Tag: baltimore appraisal

estate sale appraisal

An Estate Sale Appraisal Process

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An Estate Sale Appraisal Process

After 25 years of handling estate sale appraisal in the Baltimore Metropolitan area I have seen my fair share of estate sales. But what is an estate sale? An estate sale means a person has died and the party/parties that inherited the property are selling it.  Estate properties usually are priced well to reflect that fact that they need work. Another  possible issue is that if there are multiple parties involved, they may not always agree on what price or terms they’ll accept and there may be delays  due to the need to negotiate among each other, though hopefully that is not the case.

As an appraiser there are multiple ways to appraise a property that belongs to an estate. One method is the traditional appraisal process of determining the most recent and appropriate comparables in the market area surrounding the property.

Many times we are asked to evalauate the property’s value as of the date of death of the deceased owner(s). This is typically a private appraisal for an attorney or for one of the parties who will be part of the estate looking for the market value. When establishing the value on the date of death  the sales comparables must have occurred prior to the date of passing, so if I was doing an appraisal on a house where the  deceased passed 12 months ago, the sales would had to have sold prior to that date, say 13 or 14 months ago. You cannot use sales that occurred after the date of passing: this is called a retroactive appraisal.

The appraiser can not be biased or allow recent circumstances in the market to affect the value after the retroactive date…say the market plummets or prices have increased substantially due to high demand… the estate appraisal should reflect what the market was on the date of the passing, not anytime after.

A big part of maximizing what you leave behind is minimizing taxes. Federal taxes on gifts and estates can be among the highest assessed on any financial transaction. In addition, some states levy their own estate or inheritance taxes.

An appraiser,  an attorney and a tax advisor can aid in the process of estate issues. As an appraisal company we can provide one of the services needed in regards to your estate and real estate valuation.  Robinson Appraisal Group covers the areas of Baltimore County, Baltimore City, Harford County, Cecil County, Carroll County, Anne Arundel County and Howard County. Having a professional appraisal gives the parties involved a reputable report to work with in meeting IRS and state agency requirements. It would be our pleasure to work with you during this arduous process.

interest rates

Interest rates are the highest in the past 7 years!!!

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Interest rates for buyers with good credit or credit worthiness for a 30 year loan is approximately 4.875% while average buyers fall around 5%. A hike in rates have been talked about since last year with minimal increases until recently. Mortgage rates started around 4% at the beginning of 2018 and have seen a steady increase. With the positive retail sales data and the rising home costs due to low inventory in some of the major markets the interest rate hike is not a complete surprise.
Typically a rise in rates will slow down the rise of prices in this high demand/low inventory market but the demand of today’s buyer has not been derailed by the spike in interest rates thus far. We have had years of low interest rates, now with mortgage rates creeping up to 5% and gas prices rising a correction is looming for the typical buyer.
Borrowers that refinance their current loans make up a smaller portion of the mortgage business than at any time in the past two decades, which poses a challenge for lenders who already fear higher interest rates and climbing home prices could potentially stunt purchase activity.
In a January statement, Fed officials said they expected annual inflation to “move up this year and to stabilize” around the US central bank’s target inflation rate of 2%. The Fed has forecast three rate increases in 2018.
According to local real estate agents the Harford County real estate market is a bit more competitive than Baltimore and Cecil County markets. Properly priced properties typically sell within days of being listed many with multiple offers. This seller’s market may come to a screeching halt with interest rates beyond 5%, so if you are looking to buy or sell, keep an eye on trends and rates. An appraisal can help you make a decision to buy or sell in this ever changing market. Please contact Robinson Appraisal Group for any help you may need in your valuation process.
Property Inspection Waiver

Enhanced Property Inspection Waiver

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Fannie Mae has a new automated underwriting system called the “enhanced property inspection waiver” program. Fannie Mae’s no appraisal offer applies to refinance loans on single family homes or condos up to $1 million and Fannie Mae must have a physical appraisal for the same property with the same borrower in its database.

So where is the data or valuation coming from? Oddly enough it is our own reports that we send in through the Uniform Collateral Data Portal. This is a database where lenders enter appraisals for mortgages submitted to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac; this was implemented just over 4 years ago. Imagine the large pool of data gathered by appraisers fed into this database that can now be used for developing automated appraisals. It is unnerving to think our industry has required us to give information to aid in our own possible extinction.

