Sacramento Appraisal Blog

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Sacramento Appraiser

Heavenly Stairway in the “Oak Park” area of Sacramento

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Here is a before and after image of a house in the “Oak Park” area of Sacramento that one of my clients rehabbed recently. It’s a joy to see properties like this get an “extreme makeover” because it’s great for the community and wonderful for one lucky buyer too. The previous stairs were apparently failing, and so someone built a very shoddy walkway on top of them (don’t miss the huge pile of dirt underneath too). The new stairs are quite an improvement, don’t you think? Neighbors just might appreciate the upgrade too.  

A water tower behind a house in the Pocket area of Sacramento

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I swear I don’t have some sort of water tower fetish. I posted a photo of a tower in Galt last week and now this week I’m sharing another image from the field today. While taking comp photos in the Pocket/Greenhaven area of Sacramento a few hours ago, this image stood out to me. No, it’s not the mothership from V. It’s a water tower off of Freeport Blvd.

I’m intrigued by real estate and how a certain view might impact whether a buyer will purchase a particular property or not. This water tower is not literally next to the backyard of the house above as it seems from my photo, but the view from my camera lense is really what it looks like with the naked eye. You’ll get a better sense of distance by viewing a “bird’s eye” image below from Sacramento MLS. Personally, I’m actually fond of this water tower. It has a good look and I love how it says “Sacramento: City of Trees” for passersby on Interstate 5. It probably wouldn’t bother me too much if I lived with such a view. That’s just me though.

Do you think a view of a water tower like this would turn you off? Or would any negativity associated with the water tower be offset by the positive of having no rear neighbors?

A Decade of Unemployment Rates in Sacramento County

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Put on your economist hat and let’s take a look at the past decade of unemployment rates in Sacramento County based on the month of June. What do you see? Comments are welcome below.

June 2010     12.6%
June 2009     11.5%
June 2008     6.9%
June 2007     5.4%
June 2006     4.9%
June 2005     5.1%
June 2004     5.9%
June 2003     6.3%
June 2002     5.8%
June 2001     4.5%

New Fannie Mae Appraisal Guideline is Old News to Appraisers

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I had several emails arrive in my inbox yesterday to announce Fannie Mae’s “new” requirements for appraisers beginning September 1, 2010. In short, one of the things they are cracking down on is that appraisers must have knowledge of the local market as well as data sources for the market. Here is a snippet from Inman News:

“Fannie Mae has put lenders on official notice that they can only use appraisers who are knowledgeable about the area in which they are being asked to value property, and who have the ability to access records on recent sales in those markets.”

I don’t want to be the bearer of bad news, but this is nothing new for appraisers. We are supposed to be “geographically competent” already (know the local market) and it’s unthinkable that an appraiser would attempt to do an appraisal on a property when he/she does not even have data sources. In short, I understand the need for Fannie Mae to step forward here in light of some of the horror stories from HVCC, but this isn’t an earth-shattering revelation for appraisers because USPAP (our rules) already mandates us to know the local market. However, depending on how this rule plays out, that could be the interesting part.  

My big question is how will it be determined that an appraiser is “knowledgeable about the area” where he/she is appraising? Will there be an essay test, quiz, series of questions to answer, or will it be based on the appraiser’s proximity to the property (say, the appraiser has to live nearby)?

What do you think about this new rule? How do you see it impacting the real estate market? Do you think it will increase the quality of real estate appraisals? What are the positives, negatives and potential consequences?

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