MLS Comp Photos WTF!

[Kevin Mc]

I once again have a request for me to replace two photos in a report since they appear to be MLS photos, which yes they are, I admit it. What I am wondering (bring flames if you must). How to always have fresh comp photos in every report.

Are you serious? Have you ever read the Scope of Work certification that you sign on every GSE appraisal you perform? If you are not driving each and every one of your com parables you are falsifying the document you sign. I understand that sometimes comparables get switched, added aetc... and MLS photos are used after the field work has been completed but that should be the exception and it should be noted in the body of the report. There is ZERO excuse for not driving the comparables. If you drive them, shoot pictures of them, period.

 

[Ken B]

I'm going to need more information to verify the reliability of the search result. How about a tax ID number, property owner name, and/or a legal description.

In case you are having difficulty finding this information, the owner's name is Casey Berndorf, the tax ID number is 056-260-14-00, and the address is not geo-coded.

Any search using mapping function is likely to be a "best guess" by the mapping function. Thus, I would need to have access to a tax map, at a minimum, before I could identify the property by Google Earth or Virtual Earth. If I was so inclined, I could likely subscribe to the data for the subject's county in Realquest.com, which was the source of the property owner and APN, and get the parcel map.

But since this was just a test, one that I was supposed to fail, I am not so inclined to subscribe to that data.

 

[CANative]

I'm going to need more information to verify the reliability of the search result. How about a tax ID number, property owner name, and/or a legal description.

How would that help in actually finding the property? Tax ID is just a record keeping number for the assessor. Property owner name will tell you who owns the property. The legal description just describes the property boundaries, sometimes detailed enough to describe it in relation to an adjoining parcel. The assessor's parcel map is useless because the lots are all so large that there are not roads or other benchmarks to use. And this property is only on spyrock road because one of the forks of one of the fire roads forks off spyrock.

And this was the SUBJECT of a review. My trainee and I spent 30 minutes with the selling/listing agent who drew a map but wasn't really sure even though he'd been there a couple of times. My trainee and I spent 2 hours looking for it. The closest we got (we think) was this view taken with my Sony A2 with a long lense.

The agent sent me photos he took when he was listing the property.

The comps (6) used in the original report ranged from the Eel River near the Humboldt County line to an area where no one really knows for sure is considered Willits or Laytonville but in any case is accessed from a secret gate (locked - with only a few of us knowing the combo) in a State maintained rest area along Highway 101.

I knew they were MLS photos and didn't have any problem with them being used in the report under review. I didn't ding it because I don't want to be dinged. We have some bad appraisers out here but using MLS photos for these proeprty types is not an issue I'm going to grind anyone on (unless they do something stupid like use the wrong pictures).

 

[CANative]

Here is the map. If you can put a pin on a Google image within a mile of the property I'll concede the point. But the real challenge is actually finding the property on the ground.

 

[Ken B]

How would that help in actually finding the property?

It's all about detective work also known as research. Starting with a small bit of seemingly innocous information, one should be able to find out just about anything associated with that information. Sometimes the sought information is easy to find, sometimes it requires a little more work.

A name leads to a parcel number leads to a plat leads to a road map leads to a topo map leads to aerial imagery.

I will grant that research is more difficult and less reliable in rural locations and for those not familar with the location.

But where there is a will...

 

[Pat Butler]

Online mapping programs and aerial photos are excellent SUPPLEMENTAL sources IN ADDITION TO driving by. Each data source has advantages and disadvantages.

If my subject backs to power lines or a water tower then I'll use Google Earth to find similar properties THEN drive by those properties to make sure the view is similar. Same with discarding comps if I see those externalities during the comp search process.

Just don't rely upon those sources by themselves.

 

[EDWARD BERRY]

Everyone Knows That A Pic Taken By An Appraiser Is Better Than A MLS Picture And 16 Shots Of The Interior.

Taking Pictures Of Houses That One Observed Being Built And Perhaps Driven By 100 Times Makes A Really Good Appraisal Report.

Out Of 9100 + Reports I Found One Comp That I Had To Comment On--burned Down The Week Before.

Happy Fall Time, Leaves Are Pretty, Drive Them Comps.

 

[CANative]

It's all about detective work also known as research. Starting with a small bit of seemingly innocous information, one should be able to find out just about anything associated with that information. Sometimes the sought information is easy to find, sometimes it requires a little more work.

A name leads to a parcel number leads to a plat leads to a road map leads to a topo map leads to aerial imagery.

I will grant that research is more difficult and less reliable in rural locations and for those not familar with the location.

But where there is a will...

It's clear that you are unfamiliar with truly remote areas. There are times when a homeowner has to drive four or five miles to a remote dirt road, put an orange dishtowel on a tree stump and wait for me to find that tree stump in order to meet with him and follow him back to his property.

 

[Ken B]

Here is the map. If you can put a pin on a Google image within a mile of the property I'll concede the point. But the real challenge is actually finding the property on the ground.

Good enough? The pin is about 500' northeast of the house. The resolution isn't that great either. Typical for rural properties.

(It took a few minutes to figure out how to best save and upload the image.)

Here is an image with the pin sitting right on top of the house. At this scale, some of the identifying area details are lost.

 

[TJSum]

How many times have we driven comps (or potential comps) and learned something new, positive or negative, when we have shot the comp picture? My experience is that it happens at least once with each and every report. I would feel way too exposed on any assignment not driving the comps.

Even if the comp has changed since date of sale, that could tell us something too. It could support a needed condition adjustment (if you see many new changes), if you see a dumpster sitting out front, that could give you important information. Even if it is no longer there, that could tell you something too !!! The MLS photos were for marketing purposes, not for an objective valuation.