By Krista Franks | 01/31/2012
The Appraisal Institute has released guidelines to instruct its members on how to deal with distressed sales and foreclosures when seeking comparables. According to the organization, some homeowners claim appraisers have undervalued their homes by relying on nearby foreclosed and distressed homes to assess a property's value. The Appraisal Institute stresses that qualified appraisers know what adjustments to make when using distressed sales as comparables, but because the issue is "particularly crucial" in the current market, it's offering additional guidance.
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By Carrie Bay | 08/23/2011
The state of Hawaii has enacted House Bill 320, a statute that permits a licensed real estate broker or real estate salesperson to prepare broker price opinions (BPOs) and charge a fee for their service. Under previous legislation, if a real estate licensee charged a fee for a BPO other than the commission involved in the normal sale of a property, then the licensee was in violation of the state's legal code for real estate appraisals. The change, which took effect in July, came about through a unified effort by a number of industry groups, and it's been a long time coming.
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By Joy Leopold | 03/30/2011
With foreclosure sales steadily rising, four states are concerned that the use of the foreclosure sale prices in appraisals of neighboring homes is distorting the market.
Legislators in Illinois, Nevada, and Missouri have all proposed separate bills that would exclude or restrict foreclosure sales from being used as comparisons to determine the value of homes around them.
Maryland had proposed a similar bill, but withdrew the legislation on Tuesday.
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