All Forum Posts by: Greg Moore

@Merritt S. Thanks for your insights on this thread. They were useful. I do understand your main point. And perhaps there is nothing I as an individual can do about it other than roast Appraisers. Know any good jokes?

@Merritt S. For me this thread is to see if there are likeminded investors who believe a revolution is due that can result in an improved, predictable, objective data-driven (sorry, I know that phrase is redundant) Appraisal process we can consistently rely on for a fair market evaluation of real property.

@Shivam Patel it’s a total mix! Sometimes it’s exactly the Zestimate, sometimes it’s !100k less than what the home sells for 2 weeks later, sometimes it’s just enough for a refi but not a sale, and two months later the home appraises for a higher price needed to sell it. It’s the lack of a ratified, objective, proven scientific method that does my head in. And I think I’m not alone based on the examples in this thread.

@Merritt S. This is an awesome and insightful reply. I would read anything you care to add.

@Anthony Wick your post really highlights the fact that we have ways of getting REALLY close on valuations from Zestimates (or some similar source of algorithmic data) without some unskilled, unaccountable person offering their unscientific opinions that ultimately trump all other data points on the property, slow down the process, and add costs. Maybe in the mid 1900s we needed this role because we lacked other sources of insight. But times have changed and it’s time to upgrade how we get our appraisals. Thanks for your post.

@Ed Mayo That, Ed, is a perfect example of the lack of a scientific method. Random and unscientific methods produce unreliable results. Thanks for your post.

@Anthony Wick this is exactly my point: there is now enough data out there for us to safely draw some reasonably accurate valuations without the need of an expensive Appraiser who either uses plastic toys and opinions and gets it wrong, or stays at home all together and consults a source like Zillow and gets it reasonably correct. I had a home last year that I paid an Appraiser $450 (b/c I had to) who who took two weeks to provide THE EXACT number that was in Zillow. Anyone could have obtained that number for free and instantaneously. So somewhere we need a new process that starts with algorithmic data and is augmented in special cases (eg the price is above $$$ or the renovation was not documented and needs confirmation or whatever)

@Dan Heuschele - exactly. “Why?!” What purpose are they serving? No one is responsible for the entire chain of service providers. Therefore no one is looking to improve the process the same way a business would innovate, automate, and remove ineffective and/or inefficient people and processes. Thanks for your post on this topic.

LOL :)

@Lee Ripma - I had a house appraised today.  I had to laugh because she showed up with a plastic roller toy that presumably measures distances and, wait for it... a 2005 digital camera! hahaha. I said "My that digital camera looks a bit old.  How old is it?"  She said, "Gosh, I have had it for about 15 years."  (I thought, "Yep, Lee nailed that one!")

To continue my rant: this lady was late for the first scheduled appraisal a few weeks ago.  After 30 minutes late, I texted her to know when she would arrive.  She said 30 min.  That's an hour late and she wasn't going to tell me?? Unprofessional.  An hour after she was supposed to be at the property, I texted her and told her to just cancel.  (I had other meetings!). So today was the reschedule. Late again.  So unprofessional.  She proceeds rolling her little red toy around and snapping photos.  I asked her, given the house would have been appraised about a year ago by someone from her profession, wouldn't those measurements hold?  Plus it was new construction the year before.  Wouldn't the county inspectors have to measure and confirm the actual size is the same as the floor plan??  I asked her if it was common for homes to shrink or expand so much that they needed remeasuring?  She proceeded to scribble notes on a piece of paper.  (Meanwhile, every other profession has switched to cloud-based apps and tablets or phones to record data.   She asks: "So this is a 3 bedroom 2 bath?"  Me: yes, isn't that what the county recorded? Isn't that what you just counted on your own?"  #hand-to-face.  

I have no idea what roulette table she will use to guess the value of the property.  But I'm sure about one thing. Whatever she submits will be 100% unscientific and based solely on her opinions about what her little red toy told her the size of the perimeter of the property is.

EVOLVE!  Come on Appraisers... EVOLVE for goodness sake! (No make that for Investors' sake)