there are 25 bedrooms and 25 bathrooms. The seller touts the ranch's proximity to Silicon Valley (four hours by car, one hour by private jet-I'm looking at you, Mark Zuckerberg). Buyers can benefit from better taxes across the border in Nevada. Meantime, I say skip building the main house. Who needs one when you can live in the 5,111-square-foot "entertainment barn"?
 
Click here for more plus fotos.
 
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A Fun Search of highest priced homes by state, city and zip code!!
 
Zillow - Search by zip code or state
 
My comment: the most expensive home in my small town is $1,895,1110. 10 miles from San Francisco, where that won't buy you much. Location, location, location. Oh well ;>
 
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43% of U.S. Homes Are at High Risk of Natural Disaster
 
Excerpt:
Four hurricanes are currently brewing in the Pacific and Atlantic. Wildfires have ravaged more than 8 million acres in the U.S. in 2015 alone. And in just the first two weeks of May this year, nearly 150 tornadoes touched down in the U.S.
 
Many American homeowners might still be surprised at the risk their home faces of getting hit by a natural disaster in the near future. A report released on Thursday by real estate research firm RealtyTrac found that 43% of U.S. homes and condos - that's a total of 35.8 million homes - are at a high risk or very high risk of at least one type of natural disaster. The report examined 2,318 counties nationwide and assigned each a score of natural disaster risk score from 0 to 300 based on their risk of wildfire, hurricane, flood, tornado and earthquake; the higher the score the higher the risk of natural disaster.
 
 
Check out the charts here, showing the geographic areas:
 
My comment: In high school and college I lived in Oklahoma - Tornado Land. There were regular tornado warnings when we used to go into the root cellars and party. After college I moved to the San Francisco Bay Area - Earthquake Land. Here there is no warning. The big research project is to give us a few seconds of warning. I prefer tornados But... Oklahoma was sorta boring when you are 22 years old... so I moved out in 1968 ;>

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Read Doug Smith's article in the paid August newsletter about FHA changes!

Yes, Doug writes about attics and appliance requirements also!! 

In an interview concerning the FHA Revised Handbook-4000.1, Gary E. Eisenbraun, Chief of the
Appraisal/Technical Support Branch, Denver Homeownership Center, Federal Housing Administration
(FHA) made some surprising comments about what he thinks as the issues are most important to appraisers implementing the contents of revised Handbook-4000.1.

Highest and Best Use - accessory units, legal non-conforming, surplus land
Eisenbraun first emphasized that appraisers must understand, analyze and report on all Highest and
Best Issues of each property. There are several examples throughout the Handbook.
On the subject of accessory units, the Handbook emphasizes Highest and Bests Use to determine
property type classification.

On the subject of zoning and legal non-conforming use, the Handbook now requires the appraiser
comment if improvements can be rebuilt and make sure that mixed use properties comply with zoning.
Although a separate legal description for surplus land is now not required, appraisers are reminded
that the Highest and Best Use (HABU) test of additional parcels or larger than typical sites determines
whether excess or surplus applies. Notes in Training Module 3A call for "all FOUR test of HABU."
Appraiser competency - an over-riding concern of FHA

Secondly, Eisenbraun stated the number one priority for appraisers to address is the full issue of
competency in all its aspects.
In addition to applying and implementing the Handbook, Eisenbraun stated, that appraisers must
simply be competent to appraise properties. This competency includes the knowledge, experience and
willingness to conscientiously complete the full range of residential appraisals.

This over-riding concern explains the reason FHA has undertaken the effort to produce a collection
of useful Protocols that provide line by line reporting requirements for the five appraisal report forms
utilized by FHA. This column will address these protocols along with the suggestion that these provide a
useful tool to perform a tune-up of appraisal preparation and reporting methodology...

Doug discusses all the sources of information for the FHA changes. Lots more that is in the 4000.1 manual!!

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If you are a paid subscriber and did not get the September 2015 issue, emailed September 1, please send an email to [email protected]  requesting it and we will send it to you!! Or, hit the reply button and request it. Be sure to put in a comment requesting it ;>
FHA Documents for 9-14-15
Thanks to appraiser Coleen Courtney-Morrison, IFA for assembling these documents!!
 
(Read both the above documents)

Note on downloads: my email service provider, Constant Contact, assigns a random number set to each pdf. You will need to rename it on download. My apologies. They say that it eliminates duplicate downloads. 
 
