Does Real Time Video Count As Viewing Comps?

[JSmith43]

Possible victory for appraisers that hate to drive?

Those funky little phones with the built in camera are going to come in handy when an appraiser has to be in two places at once such as in doing final inspections at the end of the month. Or, are they?

The setting: An appraiser goes before the state board with a pending charge that the comp's and/or subject were not personally viewed by the appraiser. The appraiser whips out a Samsung camera/phone and points to the unlicensed assistant & said "she pointed the camera where I told her & I personally viewed the subject (on my computer screen)."

Does this guy walk out of there a free breathing, unfined, licensed appraiser, or what?

I say he does, or Jode (Star Trek Nxt Generation-the guy with the visor eyes) could never be an appraiser, which would be in conflict with the Americans With Disabilities Act, which I bet trumps USPAP.

 

[jtrotta]

go directly ta jail :rofl: , ya just admitted someone else transmitted the photo :mrgreen: U were not in the neighborhood and didn't view the area No Soup Fer You


B)

 

[JSmith43]

jtrotta, thanks for helping me fine tune the scenario.

Clarification:

The guy's assistant has a really good camera phone & had the assistant sweep the area in all directions. The old koot has bad eyes & special software actually enhances the images on his 30" plasma display so he can view it better than his eyeballs on site. Plus, don't forget ADA!

An easy way to reduce competition in the appraisal profession? Make 20/20 vision part of USPAP.

 

[BigBlueGA]

Let me go fetch that scenario from left field for ya... that's way too far out for the handicapped to run..

 

[JSmith43]

Thanks Brandon,

Now I know how Copernicus must have felt.

Remember those first digital cameras? The one's before the "super high" 640x480 resolution appeared about 8 or 9 years ago?

 

[Steve Wyrick]

To further refine your scenario. Does your camera have odor capabilities to smell the city sewer plant and stockyards upwind 1/2 mile away or the ability to feel the movement of the land and home as the subway passes by every 15 min.

Personally view - maybe I am old fashion but personally means that I view the property physically. Not view an digitally developed image of pixel sent into the nether regions of space and time and then reassembled on a machine that supposibly reflect and actual real time image of the proported property to be inspected.

Sorry, if I were on the board, go to jail card, but points for a nice try.

 

[Blue1]

Here's a thought.....I have personally viewed every neighborhood in the areas I cover. I personally view these areas at least 3 to 4 times a month. Yet, I STILL personally view and photograph EVERY comparable I use. Is this necessary? What's wrong with using MLS photos in this case? Keep in mind.....1) I know the neighborhood, 2) I've seen the homes in the neighborhood on many occasions, 3) I have a working knowledge of the area on a daily/weekly basis....and.....4) I know precisely where the comparable is located on the block.......Just asking.....

 

[JSmith43]

Steve,

There is an odor detector & seismic sensor as well as an audio pickup on the camera. That old appraiser can't hear squat anymore, but on his 30" plasma display is a range of bar graphs & scales depicting harmonics, decibles, etc. His touch pad forms analogous bumps in a sophisticated braille pattern and the appraiser passes his hand over the surface to experience his virtual tour better than he ever could propped up in an old Chevy.

Read my lips....oh yeah, that didn't work so well for Bush 1........what I'd like to emphasize is that the appraiser has personally inspected the property (using virtual tools) and has an equal or perhaps better view, smell & tone coverage of the subject data than if he were standing in the 98 degree heat getting his leg chewed by a pit bull, dodging bullets, along with his assistant.

A few short years & we may be to the point where this is entirely reasonable, or at least plausible. Besides, bet you anything ADA trumps USPAP in a cage match.

I say the guy gets a suspended fine at max, one of the board members tells his buddy at an appraisal mill about the remote inspection equipment, secretly invests in the company, calls his buddy on the stds board & suggests a tweaking of USPAP 2006 to definitely allow virtually view as equivalent to "personally view"...as long as the viewing is adequate to produce a reliable result. And some of you think I'm out in left field!

 

[Richard Carlsen]

I'm still trying to find in a rule where you are required to smell the air around the comps. All I can see is that Para 8 of the Appraisers Cert says that you inspected the exterior of all properties used as comps. Does that mean you pulled in the drive, got out of the car, with camera and clipboard in hand walked around the house, snapping pictures, testing the air quality, checking off all of the necessary items on the Comp Inspection Checklist, listening for any objectionable noises, checking for a UST, and finally, climb back into the appraisal mobile and head off?

Nope. We drive up, stop on the other side of the road, roll the window down, snap a picture, check traffic and head out 9.87 seconds max has elapsed between the tires stopping and beginning to roll. Some inspection.

In reality, I believe the reason for the viewing of the exterior of the comps was for the purpose of assuring that the comps were real and not fabricated. It has nothing to do with testing the air or noting any adverse conditions or such. It all has to do with the comps actually being real houses that really sold. That is why we are not even required to take photos. We can even use MLS photos.

Once again, man has taken a simple rule instituted for a simple reason and evolved it into a complex set of rules and regulations, dogmas and myths.

IMNSHO, as long as you know the comp is there and you are aware of the neighborhood, your "inspection" of the subject property could have taken place while driving by when the comp was offered for sale. Think about that one for a minute. The certification says that you inspected the exterior of all properties used as comps. It does not say when or after they sold or during the listing period or anything that has to do with a closing. What it says is that you inspected the exterior.

And I maintain that the reason for this exterior inspection requirement is simply to verify that the property exists and is not a bogus sale.

 

[JSmith43]

Well put, Richard!

You are a voice of reason, whereas....I'm way out there. And, to prove it, I am going to suggest that all appraisers working in small communities, drive every street, view all comp's (for future reference) & film the event just to be sure their viewing of the comp's per USPAP is well documented. Some budding capitalist will probably start selling generic "back-up tapes", but, whatever...even the most regulated of societies never totally stamp out weasely behavior.

Prediction: ADA trumps USPAP & reasonable efforts will just barely beat out tortured procedural rituals (at the hearing). Richard is on the board & casts the tie breaking vote.