Had Lunch Today With.

[Mary Tiernan]

I got a chuckle from a stip today -

the report is marked rural and 70% built-up.

In order for a property to be considered rural, vacant land must be at least approximately 60% or higher.

Can I get a copy of the book you are using to define rural?

 

[Mister Ed]

We have new office policy- we require name and phone number of person requesting additional info and request must be in writing. So far three cases all of which requests for additional info disappeared after discussion with person asking for the additional info.

Sandy,

That is my policy, too... In writing from the UW... That usually settles 95% of stip calls and then real stips that get through actually make sense.

-ed-

 

[Couch Potato]

"I will check on this. Please include a comment about the Road"

Maybe Dick & Jane version will work ???

This subject property, like many others in the area, sits facing a Road.
The Road is not owned by the City, State, County or Township.
The Road is a Private Road.
Because it is a Private Road it is maintained Privately.
The people who live along the Road pay to maintain it.
They love their Road, it lets them go to the big Road, and it lets them go home again.
The people maintain the Road with love and also some money..
It is maintained at the people's cost, because it is Private and they own it.
FHA is always wants to know lots of things about Private Roads - they are very nosy.
FHA will want to see the maintenance agreement for this Private Road.
The underwriter should get a copy of the permanent easement for the Private Road,
and the provisions for permanent maintenance of the Private Road --- so FHA can see them.
This will make FHA happy.
The appraiser does not have any of those things.
The Underwriter should ask the Title Company or someone else for them.
Did you know that this Private Road is made of asphalt? Yes, it is!
The asphalt on the Private Road looks to be in good condition to the appraiser.
This is everything the appraiser knows about the Private Road.
If the Underwriter wants to know more about the Private Road he or she
should consult a Roadway engineer, or the Realtor, or the Homeowner, or go out & look at it personally.
The road would like that, that's the kind of road it is.
Can you draw a happy face?

Too early on a Saturday to remember the name, but a common quote used when teaching students to do mathematical proofs is, "Don't write so that you can be understood, but so that you cannot be misunderstood." We know the readers of our reports are not the sharpest knives in the drawer, we should write accordingly. Put something like the above in an addendum and next to the picture of the road. Put the PUD zoning comment in the zoning section, in the PUD section and in the comments. Use page numbers to reference where the comments are found. Make even the most moronic read realized how dumb they are when they actually read the report.

 

[TonyB]

And the most ironic part of doing exactly that is you might think your being sarcastic and could run the risk being offensive. Thats not the case at all........ They are not going to read it anyway.

 

[Pamela Crowley (Florida)]

Is this the results of those computer programs that 'read' your appraisal reports, forms boxes only?????

 

[Ray Miller]

A couple of years ago I wrote a two page reason why this 1850 natural stone house was down by the Baraboo River and the rest of the Fancy pre 1900 homes were up on the bluff above the river that I used as comps.

I started with the French Traders coming up and down the Mississippi River to the Wisconsin River to the Baraboo River, How some came up the Fox River and Portage over at Portage, Wisconsin. I gave a complete history of how this home was built by the head trader for Hudson Bay Company and later as the Village of Baraboo, transition from Traders to Doctors, Lawyers, Bankers and Retailers, they built there larger homes away from the river on the hills above. That when Ringling Bros established the area as a winter home more of these homes were built in the area. That this subject comparable to those.

Bottom line I got a call wanting me to explain why I had given a history lesson on the area, just use some comparables with in 5 blocks of the subject. It was a no win situation for me. They were too dumb to understand the history lesson.

 

[Pamela Crowley (Florida)]

Potential new Limiting Condition:

"Appraisal report written for comprehension level of reader to have an IQ above 100."

 

[Couch Potato]

Is this the results of those computer programs that 'read' your appraisal reports, forms boxes only?????

I think that is part of the reason Pam. I think it is also do to large numbers of appraisers not including appropriate comments, and those that do not making them easy to find. If nine times out of ten the comments are not in the report, it is much smarter to risk offending the one who did their job well than spend all that time searching through nine reports for comments that don't exist or are inadequate.

Somewhere out there a group of underwriters is having a well supported discussion about all the idiot appraisers that can't write a decent appraisal report.:new_all_coholic:

 

[Pamela Crowley (Florida)]

Reality is, I do have numerous copies of 'converted' appraisal reports where the comment fields no longer contain the appraisers comments, but now say, "See attached addendum". It appears that the appraisers comments do not get moved to the attached addendum, too often.

None of us know how many appraisal reports are sent to underwriters that are NOT what the appraiser sent.

I do know that many appraisers do not write anything worth reading, if at all, too often, also. (ugly sentence, but I don't feel like fixing it.)

 

[Couch Potato]

I do know that many appraisers do not write anything worth reading, if at all, too often, also. (ugly sentence, but I don't feel like fixing it.)

(color and size of the red part altered by me.)

Appraiser out there are now adding that comment to their quick entry lists.