Coleen Courtney-Morrison, IFA, is a Certified General appraiser in Maryland and holds the IFA designation with the National Association of  Independent Fee Appraisers (NAIFA).  She has been appraising for more than twenty-eight (28) years and has been teaching and writing residential appraisal courses since 1992.   Coleen participated in the HUD Examination Taskforce for the formation and implementation of the HUD national exam for all FHA roster appraisers when the panel opened up.  She is the owner of  Total Real Estate Services, Inc. in Crofton, Maryland and can be reached via email at [email protected].
 
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Appraiser shortage  - where will AMCs get appraisers?

On the Path to Extinction? ...Not So Fast 
Excerpts:
An economic tragedy is unfolding silently across American neighborhoods.
 
With fewer young careerists joining the residential valuations industry, real estate appraisers foresee a future where lenders and consumers alike face added costs and lengthened real estate delivery timelines due to a shortage of trained appraisers in the residential valuations space.
 
"The rate of decline in the appraiser population within the U.S. has been averaging between 4 percent and 5 percent," explained Greg Stephens, Chief Appraiser and SVP of Compliance for Metro-West Appraisal Co. "That number is expected to increase due to the high percentage of practicing appraisers who are in their 60s and 70s and who will either be retiring, dying, or leaving the industry within the next decade."
 
"If this trend continues I believe we will see dramatic increases in the cost and time needed for field appraisals. At the same time, I believe we will see increased adoption of other valuation products, including desktop appraisals and other non-appraiser valuation alternatives."
 
Michael Floyd, Chief Appraiser and SVP of Compliance for Streetlinks Lender Solutions, blames a complete "lack of incentive" for the dwindling ranks of new appraisers. "With the amount of additional required oversight involved with accompanying an appraiser trainee to every inspection and the liability of being completely responsible for their conclusions, there is simply no discernable ROI to such a relationship," Floyd added.
 
Editor's note: The Five Star Institute is the parent company of the National Appraisal Congress, MReport, and theMReport.com.
 
http://themreport.com/news/secondary-market/09-07-2015/on-the-path-to-extinction-not-so-fast NOTE ON THIS LINK: It was hijacked by spammers, was up for awhile and is down again as of 2pm pacific time on 9-9-15. 

For info on NAC, go to http://nationalappraisalcongress.com Click on Advisor to read their Fall 2014 newsletter with more comments.
 
My comment: The National Appraisal Congress members are mostly larger AMCs, such as ServiceLink, Proteck, MetroWest, etc. Who will they get for cheap fees to do their appraisals, when they are having problems now? Hmm.... Not me!!
 
WHAT DO YOU THINK? POST YOUR COMMENTS AND READ OTHER APPRAISERS' COMMENTS AT www.appraisaltodayblog.com

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HOW TO USE THE NUMBERS BELOW. Appraisals are ordered after the loan application. These numbers tell you the future for the next few weeks. For more information on how they are compiled, go 
 
Note: I publish a graph of this data every month in my printed newsletter, Appraisal Today. For more information or get a FREE sample issue go to http://www.appraisaltoday.com/products.htm or send an email to [email protected]  . Or call 800-839-0227, MTW 8AM to noon, Pacific time.

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Mortgage applications decreased 6.2 percent from one week earlier, 

according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending September 4, 2015. 
WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 9, 2015)
The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 6.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 7 percent compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index decreased 10 percent from the previous week. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 1 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 3 percent compared with the previous week and was 41 percent higher than the same week one year ago. The annual change is inflated due to the shift in Labor Day from the first week in September last year to the second week this year.
The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 56.9 percent of total applications from 58.7 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 6.9 percent of total applications.
The FHA share of total applications increased to 13.4 percent from 12.7 percent the week prior. The VA share of total applications increased to 10.8 percent from 9.8 percent the week prior. The USDA share of total applications increased to 0.8 percent from 0.7 percent the week prior.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,000 or less) increased to 4.10 percent from 4.08 percent, with points increasing to 0.39 from 0.37 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans. The effective rate increased from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than $417,000) decreased to 4.03 percent from 4.05 percent, with points remaining unchanged at 0.28 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA increased to 3.90 percent from 3.87 percent, with points decreasing to 0.23 from 0.32 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate remained unchanged from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 3.34 percent from 3.30 percent, with points increasing to 0.28 from 0.26 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs decreased to 3.03 percent from 3.05 percent, with points decreasing to 0.27 from 0.36 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.
The survey covers over 75 percent of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications, and has been conducted weekly since 1990.  Respondents include mortgage bankers, commercial banks and thrifts.  Base period and value for all indexes is March 16, 1990=100
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Ann O'Rourke, MAI, SRA, MBA

Appraiser and Publisher Appraisal Today
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