Is pulling comparable sales an appraisal?

[shrubberyvaluation]

This whole "acting as an appraiser" bs. You're acting as an appraiser when you're get an order for an appraisal.
That's completely different than being asked to do something because appraisers are good at it.

I can hire someone from the beauty salon to fix my car. Are they acting as a mechanic? Doesn't matter how good they are. Giving sales data is just public record, analyzing that data for the best comparables is different.

 

[J Grant]

I can hire someone from the beauty salon to fix my car. Are they acting as a mechanic? Doesn't matter how good they are. Giving sales data is just public record, analyzing that data for the best comparables is different.

You have the argument backward. A beautician is like any nonmechanic if somebody is stupid enough to hire them to fix their car. If the beautician did not represent themselves as licensed mechanic it would be hard to hold them liable if they made a mistake.

But if you hired a licensed beautician to style your hair off-label at your home and they screwed up and burned your scalp, you could go after them because you hired them for their trusted beautician expertise, even if they were doing it after hours at your house with some casual arrangement.

Of course, anybody can sue anybody for anything, but licensed people hired for their expertise have a greater chance of being held liable - the public and the kind of judges who hear consumer complaints won't care about USPAP or if technically an appraisal was performed by an appraiser sending filtered sales. They will follow the logic though that if hired for RE purposes of any kind, the appraiser was hired for their appraisal expertise and if a consumer wants to claim damages, that would be the way to do it.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

Once you put a value on it, it becomes an appraisal. No value.........no appraisal.

A range is a value and when you choose a filtered selection of sales, you have put a range on it.

Appraisal practice includes consulting, reviewing, researching and market studies. Therefore, USPAP requires some things- ethical conduct, etc. The fact Std 1 and 2 do not apply isn't the issue. The fact such services could go undetected by the state board is not the issue. It is whether you are acting as an appraiser or not. And you are. And when you provide a value, a direction of value against a benchmark, or a range of value, you are now doing an "appraisal".

If you are a Realtor, then fine, wear your Realtor hat and do a CMA, but don't write the work "appraisal" on the work, nor sign as an appraiser, nor even mention your appraisal license....even so, if they hired you because you are an Appraiser- well, then you are an appraiser.

 

[JeffSH]

GPT4:

Pulling comparable sales is not an appraisal in and of itself. An appraisal is a professional assessment of a property's value, typically performed by a licensed appraiser who follows specific guidelines and methodologies. While comparable sales (comps) are an important component of the appraisal process, merely providing a list of comps does not constitute a formal appraisal.

If you're providing comparable sales data to help agents, buyers, or sellers understand the market, it can be a valuable service. However, it's important to note that this service does not replace a formal appraisal, and you should not represent it as such.

As for record-keeping rules, those typically apply to licensed appraisers and may not be applicable to you if you are simply providing comps. However, it's a good idea to keep records of your work and the sources of your data in case questions arise in the future.

 

[djd09]

the only reason someone contacts me for sales data is because i have access to MLS...sometimes i just let them log on and use it

 

[Carnivore]

In the State of NC it is not legal for a RE Broker to complete a BPO for a lender UNLESS they have a reasonable expectation to acquiring the listing. The State and the RE Commission send out a warning every once in awhile. You guessed it, the lenders and Realtor Licensed Broker agents know this and so the lender will state something to the RE Broker about a potential foreclosure and subsequent Listing. Why are the lenders doing this? Cheap Charlie's! You see the lender is not breaking any state laws. OTOH the Realtor is breaking state law. There are many Realtors/Licensed Brokers that are new, or not very good at marketing. These are often Hubby & Wife owned Brokerages. So cash flow is cash flow. They use it as another Income stream.

My Friend and Member here "USPAP Compliant" is constantly on a hunt for RE Agents doing this. He will turn them into the State. The State won't revoke them but will send a strong letter to the Broker and managing RE Broker if there is one.

 

[Carnivore]

the only reason someone contacts me for sales data is because i have access to MLS...sometimes i just let them log on and use it

In my MLS System you would possibly be suspended for a period of time.

 

[residentialguy]

A range is a value and when you choose a filtered selection of sales, you have put a range on it.

Appraisal practice includes consulting, reviewing, researching and market studies. Therefore, USPAP requires some things- ethical conduct, etc. The fact Std 1 and 2 do not apply isn't the issue. The fact such services could go undetected by the state board is not the issue. It is whether you are acting as an appraiser or not. And you are. And when you provide a value, a direction of value against a benchmark, or a range of value, you are now doing an "appraisal".

If you are a Realtor, then fine, wear your Realtor hat and do a CMA, but don't write the work "appraisal" on the work, nor sign as an appraiser, nor even mention your appraisal license....even so, if they hired you because you are an Appraiser- well, then you are an appraiser.

Sorry Terrel,
Pointing out the most comparable homes is not an appraisal. You are not stating an opinion of value. You are simply showing which homes are most like the subject... you're not stating that the most probable price will be within that range. In fact I have helped find the the best price for the homeowner to list the home at. That was not an appraisal.

 

[DWiley]

If somebody asked me to pull the most comparable sales to a specific property and I pulled the top 3-10 comparable sales and supplied those, would that be considered an appraisal? I was thinking mostly of doing this to help agents, buyers, or sellers understand what properties compare to the property they are selling or buying. Would I be subject to the record-keeping rules? Would there be anything else that I should make sure I have done when doing something like this? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

 

[djd09]

In my MLS System you would possibly be suspended for a period of time.

yawn yawn yawn