MLS Comp Photos WTF!

[Webbed Feet]

Unfair Trade Practices

OK, I should have known better. The only way to do an appraisal is to the letter of the law in every respect. I will drive every comp, take photos, call every realtor for every sale and the ones that don't hang up can tell me about the sales, then I will measure the comps since 80% of ALL listings that I have ever measured for a sale are smaller than the listing says. Then if it is a condo, I will knock on 112 doors and ask if they rent or own so I won't be "making it up". I will have to hurry though since the AMC wants the appraisal back 24 hours after inspection, and at $250-275 if I take too long gathering data I will break minimum wage laws and have to turn myself in. I would DEMAND the full fee since that is what many people here say they do, But I am tired of hearing laughter as the phone hangs up, or checking my internet connection for lost signal when 4-5 orders a week turns in to 0-1 per month after raising my fees $25 with the AMC's I now have to use thanks to Cuomo.

See my posts 113 and 115... I could care less about your excuses. Say what you do, and do what you say. If you can't do that then get out of the business completely and never come back. If not, just be aware there will be appraisers, like myself, promoting far more serious consequences than what most appraisers face in state board complaints.

 

[TC]

Hey, great old minds think alike.

 

[Smokey Bear]

Truly pathetic. You sign a certification on every report stating that at a minimum you inspected every comparable from the street.. Is there something about that you don't get? You come the forum asking for advice and you have 11 pages of it telling you to drive the comps, shoot the pictures like you are suppose to and your response is a smarmy snot nose sarcastic answer? Did you get thrown out of the Dale Carnegie class?

PS Einstein, AMCs is not possessive but I would expect you to make that mistake. You aren't that bright.

You have to admit. The OP has some Balls for coming on this forum with this sort of thread. Just sounds like he/she was trained or not trained in a Skippy Mill.

And posting with his real name. Apparently he just doesn't get it. And since he hasn't read the certifications about driving the comps, I guess he hasn't read this one either?

25. Any intentional or negligent misrepresentation(s) contained in this appraisal report may result in civil liability and/or
criminal penalties including, but not limited to, fine or imprisonment or both under the provisions of Title 18, United States​

Code, Section 1001, et seq., or similar state laws.

 

[Jack Hines]

And you had to beat off bears with your yard stick while you walked up hill....both ways...

LOL LOL Can't stop laughing! Thanks Tim, that line made my day.....

 

[Mr Rex]

I wonder if the bears liked it?

 

[ddnma]

And you had to beat off bears with your yard stick while you walked up hill....both ways...

And it was 25 degrees below zero...

 

[Smokey Bear]

That would be mountain lions, not bears. Leave the damn bears alone, they don't bother people anyway unless you're dumb enough to leave your garbage out for them to rustle through. <Should I be taking the bear thing personally?>

 

[Kevin Mc]

This site is suppose to be here for us appraisers to communicate and help each other. Not to put one another down and make fun of. Which is what I read all to often.

Sorry, coming on here complaining that one has to drive comps rather than use MLS photos is inexcusable. It represents what most of us know to be the worst practioners in our business. We are a very helpful bunch on this forum but most of us adhere to professional practice. We expect others to do the same. No quarter.

 

[David Beasley]

You are signing a certification that says you inspected all of the comparable properties from the street.

Not doing so is a violation of USPAP since you signed a certification saying you did.

It is not uncommon for me to take four hours to drive the comps.

Yeah, but, driving by and visually inspecting the comps (since you've posted that twice now) has nothing to do with using MLS photos. It is possible to drive the comps and still use MLS photos. You're making an extraordinary assumption (allegation actually) that the appraiser isn't driving the comps just because he's using comp photos.

I use MLS photos when all I can see is a gate, or long driveway (as well as submitting the photo of said gate or driveway)...but some people just like to use MLS photos even when they drive the comps. Some folks are as determined that MLS photos represent the comp at the time of sale, just as determined as you apparently are that MLS photos means the appraiser isn't driving by the comps.

I'll tell you what I do, and you can fuss at me a while too: I reuse photos of comps that I take once and have then filed in my WinTotal comps database. I may use those photos/comps 4-5 times before they time out. So rail on that a while since you're of a mood. I usually don't "redrive" them either - if they've burned down since, who cares, I am using their data as of their date of sale....exception being, about every 3-4 years we actually get a measurable snow. Any subjects (that I later drop in as a comp from my WinTotal database) or comps that I image while there is snow on the ground, I will reshoot the next time I need them to get rid of the snow so I can use them on into the following summer. WinTotal prompts me to replace the old photo with the new one once I finish the appraisal and that's that. A non-snow photo of a comp I've already run and likely won't drive by again for the next 12 months (or until the comp times out >12 months, etc) unless of course, it resells during that time period.

This also cuts down on having to explain why the photo I sent shows a enclosed garage (now) when I didn't value it that way since the garage *was* a garage at the time of sale, or why I didn't address a fence in a *new* photo that wasn't there at the time of the sale...I agree MLS photos should only be used when you can't get a good image yourself, but I am not so cynical and doubting that I automatically assume that an MLS photo indicates that the appraiser did not view the comp in person. I am not a thought-cop, I cannot just *know* that they didn't like you appear to be able to.

 

[The Bob]

Here's a little trick for those with laptops but no wireless service. Download ALL (like 30-50) the comps for the area you're going to and email them to youself. (You need to have email set up on your laptop). Now, when your in the field, fire up the laptop, open email and there are all the comps. You can then see which ones fit the subject and take photos of those.

PS. I just got an iphone that I can use to access MLS. Only problem is if you in an area where there is no service, hence the idea above.