Un supported adjustments

[J Grant]

Open wintotal, you go to the alamode store at top, and it's only subscribed to there. There are vids that can help. The hard part is setting up the export data from your MLS. But they have instructions, just takes time in the beginning.

Just ordered a trial, will watch videos and set it up
Their phones re down - or is it just me?

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

The hard part is setting up the export data from your MLS. But they have instructions, just takes time in the beginning.

What about data outside the MLS? Can you filter the MLS data?

 

[Tom D]

Spark is used all over the country, so i'm assuming you can export it in a certain format. Spark has always been very responsive to my email or phone call. Ask them if they are set up for whatever area you need.
My MLS now covers several states.

 

[Functional Obs]

I had a client ( a large nation wide bank) review my report and state that my adjustments were unsupported. I use Synapse by spark which runs multiple analysis and then i attached their results to my report as support. I also outlined throughout the addendum each adjustment that was applied and referenced which analysis was weighted most. So I am confused, what more is the underwriter looking for?

Spark doesn't support everything. Some will require paired-sales, an estimated depreciated cost, or other places. But it's also possible the U/W never read your addendum section.

 

[Tom D]

Spark doesn't support everything. Some will require paired-sales, an estimated depreciated cost, or other places. But it's also possible the U/W never read your addendum section.

The obvious, they didn't find your comments. I have seen to many report where it was a nightmare to find anything. Most reviewers use a word search to find something in a 30 page report.
A report should be organized to find the important stuff first. I've seen reports with too much nonsense verbiage at the beginning instead of the end. I put important things on separate numbered pages with a table of contents to easily find specific themes. Never have had a how did you do anything request.
Write your report to the person who will be reading it, the underwriter, and make it easy to find your brilliance in a 30+ page report. When i had to find something in a comingled report i wasn't happy reviewing it. Became a little more picky because of that.

Depreciated cost is the easiest to write a small comment on.

 

[Surf Cat]

A report should be organized to find the important stuff first.

One of my mentors used to tell me "they're not going to frame your appraisal and hang it on the wall". But that's how I organize mine.

Everything in my addendum is in order of the report. Each section is bolded, underlined to start the subject matter; Market Analysis: then double spaced and the next subject matter bolded and underlined...... I have paragraphs with punctuation. None of that entire addendum with no paragraph breaks with a bunch of gobbledygook or ALL CAPS....

I can imagine an underwater taking one look at an entire addendum page with no paragraph breaks, and thinking to himself "screw it..... appraiser to provide explanation of location adjustment for comparable number 3". They don't have time to search through all that nonsense.....

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

separate numbered pages with a table of contents

You should review some commercial reports. Both Word and WordPerfect have table of content creators using the headers (frames) you create. But I have seen reports manually numbered because the user didn't even know how to create page numbers. Did not know how to create section headings, paragraphs, or alter fonts. Didn't know **** from apple butter about their word processing programs. All these commercial narrative writers are an automation of Word. You can create your own. It doesn't take forever but you do need some basics. Adult classes at the Vo-tech are maybe $100 or less. It's not rocket surgery...

One appraiser I knew (RIP) used to start out with a sentence about Hernando De Soto discovering Arkansas. That reminds me of the lawyer responding to the request to run title back beyond 1803 in Louisiana. I have a separate definitions section. My Photos & Exhibits is in the rear although I see a lot of the older appraisers having a photo addendum as the first part of the report. That was supposed to give you a visible aid to what to expect in the report I suppose.

However, a lot of piffle gets added to a report because one reviewer or another thinks it needs included. And in the end you have a bloated report template trying to please everyone. I have a friend who uses a narrative writer and few of his reports are less than 100 pages. There is considerable white space created by the writer as well, but he includes a lot of things I don't. I don't include a soils map if the soils are a non-issue in the valuation, for instance. A rural business on 2 acres needs no soils map. A wheat farm of 200 acres does. But it's a choice. FmHA wants to see the soils break down even on 40 acres and a poultry farm.

 

[Sadie]

The obvious, they didn't find your comments. I have seen to many report where it was a nightmare to find anything. Most reviewers use a word search to find something in a 30 page report.
A report should be organized to find the important stuff first. I've seen reports with too much nonsense verbiage at the beginning instead of the end. I put important things on separate numbered pages with a table of contents to easily find specific themes. Never have had a how did you do anything request.
Write your report to the person who will be reading it, the underwriter, and make it easy to find your brilliance in a 30+ page report. When i had to find something in a comingled report i wasn't happy reviewing it. Became a little more picky because of that.

Depreciated cost is the easiest to write a small comment on.

The worst reports to review are the ones with many pages of nonsence boilerplate padding the report. Some of which contradicts itself.

 

[alebrewer]

Didn't know **** from apple butter

I mean - you'd have to be cursed with no taste buds AND no sense of smell to pull that off.