An argument is made to the effect that an additional program was needed to expedite the appraisal process due to the lack of appraisers in the industry and turn around time on reports are longer than expected. There are less appraisers in the workplace due to a large amount of appraisers hitting the retirement age and the minimal influx of new appraisers coming into the industry. This minimal influx is mainly due to current license and/or certification requirements. The Appraisal
Institute noted that the number of active appraisers has fallen approximately 9% since 2012 and expected a continuation in decline in the future. There has been lobbying toward the Appraiser Qualifications Board for a reduction on some of its college level education requirements in an effort to attract more people to the field.

Under the “enhanced property inspection waiver” program the loan applications that come through its automated underwriting system could increase to 10% for qualifying loans: formerly this was 3%.

This new program would be for “limited cash-out refis”. Fannie Mae’s director of credit risk, Zach Dawson, estimates that 25% of limited-cash-out refis could qualify for the new program. Loan amounts vary by region and the loan- to- value ratio cannot exceed certain limits.

As an appraiser in the field everyday I realize the importance of entering into a home and seeing with my own eyes the condition, the improvements, the deferred maintenance, working systems, presence of mold and/or recent dampness within a property. These are just a few items that could never be seen by dated data that was entered through an electronic portal years ago.

Everything is not always black and white or cookie cutter. Homes are like people, no two homes could ever be the exact same. Our current world is driven by technology without the need for interpersonal skills being admired or even needed due to programs assembling the most advantageous bottom dollar for big business. As appraisers we collectively enter and report on billions of dollars worth of of “big business” property, we state our findings, give valuations and provide support for the structure and integrity of this industry. Replacing our inspections/appraisals with a streamline program in an effort to save a few hundred dollars in a multi-billion industry in my opinion is like shooting yourself in the foot….you may inadvertently undermine your own interests.

Appraised Value

Appraised Value, Market Value and Assessed Value…what’s the difference??

When people talk about the value of their homes there is  a wide variety of terminology…one home could have many different values. Between, the appraised value, listing price, market value and assessed value, who can keep it straight? But like … Read More..

appraising real estate in Baltimore city

Appraising Real Estate in Baltimore City

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Appraising properties in real estate is tricky business for real estate appraisers. The vast value range, emerging markets, government housing and rehabilitation projects are just a few things a Baltimore City appraiser encounters when navigating the proper choice of comparable sales when determining the appraised value of a Baltimore City property. With more Millennials and empty-nesters moving downtown, there’s a renewed interest in the urban living experience causing an increase in appraisal work.

Lending institutions are quite cautious when reviewing a Baltimore City appraisal. Often values differ block to block depending on location of the water, monuments, parks, etc. The distance between the comparable properties and the subject property within an appraisal are highly scrutinized. Part of this scrutiny stemmed from the Baltimore City flipping scandal. With such diversity in value within a small radius due to the density of homes allow a large pool of settled sales to choose from. It is unethical, criminal and against appraisal practices to inflate the values of properties.

HB 521, a bill passed by the state legislature in the wake of the so-called “flipping scandal” of the 1990s, created a database of property appraisals in Baltimore City. Since 2003, every home appraisal done in the city was supposed to be given to the Department of Housing and Community Development, to be kept in files in case investigators ever needed to track down and investigate suspicious appraisers and/or lending practices.

Charm City is a city that bounces back regardless of setbacks. There are more than 40 homebuyer incentives that people could potentially qualify for when buying a home in the Baltimore City. They range from $1,000 to $30,000. These are for primary residents, not investors and you can stack them if you quality for more than one. You can go to http://livebaltimore.com/financial-incentives to learn more.

It is not only traditional buyers that are getting into Baltimore City real estate, even developers are turning a number of historic buildings in downtown Baltimore into amenity filled apartments. 26 S Calvert Street features a rooftop deck and mini basketball court, and 10 Light Street is a building that Metropolitan Partnership is turning into 400 luxury apartments.

With the growing demand of real estate in Baltimore City this leads the appraisal community with a responsibility for quality appraisal reports within lender guidelines that follow uniform standard appraisal practices.

Charm City is becoming more charming each year with expansion, renovation and opportunity. Robinson Appraisal Group can help you with all of your appraisal needs. Our services include estate appraisals, conventional appraisals and FHA appraisals to name only a few. Our office does a multitude of reports for the Baltimore County, Baltimore City, Harford County, Cecil County, Carroll County, Anne Arundel County and Howard County areas. We look forward to helping you in the future with an appraisal for your Baltimore City property. As our Baltimorean counterparts would say, Thanks, Hon!